SP
Internationale actie voor asbestslachtoffers
SP-senator Bob Ruers bepleit internationale actie voor
asbestslachtoffers van Eternit op Latijns-Amerikaanse
asbestbijeenkomst in Buenos Aires
Van 1 t/m 3 oktober a.s. wordt in Buenos Aires (Argentinie) op
voorstel van de Argentijnse minister van gezondheidszorg een
Latijns-Amerikaanse asbestbijeenkomst gehouden. Aanleiding hiervoor is
het recente besluit van Argentinie om, in navolging van de EU in 1999,
het gebruik van asbest te verbieden.
Bijna gelijktijdig besloot ook de Chileense regering tot zo'n verbod,
ondanks de zware druk van de Canadese regering om van het verbod af te
zien.
Aan de conferentie zullen vertegenwoordigers uit bijna alle
Latijns-Amerikaanse landen deelnemen: ministers, regeringsadviseurs,
internationale niet-gouvernementele organisaties en sociale
activisten.
Aan de orde zullen komen de ervaringen uit Argentinie, Brazilie,
Chili, Equador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay.
Daarbij zal met name gediscussieerd worden over asbestgerelateerde
ziekten, epidemiologie, schadevergoeding voor asbestslachtoffers en
asbestverwijderingsprocedure.
SP-senator Bob Ruers is als enige Nederlandse vertegenwoordiger voor
de conferentie uitgenodigd vanwege zijn grote ervaring op asbestgebied
in Nederland. Hij zal zijn voorstel toelichten om een internationale
organisatie op te richten, die zich bezig zal houden met de belangen
van de asbestslachtoffers van Eternit. Eternit is een internationaal
asbestconcern dat in 35 landen actief is.
Een afschrift van de speech die Bob Ruers maandag a.s. zal houden
treft u als bijlage aan.
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Voor nadere inlichtingen:
Bob Ruers, p/a Centro de Officiales de Mar, Buenos Aires, tel. 54 11
43 71 75 73
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Bijlage
The Asbestos Experience in the European Union
Latin-American Asbestos Meeting
Buenos Aires, Argentina
1 October 2001
OPENING REMARKS
Before starting my lecture, I would like to congratulate all of you
on achieving a ban on the use of asbestos in Argentina. I sincerely
hope other countries in Latin-American will follow your example, so
that we can soon be witness to an asbestos-free Latin-America!
As Laurie informed you, the road which led to a ban on asbestos in Europe was long and winding. Fortunately, it now looks as if the use of asbestos will soon be banned in all member states of the European Union. But the battle isn't over yet. As Laurie said, epidemiologists predict that there will be 500.000 asbestos deaths in Western Europe over the next thirty years. We need to make sure that all of these victims will receive full and proper damages for their injuries. That will take a lot of effort and endurance and in my opinion the only way we can reach this goal is by creating a strong and solid organisation to aid victims, both nationally and internationally, in their struggle for compensation. Without such an organisation, I am afraid many victims will be deprived of their rightful compensation.
THE NETHERLANDS
In the Netherlands large scale use of asbestos started after the
Second World War. It was widely used on ship yards and in the asbestos
cement industry. As a consequence of this widespread use, we now have
approximately 350 deaths of mesothelioma a year and this number is
increasing. Scientific research has revealed that we will reach a peak
number in the year 2015; by then, the mortality rate for mesothelioma
is expected to be as high as 550. Similar rates are predicted for
asbestos related lung cancer.
During the 1960s, the awareness of the dangers of the use of asbestos
started to surface in the Netherlands. Still, it would take 25 more
years before the use of asbestos was completely banned in our country.
This was mainly due to the power of the asbestos industry and the
meekness of our government. It was the Dutch Socialist Party that in
the 1980s first started to make out a case for the ban of asbestos.
When this had been reached in 1993, the Socialist Party set out to
organise the victims of asbestos exposure. In 1995 the Asbestos
Committee was established. It soon became clear that this Committee,
consisting mainly of the widows of factory workers who had died of
asbestos related diseases, filled a large need. Within a couple of
months, more than a hundred asbestos victims reported to the
Committee. Also there was a lot of attention in the media. Fairly soon
the Dutch Asbestos Committee became the voice of the Dutch asbestos
victims.
The Asbestos Committee still exists; it's work is not yet done. The
aims of the Committee are:
- shortening the so called 'legal agony of mesothelioma victims'
- obtaining recognition and compensation for the victims
- achieving a compensation fund for all asbestos victims in the
Netherlands.
To achieve these goals, the Committee has started consultations with
employer's organisations, insurance companies, the government and
trade unions. At the same time, the Committee supported legal
proceedings against employers on a large scale, mostly successfully.
