the toxic truth - Greenpeace

the toxic truth
On the morning of 20 August, 2006 the people of Abidjan, Côte
d’Ivoire, woke up to find that foul-smelling, toxic waste had been
dumped in numerous places around their city. Tens of thousands
of people suffered from nausea, headaches, breathing difficulties,
stinging eyes and burning skin. They did not know what was
happening; there was wide-spread panic. Health centres and
hospitals were soon overwhelmed. International agencies were
drafted in to help overstretched local medical staff. More than
100,000 people were treated, according to official records, but it is
likely that the number affected was higher as records are incomplete.
The waste that was dumped in Abidjan in August 2006 belonged
to an oil trading company called Trafigura. It arrived in the country
on board a cargo ship, the Probo Koala, chartered by Trafigura. The
waste originated in Europe and, under international law, should not
have been permitted to arrive in Côte d’Ivoire.
This report is the culmination of a three-year investigation by
Amnesty International and Greenpeace Netherlands into the
dumping, the events that led to it, and the action taken in response
to the dumping. It is a story of corporate crime, human rights
abuses and the failures of multiple governments to act to protect
people and the environment from companies bent on making profit
with scant regard for the human or environmental costs.
This case shows how national systems for enforcement of
international law have failed to keep up with companies that
operate trans-nationally.
It exposes how failures by the Netherlands and decisions made by a
private company in the United Kingdom contributed to the disaster
that unfolded in Côte d’Ivoire. It calls for far more robust action by
governments to investigate, punish and redress corporate crimes
that lead to human rights abuses and environmental damage.
The report lays out a clear case for the legal responsibilities of
governments beyond their own borders and demonstrates how
the exercise of extra-territorial jurisdiction in specific cases and
contexts is vital to ensure that human rights are protected and
those responsible for criminal acts are held to account.
The report argues for stronger action to hold Trafigura to account
for the dumping of the waste in Abidjan, and for the full realization
of the human right to an effective remedy for the victims of the
toxic waste dumping.