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Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to pay $15.5 million to settle several lawsuits over the executions of protesters in Nigeria in the 1990s, lawyers for both sides said on Monday (June 8).
The settlement comes as the more than decade-long dispute was due to go to trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
The lawsuit accused Shell of human rights abuses in the Niger Delta region, including violations connected with the 1995 hangings of author and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other protesters by Nigeria's then-military government.
The lawsuit was filed in 1996 on behalf of the relatives of the murdered activists by the Center for Constitutional Rights and EarthRights International.
Marco Simons, Legal Director at EarthRights International told Reuters that $5 million would go into a trust for the benefit of the Ogoni people. The rest of the money would go to lawyer's fees and compensation for the families.
The original lawsuits were brought under a 1789 U.S. statute, the Alien Tort Claims Act, allowing noncitizens to file cases in U.S. courts for human rights abuses occurring overseas.
The lawsuits sought unspecified damages from Shell for backing the jailing, torturing and killing of the protesters as well as for polluting the region's air and water.
Nigeria is the world's eighth biggest oil exporter.
The protesters, who campaigned nonviolently for a fairer share of Nigeria's oil wealth for the poor and against environmental damage by the industry, had been convicted of murder in a trial that human rights groups labeled a sham.
Protests led by Saro-Wiwa forced Shell in 1993 to abandon its oil fields in Ogoniland, a tiny part of the Niger Delta whose people Saro-Wiwa represented.
Shell denies any wrongdoing.
"Shell continues to deny liability, but we think the fact that they are paying over $15 million dollars to these plaintiffs itself is a recognition of responsibility for the injuries that they have suffered and for a substantial responsibility at that," Simons said The lawsuits sought unspecified damages from Shell for backing the jailing, torturing and killing of the protesters.
"Obviously, no amount of money can ultimately compensate for the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the other decedents who were killed. No amount of money can bring back a dead father or brother or husband, but we do feel that this is a fair measure of compensation for the claims in this case. The plaintiffs are very satisfied with this settlement," Simons said.
Simons added a word of warning for every company working in the Niger Delta.
"As for Shell and other companies operating in the Niger Delta and around the world, I think this settlement sends that message that you can not cause human rights violations, assist soldiers in committing abuses with impunity, that you will be held to account," he said.
Simons said that this settlement does not address the pollution and environmental damage caused by the oil production. He added that there are several lawsuits pending that seek to address the issues of pollution.
A multinational company has never been found liable of human rights abuses by a U.S. jury, but a few have settled out of court. The Shell case would have been the third to go to trial and the second involving a major oil company.