Drummond Court Case Update II - a newsletter from Stein Ove Gronsund
Dear friends and colleagues,
This, my second newsletter about the Drummond Case in Birmingham , Alabama will also be the last – for now. Thursday last week, the jury acquitted Drummond for any role in the murder of the trade union officials at their mine operations in Colombia . This result was somewhat predictable as Judge Karon Bowdre – in what appears to be a clear violation of law and precedent – would not allow the inclusion of testimony from eyewitnesses with first hand knowledge of Drummond’s linkage to the murders. This story in International Herald Tribune explains what happened in the case of one witness: Union says Colombia govt impedes justice in Drummond case. I have attached a document from IRAdvocates where they explain the situation of three other witnesses.
Below are two links to stories filed by The Associated Press after the verdict:
Jury Rules for Drummond in Union Deaths
Labor Undeterred by Drummond Verdict
I add the local touch from The Birmingham News:
Company not liable in slayings
Lawyers from IRAdvocates and United Steelworkers have already filed an appeal. It was never expected that such an important case would be finally decided in a courthouse in Birmingham , Alabama . The court case so far has cost IRAdvocates and United Steelworkers close to three million dollars. Resources are needed to continue this important work and donations are welcome, see http://www.iradvocates.org/donate.html.
I will keep you informed about new developments in the case. If you do not want to receive future updates, just respond to this e-mail and write “REMOVE” at the subject line.
Thank you for the support.
Regards,
Stein Ove Gronsund
steinove@innomedia.org
— Chris Saeger, "Strengthening Rule of Law Through Aid for Human Rights Litigation in National Courts: A Case Study of Oil Multinational Corporations Complicit in Human Rights Violations in Sudan and Nigeria (December 2007)
— Terry Collingsworth, "Using the Alien Tort Claims Act to Introduce the Rule of Law to the Global Economy (2005)
International Rights Advocates is a nonprofit dedicated to holding corporations accountable for human rights violations in countries around the world. IRAdvocates already has 14 pending cases but without your support, IRAdvocates will not be able to continue its litigation.