Originally produced as a poster for a demonstration in London, during protests against Dow Chemical’s sponsorship of the 2012 Olympic Games, the image above remains horribly pertinent to this day. In fact, Dow was served notice to appear in the Bhopal this very day, July 13, 2016 but, once again, did not show up.
In 2012, campaigners drew attention to the fact that Dow was shielding its subsidiary, the Union Carbide Corporation, from the outstanding criminal charges in Bhopal as just one of the reasons why Dow was not a suitable sponsor of the London Games. It turned out to be one of the more compelling arguments since Lord Coe along with LOCOG, the organising committee of the London Olympics, and various Conservative politicians, refused to answer any questions when the matter was raised- even at a meeting of the London Assembly in front of then London Mayor Boris Johnson.
This year, a White House ‘We The People’ petition was proposed by the International campaign for Justice in Bhopal asking that the US Department of Justice ensure the most recent, fourth, notice to Dow Chemical was correctly delivered thereby obliging Dow to attend the Bhopal court. In what seems like a clear contravention of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, signed by both the US and India, the notice would seem not to have been delivered, once again, despite the petition gathering 125,000 signatures.
