Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 others were tried and executed for murder in late 1996. The real reason for the execution of these people was that they were leading the protest by the Ogoni nation in Nigeria against Shell's operations there. Ken Saro Wiwa played an important part in leading the protest against the exploitation of Ogoni lands and Ogoni people by oil giants such as Shell. As media interest in the trial peaked, Shell Oil was forced to admit that they had supplied guns to the Nigerian government. Nineteen others are still detained without charge for their involvement in the anti-Shell movement.

One of Shell's oil storage platforms - Brent Spar - is obsolete and awaiting decommissioning. Shell was granted permission by the British government to dump Brent Spar in a deep water trench in the North Sea. In other areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico, oil storage platforms have to be taken apart and disposed of on shore. Greenpeace UK reacted quickly and successfully to the situation and Shell backed down. Hundreds of similar oil installations exist, over 50 of which are due for decommissioning in the next 10 years.

Shell have also recently begun operations in Peru, where despite their attempts to minimise the impact to both the environment and the local people there are already claims that damage is being done. Local people say that it now takes a whole day to hunt the same amount of animals it used to take only 2 hours to find, and that their river sometimes runs black.

[The Ethical Consumer Guide to Everyday Shopping  published by the Ethical Consumer Research Association.] [The Guardian, 14.5.97]