Monsanto goes on trial for crimes against humanity

Monsanto is being placed on trial by a consortium of international companies, including the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), IFOAM International Organics, Navdanya, Regeneration International (RI), and Millions Against Monsanto and dozens of global food, farming and environmental justice groups.

Monsanto, known for the toxic chemicals it has produced and used on the world including PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl), one of the 12 Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP) that affect human and animal fertility, 2,4,5 T (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid), a dioxin-containing component of the defoliant, Agent Orange, which was used by the US Army during the Vietnam War, and Lasso, an herbicide that is now banned in Europe, will be put on trial for crimes against humanity and the environment in October of 2016.

The most recent and biggest global health scandal involves Monsanto's Roundup, which has been classified as a probable carcinogen by the World Health Organization.  The toxic herbicide has been linked to devastating health conditions throughout the world and traces of it are found throughout the food chain.

Based on the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, a document created by the UN in 2011, the group of international lawyers will determine the level of criminal liability placed on Monsanto for damages inflicted on human health and the environment.

“Monsanto is able to ignore the human and environmental damage caused by its products, and maintain its devastating activities through a strategy of systemic concealment: by lobbying regulatory agencies and governments, by resorting to lying and corruption, by financing fraudulent scientific studies, by pressuring independent scientists, and by manipulating the press and media," said Andre Leu, president of IFOAM and a member of the RI Steering Committee.

"This International Citizens’ Tribunal is necessary because the defense of the safety of the planet and the conditions of life on Earth is everyone’s concern," added Marie-Monique Robin, journalist and author of the best-selling documentary (and book by the same name), "The World According Monsanto."

"Only through a collective resurgence of all living forces will we stop the engine of destruction."

The announcement was made at a press conference held in conjunction with the COP21 United Nations Conference on Climate Change, November 30 – December 11, in Paris.