A letter from the Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.
Dear Reader, This letter is to request your support and assistance in seeking redress for victims and survivors of the world's worst industrial disaster which took place in Bhopal, India on December 2, 1984. Official estimates put the toll of those killed immediately after the gas leak at over 1,170 and over 500,000 residents of Bhopal continue to suffer from chronic physical ailments, birth defects and mental anguish as a direct result of exposure to Union Carbide's toxic gases. More information on this unprecedented man-made catastrophe can be found at www.bhopal-justice.com which is a website maintained by the Campaign for Justice in Bhopal. On November 15, 1999, the victims and survivors organizations filed a federal class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York (Sajida Bano et al. v. Union Carbide Corp. et al., 99 Civ. 11329 (JFK)), accusing Union Carbide of gross negligence and racial discrimination in the design, operation and maintenance of its facility in Bhopal.
The Campaign for Justice in Bhopal is a not-for-profit coalition of Bhopal victims' voluntary organizations and NGOs around the world committed to the cause of holding Union Carbide accountable for its crimes in India. In April of 1992, the Bhopal District Court formally declared Union Carbide to be "a proclaimed absconder" for failure to appear before this Court where criminal charges of culpable homicide and manslaughter remain pending against it. As you may know, the United States Congress has played a key role in brokering a $1.5 billion settlement of class action lawsuits between Holocaust survivors and Swiss Banks and German corporations that profited from slave labor during World War II. Jewish citizens' groups and organizations made that resolution possible thanks to their active lobbying of Senators and Congressmen.
Similarly, the Campaign for Justice in Bhopal will be launching an effort to lobby House Representatives and Senators, including Reps. Gary Ackerman (co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans) and Frank Pallone, in an effort to seek their intervention in order to bring about a fair and meaningful resolution of this class action lawsuit against Union Carbide by holding public hearings and refusing to approve the merger of Dow Chemical with Union Carbide unless these companies take steps to address their outstanding liability to victims of the Bhopal Disaster. In these efforts, we would like to seek your participation and assistance as an equal partner in securing justice on behalf of survivors of the catastrophe. Please contact us at the earliest convenient opportunity to pursue a dialogue on these issues and how your organization can contribute to the cause of justice for Bhopal. Thank you in advance for your support and assistance.
India Together readers are encouraged to write Congressmen and other officials in the United States, to encourage a quick and reasonable settlement to the victims, which is long overdue. Addresses of Congressmen who you may write to specifically are listed here.
- Office of Congressman Gary L. Ackerman
Attn: Jonathan Berger, Legislative Director,
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515 - Office of Hon. Frank Pallone
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
- The Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
777 United Nations Plaza, Suite 3C,
New York, New York 10017
(212) 907-0720
January 2000
- Online petition seeking justice for Bhopal victims.
- Visit the Campaign for Justice in Bhopal on the web
- Tell us what you think of this story
