CEOs Can Now Be Prosecuted Like War Criminals at the Hague

[Donkees]

Published 16 September 2016

[font size="4"color="navy"]The court's new focus on land grabbing and environmental destruction could help put a dent in corporate impunity.

The International Criminal Court announced Thursday it will now hold corporate executives and governments legally responsible for environmental crimes.[/font]

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Land Grabs Soar, Worsening Land Conflicts and Climate Change

The Hague court made explicit references to widening its approach to include land grabbing, which has allowed private corporations, with the help of governments, to take over large areas of foreign land to exploit natural resources. It will also prosecute for environmental destruction.

“Chasing communities off their land and trashing the environment has become an accepted way of doing business in many resource-rich yet cash-poor countries,” said Gillian Caldwell, executive director at Global Witness. "Company bosses and politicians complicit in violently seizing land, razing tropical forests or poisoning water sources could soon find themselves standing trial in the Hague alongside war criminals and dictators. The ICC’s interest could help improve the lives of millions of people and protect critical ecosystems.”

The violence surrounding environmental conflicts also often leaves corpses in its wake. In 2015, more than three people were murdered each week attempting to defend their lands from land grabbing, according to Global Witness. The group estimated that an area the size of Germany has been leased to international investors in developing countries since 2000.

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The court's decision was sparked by a case filed by a group of Cambodians who alleged that authorities, including the government, military, police and the courts, have been complicit in land grabbing since 2002, which has led to the forced eviction of more than 300,000 people. International legal experts say the court’s widened focus could potentially open up criminal prosecutions for climate change.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/CEOs-Can-Now-Be-Prosecuted-Like-War-Criminals-at-the-Hague-20160916-0013.html

[annabanana]

1. good news . . . . . . n/t

[dembotoz]

2. the us would extradite say the chair of goldman sachs????? color me doubtful

our corporate overlords will protect the corporate overlords

always have always will

[Cryptoad]

4. Guess they will have to stay home with Dubya

No more overseas trips for them.

[ffr]

3. When to the retroactive hearings begin?

[madokie]

5. Reply so I can find later

right now I have fall mushrooms to go look for

Oh, yes, it's about time this step, (ICC,) was taken

[BlancheSplanchnik]

6. Oh but you can trust corporations!!

The free market makes it so.


I'll have to show my libertarian friend.

[Ligyron]

7. The movie "Ardor" did a good job of portraying this.

sub-titled, but worth a watch.

[GummyBearz]

8. I lol'd

Thanks for that. I will bet a nickle that no CEO will ever be prosecuted at the Hague

[bucolic_frolic]

9. International Capitalists

exploited anything to make money

It was easy in the 1500's with the slave trade, land and labor
for free, all you had to do was pay people to carry it out and
sit in your castle

Then it was coal, and whale oil

Then more mining

Indigenous natives always being separated from their land
to make profits for others

Nature of the system to some extent. It could be humanized,
and degradation could be reduced.