Ivory Coast students tear gassed

This video is called Lethal Use of Tear Gas in Bahrain from Amber Lyon of CNN.

From Associated Press:

Security forces tear gas university protesters in Ivory Coast

By Robbie Corey-Boulet

May 13, 2013 11:10 AM

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – Security forces in Ivory Coast used teargas to disperse hundreds of students demonstrating Monday against overcrowded classrooms and empty libraries at the country’s largest university, sending at least two students to the hospital with injuries, according to witnesses.

The demonstration had been timed to coincide with an appearance on campus by Higher Education Minister Cisse Ibrahima Bacongo, said literature student Josue Kwame, who took part in the demonstration. When the minister took the microphone to speak, students began shouting him down. The minister and other officials quickly fled into an administrative building.

For the next half hour police lobbed at least six rounds of tear gas at the demonstrators, some of whom wore bright red headbands and armbands to signal their frustration with conditions at the university, named after President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, the country’s first president.

The campus, which serves some 60,000 students, was reopened amid much fanfare last September after being closed for 18 months following Ivory Coast’s near-civil war following the contested 2010 election. …

While significant infrastructure upgrades were made before the university’s reopening, students regularly complain about overcrowded classrooms, a lack of books in the campus’s two libraries, poor transportation and other problems.

“The minister had nothing to say about this, and that’s why we were shouting at him,” Kwame said, when asked why the demonstration got out of hand. “We students don’t want the ministers coming here trying to say everything is all right.”

An Associated Press reporter saw two students being taken away in ambulances, though the nature of their injuries was unclear. Before finally dispersing, the students raided a spot where lunch was provided for the VIPs.

Related articles

• Music from Ivory Coast – Meiway (xworldmusic.wordpress.com)

Trafigura pollution scandal continues

This video is called Probo koala trailer (Côte d’Ivoire toxic waste spill).

By Marietta Harjono:

How one company is getting away with a human and environmental tragedy

September 25, 2012 at 11:00

Six years ago a multinational company bought large amounts of unrefined gasoline in the US and refined it through an industrial process called caustic washing onboard a ship, the Probo Koala, in the Mediterranean Sea.

During one night in August 2006, this waste was later dumped in at least 18 different places around Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire, close to houses, workplaces, schools and fields of crops. Abidjan, a vibrant city of more than 3.5 million people, was engulfed in a terrible smell that witnesses have described as thick, suffocating, akin to a mix of rotten eggs, garlic, gas and petroleum.

Probo Koala

Health centres and hospitals were soon overwhelmed. Over 100,000 people received medical care, according to official records. National authorities reported that between 15 and 17 people died.

What’s more, the company was long aware that the waste that they created onboard the Probo Koala was hazardous… and expensive to dispose of.

That company is Trafigura.

Today, Greenpeace and Amnesty International are releasing the most in-depth report into the incident ever concluded. We are calling for the UK government to begin a criminal investigation into Trafigura’s actions, for the victims to receive justice and international action to make sure this never happens again.

The Toxic Truth is the result of a three-year investigation and looks at the tragic litany of failures that created a medical, political and environmental disaster. It is a story of corporate crime, human rights abuse and governments’ failure to protect people and the environment. It is a story that exposes how systems for enforcing international law have failed to keep up with companies that operate trans-nationally, and how one company has been able to take full advantage of legal uncertainties and jurisdictional loopholes, with devastating consquences.

With medical treatment and time, the symptoms have abated, but for many the fear remains. Six years on, the people of Cote d’Ivoire still do not know what was in the waste. It had been illegally exported from Europe, illegally brought into Abidjan, and illegally dumped there. Numerous laws – both national and international – had been ignored.

In the Netherlands, Trafigura was prosecuted in relation to the illegal export of waste to Africa. This case was initiated by Greenpeace. Not only does Trafigura have an office there, this was also where it first tried to have the waste treated – and where the price tag rose after it became evident the content of the waste wasn’t what it had said. They were found guilty.

In September 2006, the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise barred the Probo Koala from leaving port when it docked in Estonia. Back then we demanded that the Estonian authorities investigate the ship, and the European Commission, to ensure this never happens again.

Greenpeace has followed this from the start and will not rest until Trafigura is held to account.

