Campaign News Archive
November 2006 - All Charges Against Coke Protesters Dropped
 In November 2004, people in northern India marched over 150 miles--from one Coke bottling plant to another--to protest the Coca-Cola Corporation's exploitation of local water resources. In Mehdiganj, the marchers joined with thousands of local villagers and called for Coke's bottling facility there to be shut down.
Following Gandhian principles of nonviolence, the protest was a peaceful one, yet police and Coke security guards attacked the demonstrators without provocation or warning.
Hundreds were injured and arrested. Several activists and farmers were held in custody for more than 15 days and then charged with a series of criminal acts, including arson, destruction of property and assaulting police and Coke security guards.
People across the United States took action and urged government officials in India to stand up to Coca-Cola and protect the rights of people in Mehdiganj. They asked for the unwarranted charges against leaders and activists to be dropped, and for an official investigation of the disruption of the nonviolent protest, as well as Coke's role in attacks on protesters.
Two years later, a trial court judge declared that there was not a single piece of evidence of wrongdoing on the part of those accused, and dismissed all the charges. The original detention of the local leaders and activists is currently under investigation by India's National Human Rights Commission.
August 2006 - Poisoned Pop Pulled in India
 The Indian state of Kerala banned the sale and production of Coke and Pepsi products following revelations that the company's soft drinks contained pesticide levels averaging 24 times those permitted in the European Union and proposed under new Indian regulations. The result came from a report published last week by the respected Center for Science and the Environment which tested Coke and Pepsi products from 12 different bottling plants throughout the country. Kerala is one of seven Indian states to restrict the sale of Coke and Pepsi products in light of the new report. Coke's plant in Plachimada, Kerala, has been mothballed since 2004 due to protests over Coke's draining of community wells and contamination of farmland with toxic sludge. Community leaders enthusiastically welcomed the ban imposed by the state of Kerala. A similar study in 2003 also found pesticides in Coke and Pepsi products.
July 2006 - 100 days of protest in Mehdiganj, India
 100 days of protest challenging Coca-Cola's abuses have been organized by the Mehdiganj community in India. These protests, endorsed by organizations around the world, including Corporate Accountability International, came to a culmination on July 1st, 2006, when over 700 women and men rallied at a platform just opposite the Coca-Cola factory.
Indian leaders including Sandeep Pandey, Medha Patkar, Uma Shankari and Aflatoon addressed the concerned community. Members of the community highlighted how they are being affected by Coke's irresponsible and dangerous actions. Two leaders of the movement challenging Coke, Nandlal Master and Mukesh Kumar, went on a hunger strike demanding that Coke stop its abuses and that the government respond to the needs of the community. The hunger strike ended at the request of Sandeep Pandey, Medha Patkar and the Mehdiganj community. The leaders and community then issued an ultimatum to the government to respond to the demands within one month. If the government fails to respond, the protests will be intensified with water rights rallies all over the state, targeting the government and pollution control boards and the district magistrate in the local region. The protests ended with the community chanting "Ladenge, Jeethenge!" which means "We will fight, We will win!"
Support our Indian allies and the Mehdiganj community in their struggle challenging Coca-Cola. Take action today to urge Coke's CEO to end its abuses in Mehdiganj, Plachimada, and beyond.
April 2006 - Coca-Cola's Annual Shareholders' Meeting
 On April 19th, people gathered in Wilmington, DE, to directly challenge the executives of Coca-Cola for its abuses around the world. Dozens of activists attended the meeting--many of whom spoke powerfully from the floor. Despite Coke's attempts to control the message, statements of protests were heard from the beginning of the meeting to the end. As part of our "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign, Sister Nancy MacDermott delivered thousands of public comments on behalf of religious congregations, community activists and student groups from across the country.
