The spring edition of ICJB's newsletter, the LowDOWn. Get the news on recent actions against Dow, the latest on the Olympics and stories from the ground.
In this issue:
1. Meet the new Advisory Board!
2. ICJB-NA writes an Open Letter to Dow Chemical
3. DOW caught spying on Bhopal Activists
4. The Battle to Uphold Olympic Spirit Continues
5. The Fight for Breath Continues
6. Bhopal at JAMnesty
7. TAKE ACTION!
8. Careers at ICJB
1. ICJB North America has a new Advisory Board for the year 2012! Meet our team
2. ICJB North America writes an open letter to Dow Chemical condemning its actions and demanding immediate remediation of the issue.
3. Dow caught spying on Bhopal Activists
Documents released by WikiLeaks on February 27th expose
Dow for hiring a Texas based private intelligence firm, Stratfor, to monitor activities of Bhopal activists. This series of files called “The Global Intelligence Files” contains over sixty emails marked “Bhopal updates” that were sent to Dow representatives from Stratfor during 2010 and 2011. These briefs reveal how Dow closely monitored the online activities of Bhopal activists worldwide.
4. The Battle to Uphold Olympic Spirit Continues
Despite the organized efforts of activists and athletes from around the world, the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) continues to defend Dow’s sponsorship of the 2012 Olympics.
However, the sponsorship deal suffered a major blow in January when Meredith Alexander resigned from her post as a member of the “Commission for a Sustainable London 2012”, the official watchdog to ensure London’s goal of creating “the most sustainable games to date”. Ms. Alexander criticized LOCOG for backing Dow’s denial of responsibility for its liabilities in Bhopal. In The Guardian’s article “Why I resigned over Bhopal” she states "I would like to see Dow take responsibility for the Bhopal tragedy and finally ensure that real justice is achieved for the victims and the families of those who died. This would be a true Olympic legacy."
Our movement found another champion in Labor MP Barry Gardiner when he stated in Parliament on February 21, Dow Chemical “has failed to live up to the high corporate social responsibility standards that are supposed to characterize the Olympic Movement across the globe.” In December of 2011, Dow Chemical dropped its logo from the planned stadium wrap. However, the eleven million dollar wrap itself has not been dropped, nor has the partnership with the International Olympic Committee that is planned for the coming decade. To add your voice to the battle to uphold the Olympic spirit, please sign the petition to Drop DOW chemicals from 2012 Olympics.
5. The Fight for Breath Continues
A study conducted over the past ten years at the Bhopal Memorial Hospital & Research Center has found that half of those exposed to gas during the night of the disaster have abnormal lung function and are 30% more likely to contract lung disease than unexposed populations. Read more here.
6. Amnesty, Austin demands Dow Chemical’s Olympics Sponsorship be dropped
On April 4th, the UT chapter of Amnesty International (AI) hosted its first ever JAMNESTY event supporting AI's Demand Dignity campaign. The focus of the campaign was on the Dow Chemical disaster in Bhopal and the Shell Oil spill in the Niger Delta. The event featured musical performances by Robot Williams, Luis Soberon and The Abstract. Keynote speakers Robert Jensen and Snehal Shingavi expressed their views on Corporate (un)Accountability and shared personal anecdotes. Over 100 people signed the petitions that urged the U.S. Olympic Committee to raise the issue of Dow Chemical’s sponsorship of the Olympics. Read more here.
7. Take Action!!
– Upcoming Event: Flashmob for Bhopal, May 2012
Calling all human rights activists! Calling all dancers!
Protest Dow’s sponsorship of the Olympics by organizing a flashmob in your city.
Contact Pooja at icjb.us.ab@gmail.com to receive your easy online kit!
– Sign the petition to Drop DOW chemicals from 2012 Olympics.
8. Careers at ICJB
ICJB North America is actively seeking an Administration and Government Relations Officer. Click here for more details.
This campaign LowDOWn is brought to you by members of ICJB AB: icjb.us.ab@gmail.com
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