Trafigura has spent over US$300 million using every scheming technique available to a multibillion dollar company to evade justice after the dumping. For that amount it could have paid for the proper disposal of the toxic waste almost five hundred times over.

And it could have saved a human and environmental tragedy of an unimaginable scale.

Find out what Greenpeace is doing to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Marietta Harjono is a Greenpeace International Toxics Campaigner

See also here.

Trafigura boss Dauphin prosecuted for pollution

This is a satirical video from the Netherlands on Trafigura and their Probo Koala pollution scandal.

Translated from Greenpeace in the Netherlands:

Trafigura chairman will be prosecuted at last

Press Release – January 30, 2012

Amsterdam – After a long procedure including objection, appeal and cassation, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal today has decided that the prosecution is allowed to sue Trafigura executive Claude Dauphin in the case of the Probo Koala.

Dauphin can be prosecuted for actually directing the illegal export of the Probo Koala waste to Ivory Coast.

Material obtained from research by Greenpeace and others in recent years shows that the chairman of Trafigura, Claude Dauphin, was informed and involved, from the beginning to the end, in the origin and allowing of the dumping of toxic waste of the Probo Koala in Ivory Coast.

Earlier leaked email correspondence between the chairman and employees of Trafigura shows that from the beginning it was known that the experimental mixing process that Trafigura did aboard the ship Probo Koala would result in toxic waste. Also, the company knew that there are just a few places in the world where such toxic waste could be handled responsibly. The company knew that the transport of the toxic waste that would be produced from the European Union to other countries was illegal.

According to Greenpeace, that is deliberate circumvention of legislation. The judges thought so as well, and the Amsterdam Court recently convicted the company Trafigura for the deliberate and illegal export of waste to Ivory Coast.

Greenpeace is pleased that now the chief of Trafigura will have to stand trial as well. Marietta Harjono, Greenpeace: “Dauphin was personally involved and knowingly accepted the risk of causing damage to people and the environment by exporting the toxic waste to Ivory Coast.”

A timeline of all major events in this complex case is here.

Trafigura polluters accused

This video from Britain says about itself:

13 December 2009 — Trafigura and their lawyers Carter Ruck had been pursuing an ongoing libel case against the BBC over a news story that aired in May 2009. Until this week the story was still available on the BBC website. The link stopped working some time on December 10th or 11th.

Trafigura and Carter Ruck have become notorious for their willingness to use the UK’s repressive media laws to suppress legitimate criticism and comment. Uploaded for educational and news reporting purposes.

From Dutch news agency ANP:

Greenpeace accuses Trafigura

Published on: 18 May 2010 – 9:04am

The environmental organisation accuses the multinational of having influenced witnesses.

In the Netherlands, Greenpeace has filed a complaint with the public prosecution against the multinational Trafigura, accusing the latter of having influenced witnesses and also of forgery.

According to the environmental organisation, a group of drivers reported to be Ivorian would have agreed with Trafigura not to report being ill as a result of transporting toxic waste for the multinational.

A spokesman for Greenpeace has confirmed that information which had been disclosed by Dutch television and the center-left daily De Volkskrant.

According to the Ivorian justice, dumping of toxic waste in Abidjan in August 2006, by the cargo Probo Koala, chartered by Trafigura from Amsterdam, had killed 17 people and poisoned thousands.

See also Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad on this. See also here.

Hush money in Trafigura pollution scandal

This is a pirate satire about the Probo Koala scandal.

17 May 2010.

From Dutch NOS TV:

Drivers: hush money from Trafigura

Update: Monday, May 17, 2010, 21:58

Truck drivers who in 2006 in the Ivory Coast transported chemical waste from the ship Probo Koala now say that they then have signed false declarations in exchange for money. They say that they became sick after that transportation, but that they had concealed that in exchange for money.

According to the drivers, the false statements were written by a lawyer of Trafigura, which had hired the ship. This is reported by NOVA TV and the Volkskrant daily.

In 2006, Ivorian people living near landfills reported they had become sick, after waste from the Probo Koala had been dumped there.

Probo Koala pollution threat continues

This is a Dutch TV satire video, in English, called Pirates of the Probo Koala.

From a press release by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform:

Infamous Probo Koala Sent for Dismantling

NGOs call on Bangladesh: Stop Death Ship Before it Kills Again

24 May 2011, Brussels – The Probo Koala, now re-named the Gulf Jash, a ship which caused an environmental and human rights disaster in the Ivory Coast in August 2006, has been sold for scrapping on the infamous ship breaking beaches of Chittagong in Bangladesh.

Environmental, human rights and labour rights organisations represented by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform fear that the Probo Koala will be allowed to perpetuate its deadly legacy by being broken down in unsafe and environmentally damaging conditions. The NGOs call on the government of Bangladesh to refuse the import of the death ship and say no to illegal toxic waste trade. It is expected that the Probo Koala contains many tonnes of hazardous asbestos, PCBs, toxic paints, fuel and chemical residues. Currently the ship is located in Vietnam.

In 2006, the transnational company Trafigura used the Probo Koala to illegally dump 528 tonnes of toxic waste in Abidjan, the largest city of the Ivory Coast, causing the death of 16 people according to the Ivorian authorities. Global Marketing Systems (GMS), a US company specialised in the brokering of vessels for demolition, confirmed it had bought the ship last week, but had so far not disclosed its final destination. However its website listed that one of the advantages of utilising Bangladesh as a destination for end-of-life vessels is the lack of requirements for testing for gas residues within the ship. These gases might ignite and explode when a shipbreaking worker uses a cutting torch.

“The Probo Koala already is a symbol of an unaccountable and irresponsible shipping industry,” said Bangladeshi lawyer and director of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), Rizwana Hasan. “We demand that this ship and all others like her, carrying toxic substances and intent on exploiting yet again the population and environment in the developing world, be barred from entry into Bangladesh.”

Shipbreaking as is done on the beaches of South Asia is one of the world’s most dangerous and polluting enterprises. The NGO Shipbreaking Platform has, through its member organisation BELA, successfully petitioned in the Bangladeshi courts to stop the import of toxic ships for breaking, and safer methods of breaking ships already exist today. However, due to intense political and economic pressure from the shipbreaking and shipping industry, the court ruling has temporarily been lifted pending further decisions. Unless and until the High Court decision is allowed to stand, toxic ships will continue to pile up on the beaches of Bangladesh where they are broken apart by hand exposing workers to explosions and occupational disease, while contaminating the coastal environment.

See also here.

UN official says legal aid cuts will stop Trafigura-type victims’ cases: here.

Amnesty called on the new Ivory Coast government today to ensure that compensation paid out by oil-trading transnational Trafigura reaches the thousands of victims affected by a toxic waste dumping in 2006: here.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Toxic Waste Victims Wait Years for Compensation: here.

What Dow Chemical doesn’t want you to know about your water: here.

Ouattara supporters fight each other in Ivory Coast

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Ouattara allies turn on each other

Friday 22 April 2011

Ivory Coast‘s new army turned its guns on a former ally today, even though his troops had helped install the new president.

In Abidjan, heavy machine-gun fire rocked the suburb of Abobo near renegade warlord Ibrahim Coulibaly‘s headquarters.

COTE D’IVOIRE NEW GOVERNMENT CRACKS DOWN ON TRADE UNIONS: here.

Extrajudicial executions carried out in Côte d’Ivoire: here.

Human Rights Watch warned today that Ivory Coast’s military has undertaken a swift, brutal and illegal campaign of arbitrary arrest and detention in response to violence that ensued following last year’s post-election crisis: here.

Related articles

• Cote d’Ivoire president in talks with coalition partner over formation of new gov’t (nzweek.com)
• Ivory Coast President Dissolves Government After Law Opposed – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• Ivory Coast government dissolved (bbc.co.uk)
• Ivory Coast military accused of torture during ‘reprisal’ crackdown (guardian.co.uk)

Ivory Coast civilians massacred

This video says about itself:

[COTE D' IVOIRE] 800 Killed in Violence Around Duekoue City, 02/04/2011

According to Guillaume N’Gefa, spokesman for the UN mission in Côte d’Ivoire, 330 people had been killed in Duékoué as Ouattara‘s forces took over the town, More than 100 of them were killed by Gbagbo‘s troops. However, N’Gefa said the majority were executed by dozos, traditional hunters who support Ouattara.

Reports are emerging of systematic attacks on civilians in the west of Ivory Coast, the region where forces loyal to the Western-backed president-elect Alassane Ouattara launched an offensive last month: here.

