MOSCOW, December 1 (Sputnik) – The US corporation Union Carbide should face court for the gas leak disaster in Bhopal, India, that killed over 20,000 people, a new YouGov for Amnesty International poll, carried out in both the US and India, said on Monday.
According to the polls that marks the 30th anniversary of the accident, 82 percent of Indians and 62 percent of Americans agreed that Union Carbide should stand trial at an Indian court to face the consequences of the gas leak, which it thus far has refused to do.
"This poll shows that the verdict in the court of public opinion is clear. Justice has not been delivered for Bhopal, and people will not stand for it," Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's Secretary General, said on Monday. He added that it was outrageous that a foreign company had not faced justice in an Indian court for its crimes.
Union Carbide currently faces charges of culpable homicide over the gas leak. According to Salil Shetty, the company, dubbed by a Bhopal criminal court as an "absconder from justice", has to be held accountable by the US government, as well as India.
"This result should act as a wake-up call to the US government, which has until now effectively provided a safe haven for Union Carbide… While the USA would never stand for a foreign-owned company evading accountability after wreaking havoc on its soil, it seems less concerned when the tables are turned," Shetty said.
70 percent of Indians and 45 percent of Americans also shared that opinion, the poll states.
The disaster occurred on the night 2-3 December 1984 when 30 tones of methyl isocyanate escaped from a tank into the atmosphere due to the poorly maintained Union Carbide facility in Bhopal, India. The gas leak took lives of over 20,000 and poisoned more than half a million survivors, who have subsequently struggled with a wide array of health issues as a result.
