By Tyler Campbell

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ABUJA, Nigeria – Two Nigerian towns, Ogale and Bille, have decided to take on Goliath and sue the seventh largest oil company in the world, Royal Dutch Shell in a British court. This case will be different from other suites Shell has faced from Nigeria. Instead of claiming damages for spills, these two villages are seeking compensation for Shell’s neglected clean up of effected areas in the Niger Delta. It was unclear at first if Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd., could be sued in the British court for events that occurred outside the county’s boarders. The decision handed down be a UK judge on Wednesday allowed the case to proceed for now.

The suites from these two villages are being headed by Leigh Day, a British human rights law firm. This is not the first time Leigh Day has taken on Shell for their involvement in polluting the Niger Delta. Just last year Leigh Day won $83.5 million for Bobo, another Nigerian Village effected by pollution. Shell had only offered $50,000 to the village to settle.

Shell has decided to challenge the courts jurisdiction over the matter and have asked English courts to intervene. Shell is also claiming that they are not to blame for the pollution citing multiple attacks and thefts from their systems by third parties in Nigeria.

Shells defense is not completely unfounded. The sites by these two villages are plagued with thefts, but also suffer from old infrastructure and a lack of general upkeep. Besides neglected cleanup the village of Billie is also suing Shell for failing to protect their Nigerian properties from these break-ins and sabotages.

These two villages have been some of the hardest hit by pollution in the Niger Delta since the late 1950’s. Ogale, which sits on the Ogale River, relies heavily on farming and fishing and has seen their natural recourses crumble due to polluted water ways, ground water, and swamps. The Bille village also relies heavily on fishing and is made up of a number of small islands strung throughout the Niger Delta. In some cases spills have been so bad that villagers were forced to put sand bags around buildings to stop oil from flowing in.

For more information, please see:

RT – No-one listens, no-one cares’: Nigerian communities sue Shell over chronic oil pollution – 3 March 2016

The Jurist – UK court rules Nigeria towns can sue Shell in UK ­ 3 March 2016

ABC News – Nigerians Sue Shell in UK Court for Oil Spills Contamination – 2 March 2016

The Guardian – Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd – 2 March 2016

By Tyler Campbell

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – A case between 4,365 South African miners and two major mining companies has come to an end after 12 long years. The two mining companies, Anglo American South Africa and AngloGold Ashanti settled the suite before it went to court for 500 million Rand ($32.5 million). The miners brought the suite because of a lung disease they had contracted while working in the companies’ mines.

Heading the case was Richard Meeran a lawyer from the UK, human rights firm, Leigh Day. Leigh Day first got involved in the case in 2012 and has followed through till its completion on Wednesday. However, much still remains to be done before sick miners receive their payouts.

Although 4,365 miners were included in the suite it is clear that not all of them will receive compensation. The money paid out by Anglo American and Anglo Gold will be put into a trust and paid out to all those who qualify. If one qualifies how much they will receive will depend on the severity of their silicosis and their age.

Meeran admits that he does not expect everyone in the class action to receive compensation. The law firm did its own sampling and estimates that just over half of the plaintiffs will qualify to receive payout. According to the structure of the trust all testing and payouts must be done within six years, but Meeran believed it should all be concluded in four.

The miners are all suffering from a condition known as Silicosis, a condition contracted from repeated inhalation of airborne dust particles. Complications of Silicosis can lead to severe respiratory disease, ultimately leading to death. The conditions created by mining are exactly the type lead to Silicosis. The two mining companies were not being sued because of creating unsafe working conditions but instead because they failed to provide the correct protective gear for their workers.

Although many human rights groups have been supportive of the settlement it may be that it does not go far enough. The deal did include a payout for affected workers but did not include an admission of liability for either company. This means that the settlement will be almost meaningless for any upcoming cases against the two companies for the same disease. One of these cases that could have bolstered by an admission of liability is currently in the South Gauteng High Court, South Africa’s superior court.

For more information, please see:

City Press – Silicosis claims: Anglo has to cough up nearly R500m – 6 March 2016

The Guardian – South African gold miners awarded £22m in compensation – 5 March 2016

SABC News – Multi-million rand silicosis settlement is a victory for human rights – 5 March 2016

Bloomberg Business – Anglo American South Africa, AngloGold Agree on Silicosis Deal – 4 March 2016