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print versionINTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE IN BHOPAL
www.bhopal.net
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR
April 21 – June 1, 2009
CONTACT: Shayna Samuels, 718-541-4785
or Glenn Turner, 917-817-3396
- Bhopal Survivors to Tour U.S.
Anticipating 25th Anniversary of Chemical Disaster
- Dow Chemical Urged to Clean Up Bhopal Contamination and
Face Criminal Trial in India As Human Tragedy Continues
- Survivors to Meet with Congressional Leaders, Chemical Security Experts and Student Groups in Two Dozen Cities Nationwide
On Tuesday, April 21 human rights activists from Bhopal, India will begin a two-dozen-city tour of the United States to raise awareness about the ongoing human suffering in this central Indian city. The tour is the first of many 25th anniversary events planned to commemorate the tragedy of December 3, 1984 when twenty-seven tons of lethal gases leaked from Union Carbide’s pesticide factory in Bhopal, immediately killing 8,000 people and poisoning thousands of others. Around the world human rights, legal, environmental health and other experts are demanding that Dow Chemical, the current owner of Union Carbide, be held accountable for this atrocity.
WHO IS ON TOUR?
Rachna Dhingra was just six years old and living in Delhi when the world’s worst industrial disaster struck Bhopal. After moving to the U.S. and becoming active in the Association for India’s Development (AID), she eventually moved to Bhopal to work with the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal.
Safreen Khan ’s mother was exposed to the gas from the Bhopal disaster in 1984. Having nowhere else to go Safreen and her family continue to live in the area and consume poisoned water daily.
Sarita Malviya is a resident of one of the many water-contaminated communities living around the Union Carbide factory. She is one of the founding members of Children Against Dow Carbide, a group that meets weekly with about 60 members ages 6 to 18.
Satinath “Sathyu†Sarangi is a metallurgical engineer turned activist who arrived in Bhopal a day after the disaster and stayed on to become a key figure in the struggle for justice. He is a founding trustee of the Sambhavna Clinic, a nonprofit dedicated to the holistic treatment of gas-affected persons.
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS
May 4-8, Washington, DC – The Bhopalis will meet with members of Congress and the staff of the Chemical Security Board. Also on Thursday, May 7 from 6:30-8:30 pm they will have a public event at the Greenpeace office that is co-sponsored by the Center for Health Environment and Justice, EarthRights, Friends of the Earth, and Greenpeace.
Saturday, May 9, Brooklyn, NY – Kids for a Better Future — an organization started by a 9- year-old boy who decided he wanted to do something to improve the world and started fundraising for various projects ( http://www.kidsforabetterfuture.org ) — will hold a walk-a-thon at the same time that Children Against Dow/Carbide will be holding a walk-a-thon in Bhopal.
Thursday, May 14, Midland, MI –Tour participants will be attending the Dow Annual General Meeting to make sure that Dow’s shareholders know that their liabilities in Bhopal will not go away until the company faces trial in India and cleans up the factory.
May 18-20, Chicago, IL, CleanMed Conference — Sathyu Sarangi will receive an award at the annual conference sponsored by Health Care Without Harm. The award honors the innovative health care model at the Sambhavna Clinic, which treats Bhopal’s gas victims. In addition to offering free services and successfully integrating eastern and western medicine, the clinic is also environmentally sustainable with its use of solar panels and cisterns to capture water.
May 25-27, Bay Area, CA – The survivors and advocates will be in the San Francisco Bay Area near the end of their tour. On Tuesday May 2, they will be holding a press conference with leaders of the Environmental Justice Struggle in Richmond, CA. On Wednesday May 27, they will be holding a large public event with over 18 co-sponsor organizations at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Berkeley.
Other cities on the tour include: Boston, MA, Bloomington, IN, Dayton, OH, Cleveland, OH, Pittsburgh, PA, Institute, WV, College Park, MD, Princeton, NJ, Buffalo, NY, Toronto, ON, Houston, TX, Austin, TX, Atlanta, GA, Vancouver, BC, San Diego, CA, Portland, OR, Los Angeles, CA and Seattle, WA. (For the full tour itinerary please visit -http://survivors.boston4bhopal.org/
WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS?
Twenty-five y ears after the tragedy Dow Chemical, the current owner of Union Carbide, still has not been held accountable. Today, at least 150,000 people, including children born to parents who survived the disaster, are suffering from exposure-related health effects such as cancer, neurological damage and mental illness. More than 10,000 people are still forced to drink water laced with alarmingly high levels of mercury, carbon tetrachloride and other persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals.
Dow Chemical is being urged to: 1) Clean up the poisoned groundwater and contaminated areas within and outside the factory; 2) Arrange for long-term economic rehabilitation of survivors whose livelihoods have suffered as a consequence of the disaster; and 3) Submit to the ongoing criminal and civil proceedings as today’s owner of Union Carbide, which stands accused in Bhopal court and has been declared a fugitive from justice.
In addition, Dow Chemical is one the largest U.S. chemical manufacturer and a major source of many of the world’s most toxic compounds including pesticides, plastics and solvents. They have also been declared one of America’s most dangerous companies in the event of accidents or terrorist attacks at its chemical facilities, according to US PIRG.
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Main contacts throughout the tour:
Shana Ortman, North American Coordinator, International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
shana(at)panna.org, Office: (415) 981-6205 x355, Cell: (415) 746-0306
Aquene Freechild, North American Strategy Coordinator, International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal
afreechild(at)environmentalhealthfund.org, Office: (617) 524-6018, Cell: (617) 378-2579
Further media resources:
