The petition exceeds the 100,000 target; the White House to respond.
AB Wire
(This story was updated June 12, 2015)
A petition on the White House website urging the US government to make Dow Chemical Co. accountable for the 1984 Bhopal gas leak has received more than 106,000 signatures.
Dow Chemical is the current owner of Union Carbide, whose pesticide plant in the Madhya Pradesh capital leaked gas on the December 2, 1984 night resulting in the death of several thousands.
The petition, created on May 15, is titled “Uphold International Law! Stop Shielding Dow Chemical from Accountability for Corporate Crimes in Bhopal, India”
Since it has received more than 100,000, the White House is required to respond to the petition. As of 4:30 pm EDT on June 12, it had received 106,668 signatures.
Here is the full text of the petition:
In 1984 a factory majority-owned by Union Carbide (UCC, a US corporation) leaked toxic gas in Bhopal, India, killing 8K-10K people instantly & maiming 500K more. India charged UCC with manslaughter, but UCC refused to show for trial. Dow Chemical bought UCC in 2001 but has not made UCC available to face charges. Under a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, India sent 4 notices to the US Dept. of Justice to summon Dow to explain UCC’s whereabouts. The DoJ has ignored or obstructed every notice. The same DoJ made BP pay $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties for Deepwater Horizon. 31 years of US protection of UCC and Dow must end. We insist that the US govt. meet its obligations under Treaty & international law by immediately serving notice upon Dow to attend court in Bhopal on July 13, 2016.
The petition is supported by a number of nonprofit and civil society groups, including the Association For India’s Development (AID).
An AID missive shared with the American Bazaar pointed out that survivors of the tragedy, considered the worst industrial disaster in history, “had been demanding that the US Corporations responsible [Union Carbide Corp. and its current owner Dow Chemical Co.] along with the Indian Government, redress the issue by compensating the affected, cleaning up the premises, and providing for survivors’ medical care.”
It accused the US government of playing “a role in hindering justice for the Bhopalis” by “silently shielding the corporations responsible by blocking the court notices to Dow Chemical in relation to the pending criminal case against it.”