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Owners of the North Dakota Access Pipeline have been warned that they risk legal liability over several instances of human rights abuses agianst peaceful Native American and environmental activists opposing the US$3.8 billion pipeline, as militarized law enforcement have increasingly used violence and repression at protest camps.
The joint letter released Friday by five environmental and legal advocacy organizations said that the joint owners of the pipeline “have a corporate duty under international law and the laws of the United States to respect human rights and to avoid complicity in further human rights abuses.”
The advocacy groups said that in recent weeks the situation in the Standing Rock camp “has deteriorated further,” making reference to recent violent crackdowns by law enforcement and security personnel on peaceful protestors.
The letter cited several examples of violent intimidation and harassment of Native Americans carrying out their right to free and peaceful assembly, including the arrest of protesters, violent raids, and attacks with dogs that caused a number of injuries to protesters.
The groups warned the joint owners Energy Transfer, Phillips66 and lender Wells Fargo that the arrests and threats of prosecution for journalists covering the protests and repression is a “clear violation of the First Amendment and of fundamental principles of press freedom organized worldwide."
The letter said that the owners, on a number of occasions had been working “in concert” with police forces and private organizations carrying out abuses and must take “immediate responsibility for the human rights impacts of their actions.”
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These responsibilities also extended to organizations funding the project. “The participation of third persons in the commission of tortious acts will not absolve your companies of responsibility or liability if your operations have aided and abetted the commission thereof,” the letter states.
The pipeline companies were also warned that protesters who have been victims of abuses may seek redress against the companies' actions.
On Thursday more than 100 heavily-armed police officers used water cannons, pepper spray, and concussion grenades on protesters, arresting 141 protesters and injuring dozens. Last weekend, 126 protesters were arrested, while tear gas was used against them.
Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman was charged for “rioting” over filming a dog attack on protesters at the Standing Rock Sioux camp on Sept. 3, but charges were eventually dropped by a North Dakota state judge.
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