They are still dying in Bhopal

20 years on — Multinational still refuses to accept liability

On 3 December, BBC World and BBC News 24 ran an interview with a Jude Finisterra, identified as a spokesperson for Dow Chemical, the multinational that incorporates Union Carbide, which was responsible for the 1984 Bhopal tragedy in India.

Bhopal gets its periodical share of news around this time every year. On 3 December 1984, the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal released 40 tonnes of lethal methyl isocyanate gas into the air, in one of the world's worst environmental disasters. Every year, protests and ceremonies take place in the central Indian city, where everyone has been affected by a poisonous leak that caused the immediate deaths of nearly 7,000 people and in subsequent years killed a further 15,000 people. The after-effects have affected the health of tens of thousands of people in that region of India.

During the interview, Finisterra claimed that the company had finally admitted responsibility for the Bhopal disaster. He also claimed that the company had established a $12 billion fund to compensate victims' families and survivors of the disaster.

The admission of responsibility was received with relief by those who have spent 20 years campaigning for it. It also made good news in the morning of 3 December, and so it was also carried on news bulletins.

The news also briefly knocked three points off Dow shares before the BBC confirmed that it had been the victim of an anti-corporate hoaxster. 'Finisterra' was not, in fact, a Dow official, as the pharmaceutical company rushed to make clear.

The company also reitereted that there would be no change to the 20-year policy of denying responsibility and shifting the blame for the health and safety infringements in the Bhopal factory. Dow Chemical, which bought Union Carbide in 2001, still refuses to take responsibility for the company it bought, living up to its history of valuing profit more than human life.

Authorised Dow Chemical spokeswoman, Marina Ashanin, told BBC World from Switzerland: "Dow confirms there was no basis whatsoever for this report."

Rachna Dhingra, a spokesperson for the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, said: "It is a cruel, cruel hoax to play on the people of Bhopal on the 20th anniversary of this tragedy."

Evading responsibilities

The Bhopal case illustrates how companies evade their human rights responsibilities and underlines the need to establish a universal human rights framework that can be applied to companies directly.

Governments have the primary responsibility for protecting the human rights of communities endangered by the activities of corporations, such as those employing hazardous technology. As the influence and reach of companies have grown, there has been a developing consensus that they must be brought within the framework of international human rights standards

This year, as in every other, hundreds of survivors, relatives of the dead and rights activists marched through Bhopal demanding justice. Protesters marched on Friday shouting "Don't forget the victims of the genocide in Bhopal", "Death to Dow" and "We will fight, we will win". Overnight, about 300 people held a candlelit vigil outside the derelict factory to remember the dead. The mood was mostly sombre, though angry widows marched to the plant crying "Death to Union Carbide".

Survivors believe Union Carbide, now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, has betrayed the victims, denying responsibility and fencing against compensation, medical care and/or rehabilitation costs for the thousands who suffer permanent disabilities as a consequence of the chemical leak.

Demonstrators point out how lethal chemicals are still lying around at the plant, some in the open and how these are still leaking into the soil, affecting groundwater resources in the area.

Amnesty report

Clouds of injustice: Bhopal disaster 20 years on, a report by Amnesty International, demonstrates how companies and governments are evading their human rights responsibilities, and underlines the need for universal human rights standards for businesses.

"A generation on, survivors are still waiting for just compensation and adequate medical care," said Benedict Southworth, Campaigns Director at Amnesty International. " Union Carbide and Dow have still not cleaned up the site or stopped pollution that started when the plant opened in the 1970s, meaning local residents are continuing to fall ill from drinking contaminated water."

The effects of the ongoing pollution can be seen on newcomers to Bhopal, who were not exposed to the original gas leak. Shehesta Kureishi, 35, moved to the area after her marriage 12 years ago. She told Amnesty International, "two and a half years ago I stopped menstruating entirely". She also has pain from her lower back to her groin. Her seven-year-old son Ateeb complains of pain in his joints. Both have been drinking contaminated water.

The company maintains that groundwater tests around the plant in 1998 indicated it was free of toxins and that the water contamination is the result of improper drainage and other pollution. The Indian Government is awaiting the outcome of a US court hearing on whether Dow Chemicals should be asked to clean up the site further.

Even today, there is little medical research on the effects of the gas leak and the pollution, meaning their full impact is unknown.

Astonishingly, no one has been held to account for the toxic leak and its appaling consequences. Dow and Union Carbide both deny legal responsibility, with Union Carbide refusing to appear before Indian courts to face trial - the former chairman of Union Carbide, Warren Anderson, still faces charges of manslaughter in India but refuses to return to the country.

Union Carbide Corporation tried to shift responsibility onto Union Carbide India Ltd (UCIL), claiming it had no control over its Indian subsidiary. In fact, UCC owned 50.9% of UCIL and maintained a high degree of corporate, managerial, technical and operational control over it, and was in a position to prevent the disaster.

"UCC was responsible for a litany of failures in the period leading up to the gas leak. Bhopal shows how readily some companies can evade their human rights responsibilities," said Amnesty's Southworth. "There is a real need for global human rights standards for corporations. The UN Norms for Business are an important step in this direction, but to hold companies accountable and prevent disasters like Bhopal happening again, it is imperative to have enforceable standards that guarantee redress for victims."

The Amnesty International report explains how Union Carbide stored ultra-hazardous chemicals in bulk; failed to set up an emergency plan to warn local residents; ignored warnings about the possibility of a chemical reaction similar to that which caused the leak and withheld information critical to the medical treatment of the victims.

The document also accuses the Indian authorities of failure to adequately protect their citizens, both before and after the disaster. Officials were aware that the plant used hazardous materials but Amnesty International was unable to find any evidence that either the state or central government took adequate steps to assess the risks to the local community. Without consulting the victims, the Indian Government agreed a modest financial settlement with UCC and cleared the company of legal liability.

Union Carbide argues that it has provided substantial funds in compensation — it paid $470 million in 1989, though only a part of that compensation has reached the victims — and has done much work to help the victims and improve the environment in Bhopal.

The effects of the leak and the insufficient compensation, along with other government failings, are felt every day by the survivors. Parvati Bai, 70, is ill and far too weak to work. Her husband died a few months after the gas leak. Her only source of income is the 150 Rupees ($3.30) she receives each month as a pension. "That is not enough even to buy myself some food," she said. "Some day I will die and the Municipal Corporation will just take my body away. That will be the end."