Shell condemned

protests and demonstrations were held across the world in support of the struggle for the rights of Ogoni tribals, whose land has been exploited by oil and natural gas transnational Shell in Nigeria. Human rights activists and environmentalists picketed petrol stations selling Shell products on November 10 in New Delhi, Mumbai, Washington, dc , Vancouver (Canada), the Netherlands and Germany at the second death anniversary of Nigerian human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.

In London, environmentalists protested against the Queen's planned visit to Shell on its hundred-year celebrations just one day after Saro-Wiwa's death anniversary.

Shell has a bad environmental and human rights record. It is heavily implicated in potentially catastrophic climate change and is a member of the Global Climate Coalition in the us , a group actively lobbying against attempts to reverse climate change.

Buckingham Palace had stated that the Queen was acting on the advice of her government in persisting with the visit.

Mark Brown, spokesperson for 100 Days, a network of groups and individuals who have come together in an initiative to challenge the oil industry in the countdown to the Kyoto climate conference commented: "This advice makes a mockery of New Labour's supposed commitment to the environment and an ethical foreign policy. Human rights transgressions and systematic environmental destruction are the bedrock of Shell's vast wealth and longevity. There is nothing to celebrate."

Although guilty of environmental damage throughout the world, Shell Oil is infamous for its exploitation of Nigerian oil reserves. It has laid pipelines through villages, creating frequent oil spills, destroying once fertile land, polluting rivers, and increasing respiratory diseases. The Ogoni people of the oil-rich Niger delta organised themselves in peaceful protest and successfully forced Shell to virtually abandon Ogoniland in 1993.

However, Shell continued operations. When the Ogonis organised peaceful protests, demanding that Shell clean up the spilled oil and share the profits with the Ogoni, the Nigerian dictatorship -- with financial and logistical support and guns from Shell money -- conducted a campaign of terror on the Ogoni. Over 1,800 people were murdered. Eight Ogoni activists along with their leader, Ken Saro-Wiwa -- winner of the 1995 Environmental Prize for Africa -- were executed after being falsely charged with political incitement. Before his death, Saro-Wiwa had addressed a letter to the people of the world through the Press, asking them to boycott Shell products and demand justice for the Ogoni.

Shell makes over us $300 million a year from Nigeria and is about to begin work on a us $4-billion natural gas joint venture with the military regime. About 90 per cent of Nigeria's foreign income and 80 per cent of its military revenue is derived from oil. Half of this comes from Shell.

Since the 1950s, Shell has extracted over us $30 billion worth of oil from Ogoniland. While these huge oil deals have benefited the corrupt dictators, the Ogoni remain among the poorest in Africa, lacking running water, electricity, adequate schools and health care.

Ken Saro-Wiwa's brother, Owens Wiwa, who fled Nigeria after the execution, is continuing the fight for Ogoni rights. He had urged Indian ngo s to support the fight. One of Shell's next targets is India. Europe's Shell International Gas has signed an agreement with India's Essar Group. It will invest us $2 billion in Indian projects, including one each in Gujarat and Tripura.

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