the toxic truth - Greenpeace

2 Amnesty internAtionAl And greenpeAce netherlAnds
This is a story of corporate
crime, human rights abuse
and governments’ failure
to protect people and the
environment. It is a story
that exposes how systems
for enforcing international
law have failed to keep up
with companies that operate
trans-nationally, and how
one company has been
able to take full advantage
of legal uncertainties and
jurisdictional loopholes, with
devastating consquences.
For the people at the centre of the story – the
people of Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire – it starts
with horror and ends in tragedy. It began on 20
August 2006 when they 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; they were
terrified. 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 authorities
reported that between 15 and 17 people died.
With medical treatment and time, the
symptoms abated, but for many the fear
remains. Six years on, they still do not know
what was in the waste. It had been illegally
exported from Europe, illegally brought into
Abidjan, and illegally dumped there. Numerous
laws – both national and international – had
been ignored.