In 1984 a factory majority-owned by Union Carbide (UCC, a US corporation) leaked toxic gas in Bhopal, India, killing 8K-10K people instantly & maiming 500K more. India charged UCC with manslaughter, but UCC refused to show for trial. Dow Chemical bought UCC in 2001 but has not made UCC available to face charges. Under a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, India sent 4 notices to the US Dept. of Justice to summon Dow to explain UCC’s whereabouts. The DoJ has ignored or obstructed every notice. The same DoJ made BP pay $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties for Deepwater Horizon. 31 years of US protection of UCC and Dow must end. We insist that the US govt. meet its obligations under Treaty & international law by immediately serving notice upon Dow to attend court in Bhopal on July 13, 2016.
Response to Petition
A response for your petition on Bhopal, India:
Thank you for using the We the People platform to make your voice heard on this petition.
As our Terms of Participation explain, to "avoid the appearance of improper influence, the White House may decline to address certain procurement, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or similar matters properly within the jurisdiction of federal departments or agencies, federal courts, or state and local government." That's why we're declining to comment on the specific request raised in this petition.
That being said, we'd like to note that during Prime Minister Modi's last visit to the U.S. in June 2016, the President and Prime Minister made important strides together to advance a strategic partnership on energy security, clean energy, and climate change and reaffirmed our two countries' cooperation on environmental stewardship.
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-- We the People Team