Amnesty International has welcomed the decision of a Côte d'Ivoire court not to transfer $45 million in compensation owed to victims of the toxic waste dumping in Abidjan in 2006 to the account of an organization which was falsely claiming to represent all 30,000 of them.
"To have fought for three years for some measure of compensation but then for it to disappear at the eleventh hour would have been heartbreaking for the victims," said Benedetta Lacey, a special advisor at Amnesty International who has visited Côte d'Ivoire and met victims of the dumping.
Amnesty International had written to Mamadou Kone, the Ivorian minister of justice, urging him to take action to ensure the money was not misappropriated.
The move comes as a huge relief for those affected who have waited a long time for some measure of compensation.