Outside the meeting, dozens of students from the U.S. and Canada joined with Teamsters and religious leaders to demand an end to the human rights, labor and environmental abuses of Coca-Cola in communities around the world. In addition, Corporate Accountability International organized a Tap Water Challenge (above) to expose the dangerous reality behind bottled water brands, like Coke's Dasani.
Click here to read stories from inside the Coke Shareholders' Meeting.
Click here to read statements delivered by our team at this year's Coke Annual Shareholders' Meeting.
Click here to read the news story from Delaware's News Journal: "Dozens Protest at Coca-Cola Meeting."
Pepsi-Co Annual Shareholders' Meeting 2006
Just two weeks after the Coca-Cola meeting, Corporate Accountability International traveled to Plano, Texas for PepsiCo's annual shareholders' meeting. As part of our "Think Outside the Bottle" campaign, organizers directly challenged Pepsi executives for the misleading marketing of its bottled water brand, Aquafina. We also delivered thousands of postcards generated from religious congregations, community activists and student groups over the last several months.
Click here to read statements delivered by our team at this year's PepsiCo Annual Shareholders' Meeting.
Click here to read our press release issued to the media directly after the PepsiCo Annual Shareholders' Meeting.
National Week of Action - March 15-22, 2006
During the month of March, corporate interests gathered at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City to promote international policies that threaten the human right to water. If we don't stop these corporations from undermining support for our public water supplies, we could face a future where private corporations are making decisions about something as essential to life as our water. We don't think that is a good idea. So, we organized a National Week of Action (March 15-22, 2006). Hundreds of people across the U.S. participated by making a phone call, attending a Tap Water Challenge and more! To see photos of these events, click here.
Tap Water Challenges
We're directly challenging the marketing muscle of the bottled water industry by hosting Tap Water Challenges, a blindfolded test that pits pricey bottled water against water from the tap. Our organizers joined with "celebrity testers" and other members  in cities across the U.S. Click on a city to read news coverage of the Tap Water Challenge.
Contact Zandra Rice at zrice@stopcorporateabuse.org if you want to organize a Tap Water Challenge in your city this week or later this summer.
Inside the Bottle: Awareness to Action - January 2006
How cool is the water you drink?
By spending millions of dollars on advertising, the bottled water industry misleads consumers by portraying their products as 'clean', 'safe', 'healthy', and superior to tap water. It seems like everywhere you go bottled water is the cool thing to drink, right? Wrong! Bottled water costs thousands of times what tap water costs, and scientific studies have found disturbing concentrations of toxic ingredients such as arsenic and mercury in some bottled water products. To top it all off, bottled water is one of the least regulated industries in the U.S. That is definitely not cool.
International Solidarity Tour - October 2005
 This month, as our allies in India continue to call on all of us to pressure Coke, Dr. Sandeep Pandey is traveling across the US and Canada on a speaking tour. Dr. Pandey is a National Convenor of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM)--the largest coalition of people's struggles and movements across India.
In November 2004, Dr. Pandey helped lead a 150-mile march from one Coke bottling facility to another. Dozens of people took part in the full 10-day march in north India, which culminated in a peaceful protest at the Coke bottling plant in Mehdiganj. Fifteen hundred people participated in the peaceful demonstration on November 24, 2004, with one clear message: Close down the Mehdiganj facility. Police attacked the non-violent protest without provocation or warning and hundreds of people, including Dr. Pandey, were arrested.
Recently, the Kerala Pollution Control Board in southern India ordered Coca-Cola to "stop production of all kinds of products" at its Plachimada bottling plant. And last month, the state government of Kerala filed a petition with the Indian Supreme Court, joining with the local community in challenging Cokes right to draw groundwater.
Recent campaign actions by our allies in India--and by people like you--are clearly helping to move the debate! But we aren't in the clear yet and we need your help.
Pressure is building on Coke to end its irresponsible and dangerous actions. Our allies in India are calling on all of us to act. Right now, more than ever, we need international solidarity and increased pressure on Coke.
