Twelve US members of Congress have written to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), urging to issue criminal summons to Dow Chemical Company in connection with the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.
The letter signed by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and Pramila Jayapal, and Congressman Frank Pallone Jr, among others has asked that the Dow Chemical Company — the key accused in the tragedy — respond to India’s repeated summons to appear in court.
Under the terms of a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty on Criminal Matters, signed by the United States and India in 2001, India must request US authorities to serve the summons on its behalf.
According to the Congress members, the present request is the seventh time India has asked the DOJ to intervene, so far without success, said the members.
“It is shocking that those charged with criminal responsibility for the Bhopal tragedy have never been held accountable,” wrote the members.
On the DOJ’s failure to act in support of India’s efforts to prosecute the chief accused in the Bhopal criminal proceedings, the members wrote, “is creating an indelible stain upon our nation’s reputation for upholding international legal and moral standards that must be corrected.”
The industrial disaster took place in occurred on December 2-3, 1984 after a leak from the Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) pesticide plant in Bhopal exposed thousands of people to toxic gas.
“In 1984, without warning, a poorly designed and recklessly maintained Union Carbide pesticides factory leaked 27 tons of poison gas into the Indian city of Bhopal. In a few hours, thousands were dead, and tens of thousands maimed. Deaths continue, and it’s estimated today that over 100,000 people still suffer chronic illnesses,” reads the letter.
The letter further states, “Almost 40 years later, criminal proceedings arising from Indian bureau investigations into the events of December 3, 1984 remain completely unresolved. Not a single criminal fine or penalty has been paid for Bhopal, known as the world’s worst industrial disaster, and those charged with culpable homicide – the equivalent in US law of criminally negligent manslaughter – are yet to spend a single day in custody.”
In 1992, prime accused Union Carbide, a former Fortune 100 US corporation, was declared by Indian courts to be an ‘absconder’ – or fugitive from justice – alongside former CEO Warren Anderson. An extradition request to US authorities was still pending when Warren Anderson passed away.
Following a 2001 merger, Union Carbide became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical (now Dow Inc.).
A three-year investigation by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) found that Union Carbide was responsible for inadequate technology, double standards in safety and emergency preparedness and reckless cost-cutting of security systems within the pesticide plant from which the poisonous gas leaked.
Union Carbide has stated on record that it does not accept Indian jurisdiction and so will not attend the trial. Since 2004, Dow has in turn been summoned to attend ongoing criminal proceedings on seven occasions but is yet to comply, said the members of Congress in the letter.
Following the issuance of a ‘show cause notice’ in March this year by an Indian judge, Dow’s attendance in court has been set for October 3, 2023.
Bhopal gas survivors organisations thanked for this step.
“It is indeed heartening to find some of the most powerful voices in the US Congress calling for the US DOJ to act as per law and stop their country’s image being sullied as a safe haven for criminal corporations,” said Rashida Bee, convener of an organisation of Bhopal Gas Tragedy survivors.
Rachna Dhingra of Bhopal Group for Information & Action said, “There is a lesson in this action by the US lawmakers, for our government’s departments that are helping the US corporations to remain unpunished. Hopefully, it will be emulated by the leading voices of the current opposition in our country.”
