Wiwa v. Shell Settlement a Victory for Corporate Accountability

In another victory for holding corporations accountable for gross violations of human rights, Shell Oil agreed to pay US $15.5 million to the families of members of the Ogoni people to settle a lawsuit brought in the United States against Shell for complicity in, among other crimes, torture, abduction, summary execution, and crimes against humanity.  This is the second major payment made by a multinational corporation accused of complicity in human rights abuses as a result of litigation in the United States.  The first involved allegations concerning Unocal’s activities in Burma which resulted in an undisclosed settlement payment to the plaintiffs, reported to be in the range of US $30 million.