In solidarity with our allies around the world, Corporate Accountability International is pleased to invite you to attend an event on Dr. Pandey's tour. His leadership on a range of issues--from challenging Coke's abuses to building a movement for peace, education and grassroots democracy--is moving our world to a better place.
Here's a partial list of cities that are stops on the tour:
Cincinnati; Cleveland; Chicago; Milwaukee; Minneapolis and Saint Paul; Washington, DC; Los Angeles; Phoenix; Denver; Boston and San Francisco.
For a full list of cities and dates, and for more information for events, visit http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/000480.html#000480.
Corporate Accountability International is pleased to support Dr. Sandeep Pandey's tour. If you haven't yet taken action demanding that Coke stop its irresponsible and dangerous actions please join this growing movement today!
Click here.
This tour is sponsored by: ASHA for Education, Association for India's Development, Indians for Collective Action, India Friends Association, Institute of Global Studies (University of Minnesota), South Asia Collective (Urbana Champaign) and SA4U.
Coca-Cola Can't Beat the Heat!
Summer Actions 2005
Corporations that engage in irresponsible and dangerous abuses received no summer vacation from the campaigning of Corporate Accountability International.
Coca-Cola is dramatically depleting groundwater in India with little regard for the impact, and at least five Indian communities near Coca-Cola's bottling factories are facing severe water shortages and widespread health problems. In Plachimada, a village in southern India, strong community opposition to one of Coke's bottling plants led it to be temporarily shut down. Coke seems determined to re-open this facility, despite the clear demand that it be closed permanently. As the threat of re-opening this bottling facility heats up, the community is responding. Just last week, local residents, mostly concerned youth, marched in front of the Coke plant and demanded that it remain closed.One important way we can support our allies in affected communities in India is to
 That's why this summer, Corporate Accountability International turned up the heat with its campaign pressuring Coke to stop stealing waterand start by: never reopening its Plachimada plant, closing its plant in Mehdiganj and paying for the damage done to affected communities. In solidarity with our allies in India, we continued to pressure Coca-Cola for draining water from local Indian communities. We took this message to the streets with great success in three separate actions this summer:
Amid fresh corn and pumpkin bread, Corporate Accountability International spoke about Coke's dangerous actions in India to hundreds of patrons at a local Boston farmer's market. Many people were aware of the fight for local control of water resources and took the opportunity tosign a postcard telling Coke to stop stealing water.In one afternoon, we gained the support of over 200 new individuals! Over a dozen people also decided to make a phone call to CEO Neville Isdell, insisting that he respond to the demands.handwritten letters
March 22, 2005 - World Water Day:
People in Bolivia Organize to Defend Right to Water
The people of El Alto, Bolivia are organizing to defend their right to water. Their struggle is a direct challenge to Suez, the world's largest private water corporation, which continues its aggressive attempts to privatize El Alto's water.
On January 13, 2005, the government of Bolivia broke its 20-year contract with Aguas de Illimani due to the company's irresponsible water management. Suez is the majority shareholder in Aguas de Illimani. Under recent pressure from the World Bank, the International Development Bank and Germany, Bolivia is now considering a joint venture in which Suez would own 35% of El Alto's water system.
To pressure the government to honor its decision for the exit of Aguas de Illimani from El Alto, a federation of community groups, known collectively as FEJUVE, organized a strike that started Wednesday, March 2, 2005.
Under Aguas de Illimani and Suez, water prices in El Alto increased to unaffordable levels and left thousands of residents without access to potable water, highlighting the importance of public, socially accountable water services.
Corporate Accountability International supports the people of El Alto in their demands that Suez be replaced with a new public water company with democratic governance, social responsibility and citizen oversight. We condemn the irresponsible and dangerous practices of Suez and its recent threats to initiate a lawsuit against Bolivia for lost future profits.
We join with organizations and individuals around the world in calling on the government of Bolivia and the mayor of El Alto to ensure the democratic and human rights of the citizens of Bolivia to peaceably assemble, protest and express their grievances.