I am very proud to say that, owing to the efforts of the Asbestos Committee, the legal position of mesothelioma victims has improved tremendously in our country. Most victims are now able to obtain a swift compensation for their injuries. At the same time, I must conclude that we still have a lot of work to do for the victims of asbestosis and asbestosis related lung cancer. Their legal position still leaves a lot to be desired. Furthermore, employers and insurance companies do their best to bring down everything the asbestos Committee has so carefully built up during the past years. I am therefore convinced it will be many, many years before we can safely do without the Asbestos Committee in the Netherlands. Another reason that strengthens me in my belief that the national Committees such as the Dutch Asbestos Committee are of utmost importance, is that we need these national Committees to support and strengthen an international organisation like IBAS to fight the use of asbestos worldwide. The asbestos industry is an international industry; if we want to fight this industry properly, we cannot need to do this on an international level. It is time for us to join forces and cooperate.
ETERNIT
A good example of a multinational asbestos company is the Eternit
Group, consisting of two joint international companies: Eternit
Switzerland and Eternit Belgium, also known as the ETEX Group. Since
the 1920s, the company has been one of the world's leading asbestod
companies.
In the Netherlands, the Eternit Group has a subsidiary company simply
called Eternit. It is an asbestos cement factory that was established
in the 1930s. The company processed blue asbestos until the beginning
of the 1980s; white asbestos was used even longer, until the beginning
of the 1990s. Since it was established, the Eternit factory has caused
hundreds of asbestos victims in the Netherlands. There are three types
of asbestos victims:
-people who worked in the Eternit factory;
-members of workers' families who were exposed to asbestos fibres
brought home on overalls;
-people who lived near the factory. For years, the factory dumped its
asbestos-containing waste in the cheapest way possible: they simply
put the waste at the disposal of anyone who wanted to pave a road or a
farm yard in the vicinity of the factory. So right now, there are
miles of road paved with asbestos, exposing the local people to
asbestos dust each time they use these roads.
With the support of the Dutch Socialist Party, twelve years ago the
first victim brought a claim for damages against Eternit. This was
quite sensational at that time, because until then no one of the small
community in which the Eternit factory was established had dared to
point so much as a finger in the direction of the Eternit factory.
Most inhabitants were simply too dependent on the company for their
income and well-being. The trial became a success, and many more cases
followed, almost all of them successful. Right now, Eternit hardly
ever refuses to compensate the victims of asbestos exposure, with the
exception of people who were exposed through asbestos roads or
asbestos on farm yards. There are a couple of cases pending in which
we claimed damages for victims of environmental exposure to asbestos.
We expect to be successful in these claims also.
GLOBAL STRATEGY FOR ETERNIT'S ASBESTOS VICTIMS
As I said, Eternit is one of the world largest asbestos companies with
subsidiaries in more than 35 countries, some of which still use
asbestos in their production processes. Within the European Union,
Eternit no longer uses asbestos. But outside the European Union,
asbestos is still widely used. During the past 25 years, the use of
asbestos has even increased in most countries outside the European
Union, Canada and the United States. In these countries, Eternit is
also showing a different attitude towards the victims of asbestos
exposure. Liability is vehemently denied and the victims have to fight
their rightful compensation every inch of the way.
This is what I would call 'applying a double standard'. There is no
other expression for it. Why should the victims of Eternit in the
Netherlands be entitled to compensation for their damages, when the
same victims are denied compensation in Latin-America or in Asia?
The Dutch Asbestos Committee and the Dutch Socialist Party feel that
every victim of Eternit, wherever he or she lives, is entitled to
damages. To obtain this worldwide justice for asbestos victims,
international solidarity amongst asbestos victims and victims' groups
is needed.
United we stand, divided we fall.
This is why the Dutch Socialist Party has taken the initiative to
create international solidarity amongst the victims of Eternit. We
have called this the Global Strategy for Eternit's Asbestos Victims.
We are convinced that international cooperation will lead to mutual
benefits, and a strengthening of the position of the asbestos victims
in the different countries. I would therefore like to urge the
representatives of all Latin-American victim organisations that have
had dealing with Eternit or its subsidiaries to join us in our strive
for international cooperation. Together with IBAS, the Dutch Socialist
Party is gladly prepared to use its resources and manpower to realise
this goal. I hope you will respond positively to my appeal. That would
do me a lot of good. In any case, I would gladly like to discuss this
proposal with any of you during the next couple of days. And I would
also like to make use of the opportunity to share information with you
about Eternit and its subsidiaries and the Dutch asbestos
experience.
Thank you very much.
Mr. Bob Ruers
28 sep 01 16:20