Bush Repeal

Repeal Bush Immunity for US Oil Companies in Iraq

Source: Institute for Policy Studies
Posted: July 23, 2003


WASHINGTON - Representatives of The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)
and Government Accountability Project (GAP) today urged Congress to investigate - and repeal - an executive order signed by President George W. Bush that gives sweeping powers to U.S. oil companies operating in Iraq.

The two public interest organizations charged that President Bush far overreached a May 22, 2003, United Nations resolution that was designed to protect Iraqi oil revenues for humanitarian purposes when he signed an executive order that could place U.S. corporations above the law for any activities "related to" Iraqi oil, either in Iraq or domestically. Bush signed Executive Order 13303 the same day that the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1483, which sets up a development fund,
from Iraqi oil revenues, for "humanitarian purposes."

"This order reveals the true motivation for the present occupation: absolute power for U.S. corporate interests over Iraqi oil," said IPS Senior Researcher Jim Vallette. "This is the smoking gun that proves the Bush administration always intended to free corporate investments, not the Iraqi people."

"In terms of legal liability, the Executive Order cancels the concept of corporate accountability and abandons the rule of law," charged Tom Devine, legal director of the Government Accountability Project. "It is a blank check for corporate anarchy, potentially robbing Iraqis of both their rights and their resources."

In order to encourage the flow of oil revenues into the Development Fund, the UN Security Council declared that Iraqi oil and gas would be immune from legal proceedings until Dec. 31, 2007. The intent was to immunize the oil and gas only "until title passes to the initial purchaser" and further does "not apply to any legal proceeding... necessary to satisfy
liability to damages assessed in connection with an ecological accident."

However, the president's executive order ignores these important
caveats and declares that "any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void," with respect to the Development Fund for Iraq and "all Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products, and interests therein."

In addition to an exemption for ecological accidents, the UN order had estricted immunity to the point of initial sale. Bush grants Iraqi oil a lifetime exemption provided US companies are involved in the oil's production, transport, or distribution. His order applies to Iraqi oil products that are "in the United States, hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of United States persons." Under U.S. law, corporations are "persons."
Executive Order 13303 means that if oil companies establish separate corporations to handle Iraqi oil, they may be able to escape liability entirely.

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