 Thanks to activists across the country, we generated close to 1,000 calls in just one day to Coke, Nestlé and Pepsi demanding that the corporations stop misleading promotion of bottled water and stop interfering in policies that protect our water.
So, we are exposing the reality behind the image of bottled water with our new campaign kit "Inside the Bottle: Awareness to Action." Order your kit today to learn more outrageous facts and find out how you can get involved.click here to join the growing movement to stop Coca-Cola's irresponsible and dangerous actions!
 At an outdoor concert series attended by tens of thousands of people, we highlighted how Coca-Cola is contributing to severe water shortages and health problems in India. While the music played in the background, Corporate Accountability International organizers captured awareness with nearly 500 additional people taking action to directly pressure Coke. Numerous requests for updates on the water campaign show that this movement is capturing the concern of a broad range of people.
Unpredictable summer storms did little to dampen the energy of Corporate Accountability International organizing interns and staff. Despite wind, rain and flashes of lightning, we exposed the abuses of Coca-Cola to thousands of people at a Boston India Day celebration.
Another important campaign action involved a mailing to 2,000 Corporate Accountability International activists, detailing Coke's exploitation of water resources in India. Through these events and other summer organizing, Corporate Accountability International generated hundreds more messages to Coca-Cola through postcards, phone calls and Each activist told Coke to stop stealing water and start by: never reopening the Plachimada plant, closing the plant in Mehdiganj and paying for the damage done to affected communities.
By targeting Coca-Cola and other corporations that jeopardize human health and well-being, Corporate Accountability International will advance the basic human right to water. If you haven't taken action,
Coca-Cola 2005 Annual shareholders' meeting
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At the Coca-Cola Annual Shareholders' Meeting Wilmington, Delaware on April 19, Illai, Jim and Gigi joined the impressive group of community leaders, activists and students who addressed top executives and shareholders --directly challenging Coke to end its irresponsible and dangerous practices in India and around the world. (Click here read their statements)
From L to R: Jim Fassett-Carman,Corporate Accountability International member and activist; Illai Kenney, founder of Georgia Kids Against Pollution; and Gigi Kellett, Corporate Accountability International Associate Campaigns Director.
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Click on the links below for more information:
On April 19, as CEO Neville Isdell presided over his first shareholders' meeting, activists delivered powerful statements from a range of communities calling on Coke to stop stealing water. Coke's human rights abuses in Colombia were also a focus of much attention. Meanwhile, dozens of people gathered in front of the Hotel du Pont with banners and signs protesting Coke's abuses around the world.
Through phone calls, e-mails, faxes, and in-person deliveries, thousands of you have joined with allies in India to demand that Coke stop stealing water, starting by permanently closing the Plachimada plant, shutting down its plant in Mehdiganj, and paying for the damage it has done to affected communities. Thank you.
As pressure on Coke builds across the US, resistance to the soft drink giant's abuses continues to grow in India. Most recently, the council of village leaders in Plachimada denied Coke's application for a license to restart its bottling operations there. As community leaders in India move ahead in challenging Coke, pressure here in the US is more important than ever!
Coke Finds Its Bright Spots in Faraway Places
THE NEW YORK TIMES - Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Activists Challenge Coca-Cola Over Water Abuses at Annual Shareholders' Meeting
Students, Community Leaders and Corporate Accountability Activists Urge Soft Drink Giant to Stop Draining Water from Communities in India
April 19, 2005
Statement of Corporate Accountability International Associate Campaigns Director Gigi Kellett
Statement for Coca-Cola Annual Shareholders' Meeting by Sandeep Pandey, a National Convenor of The National Alliance of People's Movements
Statement of Illai Kenney, Georgia Kids Against Pollution
Controversial Coca-Cola Plachimada Facility Denied License
Rejection Follows Recent Actions in India and US
April 29, 2005
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