back to home

See also sections of this website entitled:

• Military/defence contractors & advisors
• Arms/weapons industry
• Security issues / Conflict zones

Websites:

Other materials:

2003:

Human rights groups sue Occidental over 1998 Colombia bombing - International human rights groups filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Occidental Petroleum and one of its security contractors over a 1998 bombing that killed 17 civilians in a Colombian village...The lawsuit names Los Angeles-based Occidental and Rockledge, Fla.-based Airscan Inc., an aviation security firm, as defendants and accuses the companies of aiding the raid with the Colombian military. (Paul Chavez, Associated Press, 24 Apr. 2003)

• Lawsuit Filed Against Occidental Petroleum for Involvement in Infamous Colombian Massacre (International Labor Rights Fund, 24 Apr. 2003)

• {···español} Demanda Presentada Contra Occidental Petroleum p or su Involucración en la Masacre de Santo Domingo en Colombia (International Labor Rights Fund, 24 abril 2003)

• Occidental Issues Statement Regarding Santo Domingo, Colombia Lawsuit -...While we have not had an opportunity to study the complaint, we believe that any suggestion that Occidental Petroleum was responsible in any way for the Santo Domingo tragedy resulting from military action involving Colombian armed forces and elements of the terrorist group known by its Spanish acronym, FARC, is completely false. Occidental has not and does not provide lethal aid to Colombia's armed forces. (Occidental Petroleum, 24 Apr. 2003)

• {···español} Occidental Petroleum y Airscan podrían estar vinculadas a masacre de Tame - Dos grupos de abogados presentaron hoy una demanda contra Occidental Petroleum y la empresa de seguridad Airscan por su presunta colaboración en la masacre de 17 personas en Santo Domingo, Arauca, el 13 de diciembre de 1998. La demanda fue presentada ante un tribunal del distrito central de California (El Espectador [Colombia], 25 abril 2003)

• {···español} Demandan a Oxy por masacre en Colombia - Un ciudadano colombiano demandó ayer a la compañía petrolera Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) por su presunta implicación en el asesinato de civiles inocentes en el poblado colombiano de Santo Domingo en 1998, informaron sus abogados. La querella fue presentada por organizaciones de derechos internacionales ante la corte de distrito de Los Angeles (AFP, El Heraldo [Colombia], 25 abril 2003)

•  Occidental Petroleum and Florida firm sued over Colombia bombing (AP, 24 Apr. 2003)

New DynCorp Contract Draws Scrutiny -...Insight has learned that the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs has issued a $22 million contract to DynCorp Aerospace Operations (UK) Ltd., a subsidiary of Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), to "re-establish police, justice and prison functions in postconflict Iraq."...last year alone [Dyncorp] was not only sued but paid large settlements to two former employees who blew the whistle on corporate managers and employees who engaged in sex trafficking in Bosnia (Kelly Patricia O Meara, Insight, 11 Apr. 2003)

Ex-firefighter sues DynCorp over dismissal [USA] - Skaggs' lawsuit alleges the company violated Americans with Disability Act and Age Discrimination Employment Act when it fired Skaggs, who is in his early 50s. (Jay F. Marks, Enid News & Eagle, 14 Mar. 2003)

Brink's to pay $30,000 to Peoria area woman for failure to accommodate religious beliefs [USA] - EEOC Suit Said Pentecostal Employee Fired for Refusal to Wear Pants as Part of Uniform (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2 Jan. 2003)

2002:

Making a Killing: The Business of War [11-part series] (Center for Public Integrity’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 11-part series, chapter 11 issued 20 Nov. 2002, other chapters issued earlier)

• chapter 1: Introduction: Making a Killing: The Business of War -...Gone is the superpower ideological divide that once gave a strange sort of order to the world’s wars. In its place are entrepreneurs, selling arms or military expertise and support, and companies, whose drilling and mining in some of the hottest spots often prolong conflict and instability. (Center for Public Integrity’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 28 Oct. 2002)

• chapter 2: Private military companies: Privatizing Combat, the New World Order -...ICI is one of several companies contracted by the State Department to go into danger zones that are too risky or unsavory to commit conventional U.S. forces. It also has been active in conflicts in Haiti and Liberia [in addition to Sierra Leone]...a nearly two-year investigation by ICIJ [International Consortium of Investigative Journalists] identified at least 90 private military companies, or PMCs (as some of these new millennium mercenaries prefer to be known), that have operated in 110 countries worldwide. [includes reference to Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton; Booz Allen Hamilton; BDM, owned by the Carlyle Group; Armor Holdings; L-3 Communications; MPRI; Sayeret Group; Pistris Inc.; Trojan Securities; TASK International; DynCorp; ICI] (Center for Public Integrity’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 28 Oct. 2002)

• chapter 3: Marketing the New 'Dogs of War' [private military companies] [includes reference to Executive Outcomes/Sandline International, Strategic Consulting International (SCI) Ltd., Sandline Consultancy Ltd, Trident Maritime] (Center for Public Integrity’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 30 Oct. 2002)

