Gas tragedy blame

Taken to task: An informal int

The Union and Madhya Pradesh governments have been ruled culpable by a
Rome-based tribunal of violating the rights of the victims of the
Bhopal gas
tragedy. The Permanent People's Tribunal (PPT) based its ruling on
hearings
conducted in October 1992 in Bhopal.

The PPT ruling noted the failure of industry self-regulation and of
govern-
ment policies in dealing with threats to human safety and to the
environment.
It also criticised the medical and the legal professions, saying that
despite
some notable exceptions", it failed to help ameliorate victims'
distress land
had even on some occasions aided and abetted their "revictimisation".

The PPT ruling is accompanied by a comprehensive plan of action for
both governments for the economic and medical rehabilitation of the
victims,
for development of biomedical criteria for compensation, for creation
of an
independent international medical commission to review available data
on
the health conditions of the victims, for independent investigation
of allegations of harassment of women, and for issuance of an extradition
order for former Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson so he and the company can
be prosecuted for culpable homicide.