This Communication requests the Prosecutor to investigate environmental destruction by the American multinational energy corporation Chevron in the Oriente region as constituting crimes against humanity. It was filed by Lawyers for the Lago Agrio who represent rainforest communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The communication claims that maintaining a polluted environment is an attack on the civilian population in Oriente and amounts murder, extermination, and persecution as a crime against humanity. From the 1960s to the 1990s, the American oil company Texaco—which merged with Chevron in 2001—extracted oil from this area known as the Lago Agrio oil field and produced toxic waste. Since 1993, the victims have sought redress and accountability in domestic courts against Chevron for the pollution caused by Texaco. This Communication requests the OTP to open a preliminary examination into the responsibility of Chevron CEO John Watson and other high-ranking officers.
In April 2015, the Prosecutor determined that there is not a basis to proceed with a preliminary examination, as some allegations predate the Court’s jurisdiction, which begins in 2002 and Texaco left Ecuador in the early 1990s.