Shell buys its way out of trouble

The Dutch-British oil company Shell is paying the heirs of Nigerian human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed in 1995, 15 million dollars in compensation. The oil giant stresses that in doing so it is not admitting any responsibility for Saro-Wiwa's death. The settlement means that the case will not go to trial. This represents a questionable victory for Saro-Wiwa's heirs, the daily Trouw writes: "Normally oil production puts bread on the table. But for the Ogoni tribe of the Niger Delta it brought nothing but misery. Disastrous pollution and serious human rights abuses that culminated in a show trial against nine activists and their execution by the military regime. The role of Shell in the affair has never been entirely clear. … The settlement appears to be a good conclusion for all parties involved. On the other hand this would have been a unique chance to learn more about the conduct of the multinational in a sensitive area. There are certainly strong grounds for suspicion. And when the matter in hand is the aiding and abetting of murder, a settlement is fundamentally wrong."

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