Help expose Chevron's human rights hitmen

You might remember in September some of our activists swam in front of a drill ship, operated by oil giant Chevron, in an attempt to stop them drilling the first deep water well in the UK since the Gulf of Mexico spill. Chevron are showing a complete disregard for the environment by pressing on with their plans to drill in deep water. By their own admission, a Macondo style blow out at Chevron's deep water well to the west of Shetland would reach the shores of Norway and Greenland. And Chevron's cavalier attitude doesn't stop there.

In Ecuador the oil giant has been trampling over the rights of indigenous and rural people. The Rainforest Action Network has been doing some brilliant work to expose Chevron's blasé attitude towards human rights and in this guest blog, Mike Gaworecki explains the latest dirty tricks and asks for your help.

Chevron’s latest bullying legal tactic is a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (Rico) suit filed in a U.S. federal court against the indigenous and rural Ecuadoreans who are attempting to force the company to clean up its billions of gallons of toxic oil waste in the Amazon.

One of the plaintiffs’ lawyers in Ecuador, Juan Pablo Sáenz, filed a declaration yesterday detailing the long history of abusive tactics Chevron has employed. He argues that Chevron’s counter-charges against the plaintiffs rest on Chevron’s 'jaundiced worldview': that a corporate heavyweight like Chevron cannot be held accountable by a group of poor indigenous and rural people, whose power and influence pale in comparison to the oil behemoth’s.

The declaration is a compelling - and galling - read. The depths Chevron has sunk to with its duplicitous maneuvering is staggering. So, ever wonder how the company executes all these shady tactics?

Chevron have assembled a crack team of Human Rights Hitmen to employ any dirty trick, intimidation tactic, and shady legal manoeuvre they can conceive to help avoid cleaning up its mess in Ecuador. But, we can’t let them get away with it: we need you to help us expose Chevron’s Human Rights Hitmen.

We’ve created a mini-site detailing the work Chevron are doing to deny human rights to the plaintiffs in Ecuador. Check out the site and then help us get the word out. There are buttons on the site so you can share.

Most importantly, you can help us make sure journalists and anyone looking into the environmental lawsuit in Ecuador can find out the truth about the case: by linking to the Human Rights Hitmen on your blog, website, Facebook, Twitter or anywhere else you can, you improve the search ranking for our site so the truth is far easier to reveal.

We need to make sure that when anyone researches this case they see the complete version - not Chevron’s spin. So please do post links, using keywords like 'Chevron,''Human Rights,''Ecuador,''lawsuit,''oil,''rainforest' and any other search related terms so that those looking for more information on this landmark environmental lawsuit in Ecuador can discover the truth.

Chevron is working hard to push a narrative that portrays itself as the victim, and the RICO suit is the latest attempt to reinforce their bogus version of events. But, there is a reason Chevron was found guilty: because Chevron are guilty.

If anyone is trying to defraud the courts and the public it’s Chevron. These Human Rights Hitmen are the people pushing Chevron’s self-serving narrative on the public and trying to enforce it in the courts. Let’s all shine a bright light on their misdeeds.

Large, wealthy corporations like Chevron think they can get away with poisoning communities in their reckless pursuit of profits. The thing is, in many cases they can, thanks to dirty tricks operatives like Diego Borja, morally-bankrupt lawyers like Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Andrea E. Neuman and Randy M. Mastro. Plus corporate spymasters like Kroll Inc.’s Sam Anson, and of course, Chevron’s own in-house counsel — none other than R. Hewitt Pate, a former Bush Administration lawyer who was once described as 'Chevron’s Karl Rove.'

Help us expose these Human Rights Hitmen and fight for justice for the thousands of rainforest dwellers who are still sick and dying from Chevron’s oil pollution. Join us at: changechevron.org/human-rights-hitmen

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