Contact: Natalie Butz, [email protected], 202-675-8761, @AIUSAmedia
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Amnesty International USA will rally outside The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, June 24, 2014 to urge the U.S. chemical giant to comply with a summons issued in the ongoing criminal case concerning the 1984 gas disaster in Bhopal, India. The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal has summoned Dow to appear on July 4, 2014 for a hearing in Bhopal.
Hundreds of thousands of victims of one of the world's worst industrial disasters – the 1984 catastrophic gas leak from the Union Carbide India Limited factory in Bhopal, India – are still waiting for justice. Over 20,000 people are believed to have died due to the disaster. More than 570,000 people, many of whom are still suffering, were exposed to damaging levels of toxic gas. The site has never been properly cleaned and continues to poison the residents of Bhopal.
We are closer than ever to realizing justice. Keep public pressure on Dow to ensure just compensation, adequate medical assistance and treatment, and comprehensive economic and social rehabilitation for the victims of the Bhopal disaster and their families.
EVENT: Amnesty International USA Urging Dow Chemical to Comply with Summons in Criminal Case in India
DATE/TIME: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 at 4:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Dow Chemical
1776 I Street NW (Metro: Farragut West)
Background:
Tens of thousands of victims of one of the world's worst industrial disasters – the 1984 catastrophic gas leak from the Union Carbide India Limited factory in Bhopal, India – are still waiting for justice. Union Carbide is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical.
Over 20,000 people are believed to have died due to the disaster. Even after 30 years, over 150,000 people are still battling chronic health problems. The site has never been properly cleaned. Over 40,000 people are still living next to the factory, and have been exposed to the toxic waste for the last 30 years.
A criminal court in Bhopal issued a summons to Dow Chemical to appear on July 4, 2014 for this case.
The industrial skeleton of the former Union Carbide factory today still lies abandoned in the center of Bhopal, with more than 350 tons of toxic waste untreated inside.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million members in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth, and dignity are denied.