Bhopal Disaster and Aftermath a Huge Violation of Human Rights

Amnesty International recently reported that the Bhopal gas leak which saw tonnes of methyl isocyanate seep into the atmosphere from a pesticide plant owned by U.S. firm Union Carbide 20 years ago, has left tens of thousands still suffering. Many have yet to receive adequate compensation or treatment and the site has yet to be cleaned up, so toxic waste continues to pollute the water. Union Carbide, which is now a subsidiary of Dow, paid $470 million to the Indian government in a 1989 settlement, but efforts by survivors to get proper justice through U.S. and Indian courts have been unsuccessful.

Tens of thousands of Indian people still suffer appalling effects from the Bhopal gas leak 20 years ago and over 20,000 have died from the disaster, Amnesty International says, labelling the victims’ long wait for justice a major breach of human rights.

The aftermath of the leak showed how “an industrial disaster can involve a complexity of violations of civil, political, economic and social rights for generation after generation”, the London-based group said in a major report.

Amnesty said it believed that at least 15,000 people died between 1985 and 2003 because of disaster, which saw tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate seep into the atmosphere on the night of December 2-3, 1984 from a pesticide plant owned by US firm Union Carbide in Bhopal.

“This is in addition to the 7,000 to 10,000 people who died in the immediate aftermath, taking the total death toll to well over 20,000,” the report said.

Around 100,000 people are still suffering “chronic and debilitating illnesses” Amnesty said, noting that even 20 years later, many have yet to receive adequate compensation or medical treatment.

“Today, 20 years after the disastrous gas leak at Bhopal, tens of thousands of people are still suffering the after-effects,” Amnesty said in an 82-page…

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