Forces loyal to UN-backed president-elect Alassane Ouattara arrested his rival Laurent Gbagbo in Abidjan today, according to the French embassy in Ivory Coast: here.

Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president of Ivory Coast, has been taken prisoner and is in the custody of forces loyal to his opponent, Alassaine Ouattara: here.

The United Nations has named the experts who will investigate allegations of human rights abuses in Ivory Coast: here.

Widespread social instability continues in the Ivory Coast one week after France and the UN helped forces loyal to the internationally recognized president Alassane Ouattara in the overthrow of the regime of former president Laurent Gbagbo: here.

Ghanaians against Libya, Ivory Coast wars

This video from England is called No Military Intervention in Libya – Lindsey German | Stop the War protest 12 March 2011.

From Public Agenda (Accra, Ghana):

Nato Asked to Back Off Libya

Mohammed Suleman

8 April 2011

A group of individuals and Organizations calling itself Coalition Against Foreign Military Intervention in Africa(CAFIA) has damned the onslaught of foreign military aggression on Libya and Cote d’ Ivoire.

“We cannot remain silent while our people and our sovereignty are under attack. We must let all those who choose the side of exploitation know that whenever there is oppression or aggression there will be resistance. We want to make it clear that all actions will have consequences and that we all have a role to play in defending the right to self determination for Africa.”

According to the group, African leaders have shown that they do not represent the people of Africa, and that playing puppet to imperialist masters would provide no security and no place of protection.

“The performance of most African leaders has been nothing less than shameful. Their lack of honesty, courage, political will and insight has revealed them to most of the people as mere caretakers of foreign interests,” maintained the group.

At a press conference in Accra last Tuesday, the Spokesperson for the Group, Mr. Duke Tagoe, said the military attack on Libya by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) represents a blatant attack on Africa’s sovereignty.

He was of the view that under no circumstances should NATO or any foreign powers have the right to impose their will on Africa through military force.

“NATO has not been given any authority by the peoples of the world to defend any so-called international interest. Their actions have been and are consistently to the detriment of the people of Africa, “he emphasized.

He said the solutions to Africa’s problems even when they are instigated by foreign interest must be solved internally by Africans. He thus called on the foreign forces to stop meddling in the Affairs of Africa.

Mr. Tagoe pointed out that it is only through the development and implementation of internal and sovereign systems of democracy that true peace and stability could be attained and protected.

“Although the imperialist would try to make us believe otherwise, the struggle is not about personality. We are not fooled by imperialist attempts to demonize this or that leader. The real struggle is about resources and who will control them,” he added.

“At this point in time we are calling for the mobilization of all African people and peoples’ organizations to denounce the foreign military attack on Africa. This expression of resistance will give resolve to those fighting to defend our sovereignty in Libya and in Cote d’Ivoire.”

CAFIA comprises organizations such as the Socialist Forum of Ghana, All Africa People’s Revolutionary Party, Kwame Nkrumah Youth League of Ghana and Moyo Wa Taifa.

USA: Back to the Streets This Weekend for Peace and Justice. Maureen Baillargeon Aumand, War Is a Crime: “The beloved peace and justice communities are rallying – again – this weekend! On April 9th in NYC and 10th in San Francisco, human rights, civil rights, and workers rights leaders and advocates – religious and secular – Jewish, Muslim, Christian, humanist – are linking arms in solidarity and common commitment with antiwar activists to take to the streets in the face of what Dr. King once called an ‘unfolding conundrum.’ A true tempest is rising from the triple threat which Dr. King outlined so eloquently decades past of materialism, racism and militarism. To be sure there is a tsunami fast approaching which is threatening by its erosion of foundational principles and their hard won incarnation over two centuries of struggle and evolution to tear the very moorings out from under all that has made the ‘American experiment’ such a bearer of hope and promise for the human planetary community as a whole”: here.

French neo-colonial war in Ivory Coast

This video is called Terrorist Ouattara and his rebels’ actrocities in Duekoue 800 dead.

In the last 24 hours, France has directly intervened in the fighting in Ivory Coast as it seeks to reassert its control over its former colony: here.

Moscow accused French and UN troops today of taking sides in the conflict in Ivory Coast and acting in potential violation of international law: here.