UN Finds Steven Donziger’s House Arrest Violates International Law, Says It’s ‘Appalled’

The world’s prime human rights authorized physique simply supplied a vital present of assist for Steven Donziger, the legal professional who gained a landmark multibillion-dollar case in opposition to an oil large over air pollution within the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. The ruling got here on the eve of his sentencing in a legal trial.

On Wednesday, the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights dominated that Donziger’s residence detention is unlawful underneath worldwide legislation and referred to as on the U.S. to launch him. Donziger could have spent an unprecedented 787 days on home arrest as of Friday in what is among the most winding and wild courtroom instances that spans a number of nations and entails Chevron and 1000’s of Indigenous folks within the Amazon.

Donziger led a lawsuit in opposition to the oil firm on behalf of 30,000 Indigenous folks and peasant farmers in the Amazon for creating what has been referred to as the Amazon’s Chernobyl when it comes to industrial air pollution. In 2013, he gained a $9.5 billion judgment in opposition to the vitality agency in Ecuadorian courts—the most important human rights and environmental courtroom judgment in historical past. Yet Chevron refused to pay up and as an alternative targeted on attacking the legal professional in courtroom. In 2019, he was positioned on residence detention by a choose with an industry-friendly report who was handpicked to preside over the proceedings. Throughout the trial, Donziger has been on home arrest, earlier than ultimately being present in contempt of courtroom.

The legal professional now faces as much as six months in jail for his refusal to obey a choose’s order to show over his cellphone, laptop computer, and different digital gadgets to Chevron, on prime of the two-plus years on home arrest he’s already been by. (Donziger mentioned complying would have violated his shoppers’ rights to privateness.)

“The Working Group is appalled by uncontested allegations in this case,” six worldwide jurists wrote within the 15-page report that varieties the premise for the UN’s declaration. “The charges against and detention of Mr. Donziger appears to be retaliation for his work as a legal representative of indigenous communities, as he refused to disclose confidential correspondence with his clients in a very high profile case against multi-national business enterprise.”

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The report goes on to name Donziger’s residence detention “arbitrary” and located that it violated provisions of worldwide legislation together with the rights to a good trial and a good choose. The physique urged the U.S. authorities to free him and compensate him for the damages.

“Taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Steven Donziger immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law,” the working group, which is comprised of 5 worldwide jurists, mentioned.

“This is an extremely significant and courageous decision by five international jurists who confirm what we have been saying for over two years: Steven Donziger has been subject to an illegal detention orchestrated by Chevron and two ideologically driven trial judges who are retaliating against him for winning a major pollution judgment in Ecuador against a powerful U.S. corporation,” Martin Garbus, an legal professional representing Donziger, said in a statement.

Many elements make the legal expenses in opposition to Donziger extremely uncommon. They had been introduced not by the state, however by a non-public prosecutor, Rita Glavin. U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over a 2012 RICO case in opposition to Donziger, appointed Glavin to deliver the costs after public prosecutors refused to take action, a transfer beforehand unheard of within the American judiciary. Further, till just lately, Glavin labored at a agency that counted Chevron as a client.

Kaplan additionally handpicked Judge Loretta Preska to supervise Donziger’s contempt trial, going in opposition to the courtroom’s customary means of random task. This “allegedly bypassed Rule 16 of the [Southern District of New York] Rules for the Division of Business Among District Judges, which states ‘the assignment committee shall transfer the case by lot,’” the UN working group wrote. Preska serves as an advisor to the pro-business Federalist Society—to which Chevron is a significant donor—and has a history of ruling in favor of oil corporations in courtroom.

In addition to his launch, the UN is looking for the U.S. to undertake a complete, impartial investigation into the authorized assaults on Donziger and to “take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of his rights.” The physique additionally mentioned the authorities ought to take away each Preska and Kaplan from the proceedings, saying they displayed a “staggering lack of objectivity and impartiality.”

Garbus and lawyer Ron Kuby, who co-lead Donziger’s authorized crew, will now file the UN ruling to Judge Preska and urge her to launch him earlier than Friday morning’s sentencing listening to. The legal professionals may also ask the federal government to adjust to the remainder of the UN’s suggestions.

“At a minimum, that will involve removing Judges Preska and Kaplan, releasing Steven, dismissing the charges, and investigating how this type of corporate abuse of our judicial system could have happened,” mentioned Garbus in a statement.

If Preska ignores the UN choice, the legal professionals will take the case to the Department of Justice and urge them to demand Donziger’s launch. But within the meantime, Donziger remains to be on residence detention. His supporters are planning a Friday rally outside the New York City federal courthouse forward of his sentencing trial.

“We must continue to fight,” Donziger said on Twitter. “See u tomorrow!”