 |
| Bringing sHell to a 3rd World Near You |
A decision affirming that Shell should go
unpunished in the Niger Delta case would leave us with a Supreme
Court that seems of two minds: in the words of Justice John Paul
Steven’s dissent from Citizens United, it threatens “to undermine
the integrity of elected institutions across the nation” by
treating corporations as people to let them make unlimited political
contributions, even as it treats corporations as if they are not
people to immunize them from prosecution for the most
grievous human rights violations."
Stating that the potential effects of such a ruling
could lead to "multinational corporations (particularly in
mining and other extractive industries) [drawing] the lesson that it
is now safer to forge alliances with autocratic regimes that have
poor human rights records because they will not be judged culpable in
the way individuals can be."
Although I whole-heartedly agree with Mr. Weiss' ultimate, yet slightly vague assumption that it is not fair, practical or legal (both by natural and constitutional law) to allow an entity to hold all the positive benefits of citizenship without little to any of the responsibilities of citizenship, I feel as though his argument was mild and unemotional considering the nature of this dilemma. If Shell is not held accountable for something as heinous and despicable as these war-crimes, the final result is the last nail in the coffin of human freedoms and rights, as a supreme new class is introduced into the U.S./World economy and politics, answerable to no one and wealthier than any individual citizen. Considering the stakes, one would like to see the passion.
Although I whole-heartedly agree with Mr. Weiss' ultimate, yet slightly vague assumption that it is not fair, practical or legal (both by natural and constitutional law) to allow an entity to hold all the positive benefits of citizenship without little to any of the responsibilities of citizenship, I feel as though his argument was mild and unemotional considering the nature of this dilemma. If Shell is not held accountable for something as heinous and despicable as these war-crimes, the final result is the last nail in the coffin of human freedoms and rights, as a supreme new class is introduced into the U.S./World economy and politics, answerable to no one and wealthier than any individual citizen. Considering the stakes, one would like to see the passion.
Original Article:
Additional Information (linked due to embedding being forbidden):
