Bhopal: A Lingering Legacy Of Contamination And Injustice

GENEVA (2 December 2024) – Forty years on from the Union Carbide chemical plant disaster in Bhopal, UN experts said today the hazardous waste that still affects hundreds of thousands of residents in and around the Indian city should not be seen as an issue of the past. In commemorating and paying tribute to the victims, the experts issued this statement:

“For over a decade, the Indian company controlled by Union Carbide Corporation, which is now owned by the Dow Chemical Company, dumped and mismanaged hazardous substances and wastes in its pesticide facility in Bhopal. This has created a sacrifice zone, where pollution from the contaminated site continues to poison people, many living in poverty. The contamination has affected soils and the drinking water supplies of an estimated 200,000 people in 71 villages in Madhya Pradesh state. Victims still struggle for clean-up, compensation, and adequate medical care. They also demand respect for their fundamental human rights, including their right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

The Bhopal tragedy reflects the risks and harms resulting from the transfer of dirty or dangerous technologies to the countries in the Global South. The threats are aggravated where multinational companies apply lower safety standards in their overseas operations and outsource risks to their subsidiaries, as in this case.

On the night of 2 December 1984, 27 metric tonnes of methyl isocyanate gas and other still undisclosed chemicals were released into the air from Union Carbide’s factory. It is estimated that more than 570,000 people were exposed to the dangerous gas and have suffered chronic ill health and long-lasting impacts. Within three days of the gas leak, more than 10,000 people died as a direct result of exposure. More than 22,000 people have died since, and the toll continues to rise. The brunt of impacts has fallen on women, whose rates of infertility, miscarriage and adverse birth outcomes increased, resulting also in many children born with chromosome damage.

Compensation for victims has been inadequate, in blatant contravention of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Mechanisms to channel compensation have also been ineffective. Efforts by the Indian Government to provide medical care have been insufficient. Peaceful protests demanding adequate remedies have been heavily repressed. After four decades, judicial proceedings are still ongoing in Indian courts, while the contaminated site continues to spread destitution, illness and death.

For years Union Carbide has evaded criminal trial, with the support of the United States Government that has failed to effectively cooperate with India. Despite compelling evidence on how the US-based corporation supplied technology and conducted oversight of the Bhopal plant, American courts have denied justice to the victims of the gas leak and of the ongoing environmental contamination.

There are many lessons to be drawn from what may be the world’s worst industrial chemical disaster, including on industrial safety and corporate responsibility. There is also an urgent need for prompt and tangible action by India, the United States and Dow Chemicals to address the legacy of contamination and injustice in Bhopal.”

The experts: Marcos A. Orellana, Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes; Astrid Puentes Riaño, Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Surya Deva, Special Rapporteur on the right to development; Cecilia M Bailliet, Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity; Heba Hagrass, Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; Elisa Morgera, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change; Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on the Right to adequate housing; Attiya Waris, Independent Expert on foreign debt, other international financial obligations and human rights; Siobhán Mullally, Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; George Katrougalos, Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; Laura Nyirinkindi (Chair), Claudia Flores (Vice-Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Ivana Krstić, and Haina Lu, Working group on discrimination against women and girls; and Working Group on business and human rights: Fernanda Hopenhaym (Chairperson), Lyra Jakuleviciene (Vice-Chairperson), Damilola Olawuyi, Pichamon Yeophantong, Robert McCorquodale.

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