the toxic truth - Greenpeace

174 Amnesty internAtionAl And greenpeAce netherlAnds
Chapter 14
in Côte d’Ivoire having been discontinued,
and Trafigura Parties, including employees,
enjoying de facto legal immunity in that
country. These facts collectively show that,
neither the corporate Trafigura Group nor the
individuals have ever faced charges for the
events that unfolded in Côte d’Ivoire.
In the Netherlands, the legal framework exists
for prosecuting illegal acts committed abroad,
but in this case the prosecutorial desire to
pursue these did not exist. The UK prosecutor,
as far as is publicly known, has done nothing,
and no steps have been taken either to investigate
or to prosecute the company in the UK.
Failure to co-operate to compel Trafigura
to disclose the information that it holds, on
the content of and the effects of exposure
to the waste, to the victims and to ensure
monitoring and disclosure of any potential
long-terms impacts of exposure to the waste
None of the states involved have so far
required Trafigura to disclose to the victims
the information that it holds on the content
of the waste and effects of exposure. The
lack of information about the content of the
waste and its effects handicapped the medical
response in Côte d’Ivoire. Lack of information,
particularly about potential long-term effects,
has also been highlighted by the victims as
one of their primary concerns. Trafigura was
not asked to disclose all the information that it
holds, on the content of the waste and its own
research into potential effects, to victims by
the Ivorian government during the settlement
process or after. Despite the fact that Trafigura
noted in the civil case in the UK that it held
information on the composition of the waste
and its potential impacts and that it had
undertaken scientific and expert studies about
exposure to the waste, the UK authorities
have never asked for this information to be
made available to the victims or to the Ivorian
authorities. Instead of treating this as a key
issue impacting people’s right to health, it
has been treated as purely a private matter
between parties in a civil dispute, and the
failure to compel the company to reveal the
information it holds is also linked to the UK’s
broader failure to open any investigations itself
into the company’s conduct.
The Ivorian government has also failed to
conduct any long-term monitoring of impacts
of exposure to the waste, particularly in terms
of environmental and health related effects.
However, none of the other governments
involved have engaged in international cooperation
with the Ivorian government to
support such a monitoring process, including
through offering technical assistance.
Failure of international co-operation
Even though this particular case involves the
transboundary movement and illegal dumping
of toxic waste, despite the existence of a
specific regime to prevent such occurrences,
the failures that were documented in this
case are emblematic of those faced by victims
of human rights abuses by multinational
companies in many other contexts. In moving
forward, greater steps are required to end
corporate impunity. The bottom line is that
prosecutors, law enforcers and ministries
of justice must take steps to prosecute and
make it clear that corporate entities and
directors will be held to account if they commit
illegal acts, which abuse human rights, both
domestically and abroad. In this situation, the
legal breach is clear, however, what has been
done about it is not. When the rules that are
in place are not enforced, or when mechanics
of enforcement are insufficient, the human
cost is significant and the framework of hardwon
international law is undermined. Without
adequate legal enforcement mechanisms
holding corporate entities to account for their
actions, victims will continue to be denied
their right to an effective remedy and failed by
states.