Science in Society Archive

Monsanto Tried for Crimes against Humanity

Monsanto is to be tried at the International Monsanto Tribunal 12-16 October 2016 in The Hague, Netherlands, home of numerous International Conventions on crimes against humanity

Please donate here: http://www.monsanto-tribunal.org/home/donate/

The initiative for the Monsanto Tribunal comes from a coalition representing all sectors of civil society [1], and includes in its steering committee Vandana Shiva of Navdanya, former French environment minister, Corinne Lepage, award winning journalist and author of documentary “The World According to Monsanto” Marie-Monique Robin, molecular biologist and toxicologist leading research on toxicities of GMOs and glyphosate herbicides Giles-Eric Séralini,  Hans Herren of the Millennium Institute, and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Olivier De Schutter.


Vandana Shiva, Corinne Lepage, Marie-Monique Robin, Olivier de Schutter, Gilles-Eric Séralini, Hans Herren

Monsanto is the standard-bearer for the worst excesses of corporate industrial agriculture: poisoning people and planet with agrochemicals, causing illnesses and death and accelerating biodiversity loss; and massively contributing to global warming due to its heavy dependence on fossil fuels and destruction of natural forests and grasslands (see [2] Food Futures Now *Organic *Sustainable *Fossil Fuel Free , ISISTWN Special Report).

Since the beginning of the last century, Monsanto has developed and sold highly toxic products [1] including PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), one of 12 Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) that affect human and animal fertility; 2,4,5-T (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacteic acid), a dioxin-containing component of Agent Orange, the defoliant used by the US Army during the Vietnam War that continues to cause birth defects and cancer; Lasso, a herbicide with active ingredient alachlor banned in Europe since 2006 and classified as probable human carcinogen by the US EPA [3]; and Roundup, “the source of the greatest health and environmental scandal in modern history.” Roundup/glyphosate, falsely claimed by Monsanto to be safe and harmless, became the world’s most widely and pervasively used herbicide. It has brought rising tides of birth defects, cancers, fatal kidney disease, sterility and dozens of other illnesses (see [4] Banishing Glyphosate , ISIS Special Report).

Monsanto is charged with having been able to persistently ignore the health and environmental damages caused by its products through [1] “a strategy of systemic concealment: by lobbying regulatory agencies and governments, by resorting to lying and corruption, by financing fraudulent scientific studies, by pressuring independent scientists, by manipulating the press and media, etc.”

The Monsanto Tribunal in The Hague will assess the allegations against the corporation, and to evaluate the damages caused. The Tribunal will rely on the [1] “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” adopted at the United Nations in 2011. It will also assess potential criminal liability on the basis of the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court in The Hague in 2002, and consider whether a reform of the international criminal law is warranted to include crimes against the environment, or ecocide, as a prosecutable criminal offence.

 In order to finance the initiative, the largest crowdfunding platform has been launched to raise €1 million from all over the world [5].  Please donate here: http://www.monsanto-tribunal.org/home/donate/.

Article first published 07/12/15


References

  1. International Monsanto Tribunal in The Hague  October 2016, www.monsanto-tribunal.org/
  2. Ho MW, Burcher S, Lim LC, et al. Food Futures Now, Organic, Sustainable, Fossil Fuel Free, ISIS/TWN, 2008, https://www.i-sis.org.uk/foodFutures.php
  3. Alachlor. Extension Toxicology Network, Cornell University, September 1993, http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxnet/24d-captan/alachlor-ext.html
  4. Sirinathsinghji E and Ho MW. Banishing Glyphosate, ISIS, 2015, https://www.i-sis.org.uk/Banishing_Glyphosate.php
  5. Crowd funding. International Monsanto Tribunal International Monsanto Tribunal in The Hague  October 2016, http://www.monsanto-tribunal.org/home/crowdfunding/

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There are 6 comments on this article so far. Add your comment above.

Nancy Brokaw-Gerchak, OMP Comment left 8th December 2015 05:05:04
It is because of the dedication and diligence of Dr. Ho and those listed in the article that this has finally reached critical International attention. Whether or not Monsanto's money and corruption can penetrate the Hague tribunal will remain to be seen. For every farmer suicide, for every child born inyo lifelong suffering from genetic damage, for every human being who has died or suffered as a result of this Global evil, let us be thankful for the due diligence of the these praise-worthy, untiring Doctors and Scientists, and the un-named contributors, the "little people" who are bringing this mega corporation to the world's attention. THANK YOU ALL for bringing us to this point. There is much to do and a long road ahead, but now we have exposed the enemy! NBG

www.gold-dna.de Comment left 8th December 2015 07:07:05
A book worth reading in the context of science is GOING SOMEWHERE by Andrew A. Marino. What counts for EMF counts for GMOs, as well. And all these other artificial timebombs of human design ...

dhinds Comment left 9th December 2015 05:05:59
The impetus for the imposition of transgenic crops initiated in the USA and it's principal instigator and beneficiary was the Monsanto Corporation, which successfully infiltrated the USDA, FDA and EPA in order to accomplish it's sociopathic goals, at the expense of the Environment and Public Health. Monsanto MUST be held accountable for for the damage that transgenic crops have caused and the governmental agencies that facilitated this hideous fraud must be sanctioned and transformed as well, so that corrective measures are taken to undo the harm done and prevent it from reoccurring, ever again.

susan rigali Comment left 4th January 2016 22:10:00
Monsanto sells these artificial turf fields to many public schools and athletic facilities. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/artificial-turf-debate/how-safe-artificial-turf-your-child-plays-n220166

claude Comment left 12th January 2016 23:11:17
is monsanto not part of the PU PONT corporation ..if so du pont is also to blame...for the atrocities committed against ..ALL FLESH BLOOD AND BONE MASCULINE AND FEMININE SPIRITUAL BEINGS CREATED BY THEIR CREATOR ....And a direct violation of their UNlienable rights ...of LIFE ..FREEDOM (NOT LIBERTY AS THIS IS GIVEN TO SEAMAN ) PROPERTY (their bodies ) and TRAVEL (movement ) CURIOUS

algimantas k bronisas Comment left 17th January 2016 08:08:37
yes, trying monsanto in the world court for MONSANTONIZING (read insidiously poisoning) the food of people and animals in the world is long overdue.....however their support base comes from shareholders in the handful of banks(and their investment houses) that control world trade,including international agribusiness ;The Vanguard Group (major investor in Monsanto)is also a major investor in Whole Foods and Facebook and the Bill Gates Foundation and these corporations are invested in Vanguard .......the tentacles of greed are ALWAYS tangled at the top......if the miracle ( that the world court finds ecological poisoning a crime)happens,the implications would be earthshaking.......especially for the countless corporations that are now, knowingly, selling toxic nuclear technology,toxic chemicals and materials and tainted foodstuffs around the world to controlled,corrupt or technically naïve governments.......miracles do occur(events that baffle the laws of science and nature)and I hope that the world court at least defines what constitutes an ecological crime......but PUBLICITY is the greatest enemy of evil greed......how would Facebook users ,Whole Food customers and Gates Foundation supporters react if they knew they were helping contaminate the worlds food supply through MONSANTONIZING (read insidiously poisoning)by being directly or indirectly invested in Monsanto........for further reference....http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net/gmo/Monsanto/Monsanto.html.......http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/06/06just-who-are-the-top-shareholders-of-monsanto