San Francisco, June 2: In a ruling issued late last Friday, United States District Court Judge Susan Illston held that the beating and shooting of Nigerian protestors at a Chevron offshore platform may constitute torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment under international human rights law, expanding the upcoming trial in this case to include these claims.

Four Nigerian plaintiffs and their families are suing Chevron in federal court in San Francisco over a 1998 incident in which Nigerian military and police paid by Chevron and using Chevron helicopters shot and tortured villagers who protested Chevron's oil activities in the desperately poor Niger delta.  Judge Illston had previously ruled that the plaintiffs could proceed to trial on claims under California and Nigerian law, including wrongful death and assault and battery.  The new ruling confirms that there is evidence that these abuses also constitute violations of international law.

"An important part of achieving justice for these victims is affirming that they suffered abuses under international human rights law,” said plaintiffs’ counsel Marco Simons, Legal Director at EarthRights International.  “One of the victims' major goals has always been to tell the truth about what they suffered, and the truth is that they were victims of torture and other human rights abuses.”