The legal representative of the Union of People Affected by Texaco (UDAPT) has led the lawsuit filed by peasants and indigenous people against this oil company (now Chevron-Texaco) over its awful environmental disasters in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

“We have three court rulings in Ecuador against Chevron, one ruling against Chevron in Canada, in alternative tribunals (…) What´s the use of a legal instrument that nobody respects, nobody follows, because it is voluntary? It is absolutely worthless”, said Fajardo.

The expert issued these statements during a press conference on Monday in Geneva organized by the Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power and End Impunity and the Treaty Alliance. The UDAPT is part of the Global Campaign. The press conference was held at the Palais des Nations, where a new round of UN negotiations towards a binding treaty on transnational corporations and human rights violations began also yesterday.

“We think that a binding instrument is urgently needed to allow affected people around the world to have full access to justice, and so that corporations are subjected to immediate prosecution in a practical and timely manner”, concluded Fajardo.