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Ecocide, Industrial Chemical Contamination, and the Corporate Profit Imperative: The Case of Bougainville

The case of RTZ in Bougainville should rank with the Union Carbide (Bhopal) poisoning in importance. Yet Bougainville is an isolated island in the South Pacific, far from the gaze of the media, and events are an embarrassment to responsible states and to the responsible sector of the commercial world. Thus, its problems remain largely unknown. Rosemary Gillespie is an Australian barrister and environmental activist, who takes great personal risks to assist and monitor the conditions of victims in Bougainville. Her article nearly did not make the deadline for this issue because she was cut off behind the Papuan blockade. Hopefully, Gillespie’s article will help to put Bougainville more firmly on the global human rights agenda.

Australia — history, Bougainville, business and environment, colonialism and colonization, environmental justice movement, human rights violations, indigenous people’s movement, mining industry, Papua New Guinea — economy, pollution, chemical

Citation: Social Justice Vol. 23, No. 4 (1996): 109-124