Justice missing in Bhopal

Seven former managers at the Indian subsidiary of Union Carbide have been successfully prosecuted and face jail sentences over their part in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.

Last month, an Indian court convicted the former employees of causing “death by negligence”. They were sentenced to two years in prison, but bailed pending an appeal, and ordered to pay fines of 100,000 rupees (£1,400) each.

The case has reignited demands for the US company and its former chair, Warren Anderson, to face trial and answer charges of culpable homicide over the disaster.

The disaster occurred when a cloud of lethal methyl isocyanate gas escaped from the Union Carbide pesticide plant and killed thousands of people within days. Since 2001 the company has been owned by Dow Chemicals.

The human rights group Amnesty International says that the leak killed between 7,000 and 10,000 people in its immediate aftermath, and a further 15,000 over the next 20 years. More than 100,000 continue to suffer from serious health problems as a consequence and the site has never been cleaned up.

Audrey Gaughran, director of global issues at Amnesty International, said: “While the Indian employees have now been tried and convicted, the foreign accused have been able to evade justice simply by remaining abroad. This is totally unacceptable.”