A witness hearing examining Shell’s role in the execution of nine men in Nigeria in the 1990s is a key opportunity to hold the oil giant to account over its alleged complicity in human rights abuses, Amnesty International said.
A press release made available to Blueprint by Amnesty International, U.K, the Kiobel v Shell case resumes at The Hague today (8 October) and will for the first time hear accounts from individuals who accuse Shell of offering them bribes to give fake testimonies that led to the ‘Ogoni Nine’ – who included Esther Kiobel’s husband – being sentenced to death and executed.
Esther Kiobel and three other women – Victoria Bera, Blessing Eawo and Charity Levula – accuse Shell of being complicit in the unlawful arrest, detention and execution of their husbands. The men were hanged in 1995 along with renowned activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and four other men after they were convicted in a blatantly unfair trial.
The ‘Ogoni Nine’, as they were known, were accused of being involved in the murder of four Ogoni chiefs known to be opponents of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). Led by Ken Saro-Wiwa, MOSOP had protested against oil pollution caused by Shell’s operations in the Ogoniland region.
Mark Dummett, Amnesty International’s Business and Human Rights Researcher, said:
“For more than 20 years Shell has escaped scrutiny over its role in these tragic events. We applaud the courage and persistence of Esther Kiobel and the other women who have brought this case.
“This case exemplifies how hard it can be for the victims of human rights abuses to hold a powerful multinational corporation to account.
“These four Nigerian widows represent the cause of the Ogoni Nine, as well as countless residents of the Niger Delta who feel that their rights have been trampled on by Shell.”
Kiobel v Shell
Amnesty supported Esther Kiobel’s legal team to bring the case to the Netherlands in 2017, and detailed Shell’s role in the arrests and executions in a briefing, In The Dock.
At the case’s first hearing in February 2019, Esther Kiobel and Victoria Bera were both allowed to speak to the court and gave moving testimonies regarding their late husbands and subsequent struggles for justice. It was the first time either had had such an opportunity.
On 1 May, the court ruled in favour of the plaintiffs, that it did have jurisdiction of the case and that this should not be time barred. It also ruled that Shell should hand over some confidential internal documents to the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
