FIFA and BP: Hope
for Ending Criminal Collusion with Tyranny (News, Switzerland)
"Columbian
trade unionist Gilberto Torres is suing BP in London. Thirteen years ago
paramilitaries kidnapped, tortured and held him for 42 days before releasing
him. Now, as it is alleged that the British oil firm indirectly financed his
torturers, he's suing BP for damages. … In the same way that Gilberto Torres is
suing BP in the hope that the global public will acknowledge the 42 days of
injustice that completely destroyed his life, the fact that football fans are
openly discussing the connection between global oppression and fiscal policy
allows us to hope - if only for a day."
A Columbian trade unionist is suing BP in
London. Thirteen years ago paramilitaries kidnapped, tortured and held him
for 42 days before releasing him. Now, as it is alleged that the British oil
firm indirectly financed his torturers, he's suing BP for damages [video below].
BP denies any connection with the assassinations, torture,
and kidnappings of trade unionists. As a minority shareholder in Columbian oil pipeline
company Osensa, BP claims it had nothing to do with the
operation of the pipelines. However, even Ocensa and state-oil
company Ecopetrol
deny any involvement, although paramilitaries testified before a Colombian
court in 2011 that Ocensa ordered and supported these
crimes. For years, Amnesty International has warned big Western firms against
going into Columbia, since both the government and companies would threaten
trade unionists through the use of paramilitaries, torture and assassination.
But BP consistently refused to acknowledge any responsibility, and for the
moment, the media was silent.
Which brings me to the FIFA system.
The systems of FIFA and BP are similar in that Western media rarely puts clear
economic, sports and political ties on the agenda, i.e.: when a multinational
cooperates with a dictatorship, it can be assumed that it supports that
dictatorship. In this context, when a country or corporation greases the wheels
with bribery, torture and oppression, allowing a business or indeed a game to
continue without major obstacles, it must be clearly documented. For years,
however, a conspiracy of media silence has been complicit in the unspeakable
conditions created by multinational firms, organizations and governments, which
are then disguised with charitable works by those same multinational firms, organizations
and governments. With FIFA it is the game of football, with BP the billions
donated to global health organizations.
Abstract terms like "corruption," "graft,"
"paramilitaries," "millions for the government," "millions
for the national football association," etc. dispose of the obvious
political context. Years later, as is currently the case, this makes it
possible to take a few of the participants to court, but that does little to alter
the essentials of this reprehensible game.
What do all these
processes show us?
The commission of these crimes always requires accomplices,
and silence must always be seen as abetment. Regimes committing human rights
abuses can only exist due to the complicity of states, corporations and
politicians from within our ranks. Every export, every agreement, every economic collaboration and every handshake with a
torturer should be commented on with this in mind. The cementing of injustice
through language abuse must come to an end.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
Similarly, those writing free trade agreements must always
be consistent in clearly and directly outlining "welfare cuts,
privatization, bloodshed, abolition of animal welfare, elimination of gender
equality, elimination of democracy, elimination of ecologically-friendly food
production," and so on. Real free trade can exist only among equals, and
it should always include guarantees of basic human rights, fundamental civil
liberties and labor rights. As is the case with BP, for example, should it be
held responsible by the London high court, one should be able to hold those who
engage in trade with dictatorships responsible for transgressions that occur
during any collaboration. Those who organize global football with the assistance
of dictatorships always have dirt on their hands. If only the practice had gotten the
media attention it deserved decades ago, consequent actions would long since have
been taken against it.
As we see with FIFA, the rule of law isn't nothing, even if it
sometimes appears as if a pawn is simply being obliged to take the fall, and -
if there are convictions at all - that the law of the rich prevails (as with Formula
One CEO Bernie
Ecclestone). In the same way that Gilberto Torres hopes the global public
will acknowledge the 42 days of injustice that completely destroyed his life,
the fact that football fans are openly discussing the connection between global
oppression and fiscal policy allows us to hope - if only for a day.
*Regula Stämpfli
is a Swiss born political scientist based in Brussels.
