[News] Victory for Ecuador's Indigenous People, Canada Court Rejects Toxic-Spilling Chevron's Case

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Victory-for-Ecuadors-Indigenous-People-Canada-Court-Rejects-Toxic-Spilling-Chevrons-Case--20171031-0031.html 



  Victory for Ecuador's Indigenous People, Canada Court Rejects
  Toxic-Spilling Chevron's Case

31 October 2017
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ecuador's Indigenous groups will no longer have to cough up US$1 million 
on legal fees that Chevron, the oil giant, had earlier claimed from the 
groups, Ontario's top court has ruled.

    *RELATED*:
    Indigenous Groups From Canada Join Ecuador's Fight Against Chevron
    <https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Indigenous-Groups-From-Canada-Join-Ecuadors-Fight-Against-Chevron-20170926-0005.html>

The court dismissed Chevron's claim to legal fees, saying it was a 
recourse to block the case.

"An order for security for costs should only be made where the justness 
of the case demands it," the Appeal Court said. "Courts must be vigilant 
to ensure an order that is designed to be protective in nature is not 
used as a litigation tactic to prevent a case from being heard on its 
merits."

"Chevron Corp and Chevron Canada have annual gross revenues in the 
billions of dollars.  It is difficult to believe that either of these 
two corporations, which form part of a global conglomerate with 
approximately 1,500 subsidiaries, require protection for costs awards 
that amount or could amount to a minuscule fraction of their revenues," 
the court added in a statement.

The decision marks an important victory for the Indigenous people in the 
region, as they can now continue with their 5-year fight where they are 
seeking US$9.5 billion for decades-long damage caused to the ancestral 
lands and trauma caused to the inhabitants.

"We are thrilled Canadian courts denied this naked attempt by Chevron to 
block justice to the affected peoples of Ecuador," Luis Yanza, a Goldman 
Prize winner representing the  Defense Front of the Amazon, an 
Ecuador-based nonprofit that spearheaded the case said.

Ecuador's Indigenous groups first filed the case against the oil 
conglomerate in 1993, Patricio Salazar, the lead Ecuadorian lawyer for 
the plaintiffs, said. "This decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal is 
critically important," Salazar said. "Twenty-four years obviously is too 
long for any litigation, but especially one involving severe harm to 
indigenous groups as a result of environmental pollution."

“This decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal is critically important,” 
Salazar added. “Twenty-four years obviously is too long for any 
litigation, but especially one involving severe harm to indigenous 
groups as a result of environmental pollution."

Chevron is known for causing an "Amazon Chernobyl" with the oil behemoth 
dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the rainforest and water 
bodies that severely impacted the Indigenous people in the region, even 
causing a cancer epidemic, where many communities saw their families 
decimated.

"There can be no doubt that the environmental devastation to the 
appellants’ lands has severely hampered their ability to earn a 
livelihood. If we accept the findings that underlie the Ecuadorian 
judgment – findings that have not been undermined in our courts – Texaco 
has contributed to the appellants’ misfortune," the court said in a 
statement.

Chevron lost the case against the Indigenous communities in Ecuador in 
2013, but rejected the court's ruling, further selling off its assets in 
the Latin American country. But the Indigenous communities continued to 
fight for their rights and the damages caused, taking their fight to the 
Canadian court. The Canadian top court, too, ruled against Chevron once 
in 2015 but the oil giant made several claims rejecting the ruling, 
saying the court had no jurisdiction.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20171101/a23404be/attachment.htm>