Following my release after 993 days of detention, an anonymous donor has agreed to extend his match for ALL donations until midnight SATURDAY. This is a rare opportunity to have 2X the impact as we prepare for the next phase of our campaign to hold Chevron accountable. This has been an incredible week filled with both joy and heartbreak.
First, we are rejoicing because my detention finally ended on Monday morning. We celebrated that evening with an enormous street rally in front of my apartment building in Manhattan. Hundreds came and many spoke out – among them Susan Sarandon, labor leader Chris Smalls, legendary attorneys Ron Kuby and Marty Garbus, and Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson. To be clear: I never could have endured Chevron's retaliation after winning the Ecuador pollution judgment without your support and solidarity. I am the only lawyer in American history ever jailed for even one day on my charge and I continue to assert my innocence.
The harassment of me continued until almost the last minute of my detention. While riding to the halfway house to get my discharge papers, I received a final phone call demanding I prove my location with the prison system by sending a "biometric" check-in. But the person making the call didn’t even know I was being released and I already had been awakened at 5:20 a.m. with another call demanding I verify I was home. It feels Kafkaesque.
The Bureau of Prisons considers this policy. I consider it abuse. It is probably both.
The heartbreak comes largely from what was lost that can never be regained: life experiences over almost three years with family, friends, and colleagues. More importantly, it also comes from the continued suffering of the Indigenous peoples and farmer communities of Ecuador due to Chevron’s mass industrial poisoning of their ancestral lands as found by multiple layers of courts. People in the Amazon are dying at Chevron's hands and we must figure out how to do more.  On a personal note, I am so gratified to have the opportunity to explore my full life again and try to take it to an even higher level of commitment. The constant fear of being yanked back into prison on a moment’s notice for any arbitrary reason is gone. I now will be able to sleep through the night without receiving unwanted “wake-up” calls from the halfway house where I have to "verify" that I'm home and reciting my prison I.D. number of 87103-054.
We are deeply grateful to everyone who has donated or otherwise helped build our campaign. Your support allowed me to survive Chevron's brutal and vicious attacks. At the block party, we celebrated how together we have built a lasting movement not only to help protect all human rights lawyers, but also to obtain justice for the Indigenous peoples of Ecuador. The energy level was off the charts and the speeches amazing, as you can see from the video below. 
I also am so proud of our team in fighting for the Indigenous peoples and farmer communities in Ecuador. Thanks largely to their work and your support, that fight has burgeoned into a grassroots movement on a global scale that spans dozens of countries and multiple continents.
That said, I have little doubt that Chevron is waiting for the attention to die down so they can pounce again when they think few will be looking. We must maintain our vigilance.
We are now beginning a new chapter designed to protect us from additional attacks by Chevron. It is also designed to allow the Amazon communities to take the initiative so that Chevron is finally forced to pay the $9.5 billion Ecuador pollution judgment. We are going to need everybody involved to achieve success.
While the last three years have been painful for me and my family, we are emerging from this experience even stronger and more determined. This battle always has been bigger than me or any one individual. The battle is about fighting for the survival of Indigenous peoples, fighting to protect the planet, and fighting to ensure that all Earth Defenders can take on the toughest battles facing humanity.
Please donate before the match expires at midnight on Saturday.
With love,
Steven Donziger |
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Steven Donziger is a U.S. human rights attorney who helped communities in Ecuador’s Amazon win a historic multibillion-dollar pollution judgment against Chevron for the dumping of billions of gallons of cancer-causing oil waste onto Indigenous ancestral lands. Since the judgment issued in 2013, Chevron has used dozens of law firms and 2000 lawyers to carry out a demonization campaign targeting Steven to send a message of intimidation to all environmental advocates.
Donate NOW to help support Steven as he and the Ecuadorian communities continue their fight for corporate accountability, environmental justice, Indigenous rights, and Free Speech. DONATE NOW |
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