Verdict to be Released Against Chemical Companies

About 200 people gathered in Bangalore, India on Saturday December 3rd, for the first day of the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) Session on Agrochemical Transnational Corporations (TNCs). Farmers and farmworkers, families of victims, environmental and health advocates, scientists, and lawyers all have their hopes pinned high on the outcome of the PPT, an international opinion tribunal that aims to indict the “Big Six” of the pesticide industry for human rights violations.

Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, Dupont, Dow Chemical, and BASF are being indicted for violations related to the manufacture and sale of hazardous pesticides and technologies that have disastrous impacts on human life, the environment, and livelihoods.

The PPT coincides with the 27th anniversary of the Bhopal Tragedy, which most clearly illustrates the lack of accountability of agrochemical TNCs. Pesticide Action Network (PAN) International, organisers of the PPT, expresses its support to the protest actions led today by the people of Bhopal, who have vowed to stop trains and mobilize by the thousands in order to highlight their demand for justice.

“In remembering Bhopal, the frustration of the people is that the poisoning continues. Thousands continue to suffer each day, while the company responsible continues to profit because internationally, there is no framework to make them accountable,” said Irene Fernandez, chairperson of PAN Asia Pacific and a technical witness for the PPT.

“The parent company cannot be sued, which is how Dow Chemical managed to get away scot-free and only paid meager compensation. Today, the Bhopal Tragedy continues in different forms, through different ways of control by agrochemical TNCs on people, their lives, land, food and resource,” she added.  

Witnesses from around the world presented cases of human rights violations by the Big Six before a distinguished international panel of jurors. Jurors for the PPT included the Indian legal scholar Upendra Baxi, British scientist Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher, African environmental lawyer Ibrahima Ly,  Japanese professor Masayoshi Tarui, German economist Elmar Altvater, Italian professor Paolo Ramazotti, and PPT Secretary General Dr. Gianni Togoni.

Cases included Bayer’s endosulfan poisoning in Kasargod village, Syngenta’s paraquat poisoning of Malaysian palm oil plantation workers, and child labour and pesticide poisoning in Indian cotton plantations. Doctors and a victim from Kasargod, a Malaysian plantation worker, and an Indian child labourer also testified.

Also Petrona Villasboa also testified regarding the  death of her child Silvino Talavera who was poisoned by Monsanto’s Round-up Ready, which is widely used on genetically-engineered (GE) soybeans in Latin America. 

Meanwhile, U.S. farmer Dave Runyon took the stand to speak about the contamination of fields by Monsanto’s GE crops and how the company has sued aggrieved farmers. And British beekeeper Graham White  served as a witness on the worldwide death of bees caused by Bayer’s neonicotinoid pesticides. 

The PPT, founded in 1979 in Italy, looks into complaints of human rights violations submitted by communities. Borne out of the tribunals on the Vietnam War and Latin American dictatorships, the PPT has held 35 sessions so far using the rigorous conventional court format. While its verdicts are not legally binding, these can set precedent for future legal actions against defendants, which in this case are agrochemical TNCs. Defendants in this Tribunal also include the governments of the companies’ home states (U.S., Switzerland, and Germany), and the International Monetary Fund-World Bank and World Trade Organization.

“This Tribunal is a recourse to justice for those who have found none under the current legal mechanisms at the national and international level. We hope that the result of this PPT will serve as a reminder to governments and institutions of their responsibility to safeguard the rights of the people against corporate aggression and impunity,” said Sarojeni Rengam, executive director of PAN AP.

The verdict is set to be released on December 6, the end of the four-day tribunal.