Amnesty International and CORE have challenged the UK government’s attempt to block a court case that seeks to hold Shell accountable for its role in human rights violations in Nigeria. Platform supports the coalition of groups challenging the UK government and calling on it to reverse its position. The FT reports:
The UK government is facing pressure from human rights activists about why it has chosen to intervene in a US court case connected to oil major Royal Dutch Shell.
The UK government and the Dutch government have jointly filed a so-called “amicus brief” to the US Supreme Court on the side of Shell in the long running Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum case. This lawsuit was brought by Niger Delta communities who are suing Shell.
The case has been brought in the US under the controversial Alien Tort statute, an 1789 law that is used by human rights lawyers to sue multinational companies in US courts over involvement in alleged human rights abuses abroad.
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