• chapter 4: Greasing the Skids of Corruption [refers to money paid by multinational oil companies to Angolan Government ending up in private bank accounts] [includes reference to Marathon Oil Company]...Angola is certainly not unique as a country where conflict and corruption are fueled by petroleum dollars [includes reference to Chinese, Canadian and Malaysian oil companies in Sudan; Shell in Nigeria; Equatorial Guinea]...Some oil companies contribute to the problem directly by hiring corrupt government militaries to provide security for their operations. [includes reference to ExxonMobil in Indonesia, Unocal and Total in Burma] (Center for Public Integrity’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 4 Nov. 2002)

• chapter 5: The Curious Bonds of Oil Diplomacy [Equatorial Guinea] -...The 23-year-old regime of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been criticized for allowing the oil companies to exploit Equatorial Guinea’s oil riches with little obvious benefit to the people. [includes reference to ExxonMobil, Amerada Hess, Chevron Texaco and Marathon Oil] (Center for Public Integrity’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 6 Nov. 2002)

Guards want to join labor union [Indonesia] - The Federation of Independent Workers Union (FSPM) protested on Friday a police circular which prohibits a security guard to join the workers union for fears of a conflict of interest (Jakarta Post, 30 Sep. 2002)

Labor unions decry use of surveillance methods [South Korea] - CAPS, a security company, blocked access for labor union members to the union's homepage in April...More and more companies are adopting containment policies against labor unions, blocking homepages and adding surveillance to labor activities. Labor unions say that such diversionary moves suppress unions, but it is hard to judge whether the new policies are illegal or not. [refers also to action taken by Korea East-West Power Co, Hotel Lotte, Jaeneung Education Institute Co.] (Lim Bong-soo, JoongAng Ilbo [South Korea], 8 Aug. 2002)

A conference of security guards: 14/5/02 [Israel] -...Every day "Kav La'Oved" deals with security guards belonging to several groups: students, new immigrants, pensioners, young people and single mothers. Their complaints expose a situation wherein the most basic workers rights have been consistently and systematically violated. (Kav La'Oved [Israel], 14 May 2002)

Anti-union violence in Warsaw Marriott Hotel: On February 14 Andrzej Jakubiak, chair of the Enterprise Commission of ICFTU affiliate NSZZ “Solidarnosc” at the Marriott hotel in Warsaw, Poland, was brutally attacked and beaten by hotel security personnel. (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, 22 Feb. 2002)

Mdladlana out to get bad employers [South Africa]: Membathisi Mdladlana, the labour minister, yesterday had a blunt message for employers: stop mistreating workers...Mdladlana said his department would launch a "national inspection blitz" in April, focusing on the security, construction and farm sectors, which were among the worst offenders when it came to poor working conditions and employing child labour. This follows his crackdown on clothing firms late last year (Lynda Loxton, Business Report [South Africa], 20 Feb. 2002)

Union says security firm harassing Somali guards, tenants [Minneapolis, USA] (Todd Nelson, Pioneer Press [St. Paul, Minnesota], 22 Jan. 2002)

Securicor put camera in female locker room [UK]:...Union leaders last night demanded compensation for female employees worried about "peeping toms" and threatened legal action under data protection legislation and the Sex Discrimination Act. (Kevin Maguire, Guardian [UK], 19 Jan. 2002)

Doubts Rise About Guards-for-Hire: Terrorism Fuels Growth in an Industry Virtually Free of Regulation - The menace of terrorism is driving a boom in the guards-for-hire industry while increasingly blurring the line between public policing and private security...But as the sector grows, the question...who is to guard the guards themselves? - has no ready answer. (Barry James, International Herald Tribune, 10 Jan. 2002)

2001:

Exploitation of Workers Rife in Eastern Cape [South Africa]: The exploitation of workers is rife in the Eastern Cape, especially in the security and textile industries said provincial Labour Department deputy director of inspections and enforcements Mlungisi Matiwane yesterday...He said: "It is especially the small businesses where workers are vulnerable that are guilty of disregarding labour laws and discriminating against workers." (Dumile Meintjies, East Cape News [South Africa], 14 Dec. 2001) 

Guard takes firm to court over sex claim [South Africa]: A Cape Town security guard has become the first person to take an employer to court for sexual discrimination under the Employment Equity Act. She alleged in the Cape Town Labour Court that Real Security, of Mitchell's Plain, failed to act when she complained about being sexually harassed at work. (Lynnette Johns, Independent [South Africa], 11 Dec. 2001)

Corporations Behaving Badly: The Ten Worst Corporations of 2001 [Abbott Laboratories, Argenbright Security, Bayer, Coca Cola, Enron, ExxonMobil, Philip Morris, Sara Lee, Southern Co. and Wal-Mart] (Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, Multinational Monitor, Dec. 2001)

• company websites:
  • Abbott Laboratories
  • Argenbright Security, a subsidiary of Securicor
  • Bayer
  • Coca Cola
  • Enron
  • ExxonMobil
  • Philip Morris
  • Sara Lee
  • Southern Co. 
  • Wal-Mart