I'm outraged -- Syrian weapons dealer headed to Olympics 25JUL12

IT is doubtful the London Organizing Committee of the 2012 Olympics will have the moral courage to prevent the merchant of war crimes and genocide in Syria, vladimir lisin, from participating in the Opening Ceremonies. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to shame them into denying him the privilege of being part of the opening ceremonies and the Olympic Games. PLEASE add your name to this petition to the London Olympic Committee, click the link below.....

		Not welcome at the Olympics Keep Syrian weapons dealer Vladimir Lisin out of the Olympics. As the international community celebrates the start of the 2012 Olympic Games in London this week, they will be joined by an enabler of mass atrocities in Syria. And nobody is saying anything about it. The Olympic Games unite the international community by promoting peace and preserving human dignity through sport. But this year’s Games run the risk of being tarnished by a Russian Olympic official who has been arming the Syrian regime. Russian steel tycoon Vladimir Lisin has been splitting his time between acting as Vice President of the Russian Olympic Committee and shipping deadly arms to the Syrian regime. As the civil war intensifies in Syria and reports of horrific civilian massacres emerge, Lisin is traveling to London to participate in the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. Tell the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games to ban Lisin from attending the games while Russia continues to support mass atrocities in Syria! Over 17,000 people have been killed in Syria and the violence intensifies every day. Yet, Russia continues to support Assad’s murderous regime — recently vetoing a UN Security Council resolution to support negotiations despite the worsening situation — and people like Lisin are profiting from it. We need you to join us and take action to expose Lisin and other individuals who are putting weapons into the hands of the Syrian regime. Keeping Lisin from attending the games will add to the much-needed international pressure against Russia and the arms dealers enabling Assad. We must insist that those who enable Syria’s continued attacks on its own men, women and children pay a price. Please join me in making it clear to the London Organizing Committee: There is NO room at this year’s Games for individuals who enable mass atrocities for their own financial gain. Thanks for your support. Together we will stop the deadly flow of arms into Syria by exposing unscrupulous weapons dealers like Vladimir Lisin. Sincerely, Bama Athreya Executive Director United to End Genocide
		ABOUT UNITED TO END GENOCIDE We are United to End Genocide, the largest activist organization in America dedicated to preventing and ending genocide and mass atrocities worldwide. We are faith leaders, students, artists, investors and genocide survivors, and all those who believe we must fulfill the promise the world made following the Holocaust — "Never Again!"
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dow & The London Olympics from the SUMOFUS 20APR12

THE London Olympic Committee has shamefully decided to allow dow / union carbide as a sponsor of the 2012 Summer games. Their decision places greed over social, environmental and corporate responsibility, so these games will be tarnished just as the 2008 games in the prc were. The IOC and the London Committee should be ashamed and reverse their decision on dow. This from the SumOfUs.

Tell the London Olympics: Drop Dow, and stand with Sanjay and the people of Bhopal.

Here’s a message from Sanjay Verma, a Bhopal resident-turned-activist whose life and family were irrevocably changed due to the Bhopal disaster in India. 

My name is Sanjay Verma and I grew up in Bhopal, India. I was six months old when an explosion at a chemical factory across from my neighbourhood leaked 40 tons of the potent neurotoxin methyl isocyanate. My sister saved my life by bundling me up and fleeing from our home into the panicked streets of Bhopal. My sister and 13 year-old brother survived, but my parents and five of my siblings died that night.
My sister and I lived in an orphanage for 7 years. Sunil, our eldest brother, took two jobs just to take care of us and keep us with him. Tragically, he suffered terrible mental health issues and, after several attempts at taking his life, he committed suicide in 2006. He was found hanged, wearing a T-shirt with the slogan- 'No More Bhopals'.
I have dedicated my life to fighting for justice for my community, and holding Dow responsible for the Bhopal disaster.
Thanks to you, 50,000 SumOfUs.org members have signed petitions to the London Olympics Organisers denouncing Dow's sponsorship of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
The London Olympic Organisers are feeling the pressure and have agreed to meet with victims and activists. However, they are still keeping Dow as a sponsor. Today, on the 10,000th day since the Bhopal disaster, I have travelled from India to the UK to tell Lord Coe in person that we cannot stand Dow’s Olympic sponsorship. Will you join me?
Will you send a message to Lord Sebastian Coe at London Olympics and tell him to drop Dow as a sponsor?
After all my family and community went through -- and for the many people who continue to suffer to this day -- I have devoted my life to seeing that Dow answers for the Bhopal disaster and that my home is cleaned up so that innocent people no longer have to suffer.
I need your help to make sure the London Olympic organisers hear our story, and know that we will not stand for Dow's Olympic sponsorship.
Will you send a message to the London Olympic Organisers to tell them my community’s story?
If enough of us tell the London Olympic Organisers that we won't stand for this partnership, we can help show the Olympics the true meaning of the Olympics -- global unity, not backroom deals and corporate sponsorships.
Thanks for helping ensure that those behind the Bhopal disaster pay for the damages wrought, and for helping bring justice to my community,

--Sanjay


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FAQ
What happened in Bhopal?
On December 2-3, 1984, as the people of the central Indian town of Bhopal slept, an explosion caused over 40 tons of a deadly toxic gas, methyl isocyanate (MIC), and other gases to escape from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant. The company executives could have warned the public, but instead they chose not to sound the emergency alarm bell in town.
The event occurred in the early hours of the morning of Dec 3rd 1984, at approximately 12:30 a.m. By 2am, most of the MIC had been dispersed over an area of 25 miles (40km), and the first deaths were reported to the police by 3am. By morning, there had been 1,000 reported deaths, some as far as 5 miles (8 km) from the plant. 90,000 patients were seen in local hospitals and clinics within the first 24 hours, and in total, about 200,000 people suffered acute effects of the leak.
The preventable Bhopal disaster has claimed over 20,000 lives, and it is not over yet because members of the community continue to suffer from chronic health problems, cancer and birth defects.
Now, despite loud protests by the Indian Olympic delegation, Dow has signed a controversial sponsorship deal with the Olympics expected to make Dow $1 billion. With Dow counting on that revenue, we have the best chance in years for them to finally assume responsibility and clean up the disaster. We are finally hitting the company where it hurts: its bottom line.
How has Dow responded?
Dow claims that it is not responsible for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy in any way. Despite that, they hired the same public relations firm that worked to tell people tobacco didn’t cause cancer, and that Foxconn hired to repair its public image around working conditions in Apple factories in China.
Union Carbide paid $470 million in compensation to existing victims in 1989, amounting to less than $500 per victim whether they were blinded by the gas, developed terminal cancer from exposure, or suffered debilitating birth defects. To date, neither Union Carbide nor Dow has paid to clean up the site, and they have refused to even decommission the factory after the accident.

Why is Dow responsible for the situation?
No one disputes the fact that Dow bought Union Carbide after the disaster occurred. But when Dow purchased Union Carbide, it took on liability for the Bhopal tragedy. It would be terribly convenient for Dow and other massive corporations if the slate was wiped clean when a company was purchased. But Dow didn’t just buy the profit sheet, the shares and the expertise from Union Carbide. They also bought their legacy, the environmental tragedy of Bhopal and the responsibility for it. Dow must ensure that the site is cleaned up and the victims finally get true justice and proper compensation. If a company could escape liability for its malpractices by arranging a merger or takeover, then companies would be able to abuse human rights and damage the environment with impunity.

SumOfUs is a world-wide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy. You can follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook