United States Spokespersons' Bios
* Denotes a media worker
 

Ryan Bodanyi, Student Coordinator of the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal

Ann Arbor, MI
401 829 6192
rbodanyi@studentsforbhopal.org

Ryan Bodanyi facilitates the network Students for Bhopal (www.studentsforbhopal.org), the first nationwide student campaign against Dow since the Vietnam War. Students for Bhopal, now at 40 active college campuses in the US and India, is committed to advocating on behalf of the survivors of Bhopal until Dow Chemical resolves its responsibilities.

Gary Cohen, Executive Director, Environmental Health Fund

Boston, MA
617-524-6018
gcohen@igc.org

Gary Cohen is also Co-Executive Director of Health Care Without Harm and the Campaign for Environmentally Responsible Healthcare. He serves on the International Advisory Board of the Sambhavna Trust clinic, which offers free medical care to survivors of the Bhopal chemical disaster. Cohen is the author of Fighting Toxics (Island Press, 1990) and the groundbreaking report, "The U.S. Military's Toxics Legacy." His organization, the Environmental Health Fund is the publisher of the new book, Trespass Against Us: Dow Chemical and the Toxic Century.

*Aquene Freechild, Environmental Health Fund

Boston, MA
617-524-6018

Aquene Freechild has helped lead efforts to hold Dow accountable for Bhopal through her work with the Environmental Health Fund and the Dow Accountability Project. Among other initiatives, she helps coordinate the Boston Coalition for Justice in Bhopal, which includes members of the Association for India's Development, Amnesty International, the Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia, and Boston-area student groups. In April 2005 Amnesty Boston and the Boston coalition organized a 1500-student protest outside the Indian consulate in New York, demanding justice for Bhopal.

Rick Hind, Legislative Director of the Greenpeace Toxics Campaign

Washington, DC
(202) 319-2445 (office)
(202) 413-8513 (cell)

Rick Hind brings Chemical Security expertise and Greenpeace policy initiatives to government, business and the national news media. His work involves legislation and exposes of the vulnerability of U.S. chemical plants to terrorism and accidents; global treaty negotiations on eliminating persistent organic pollutants (POPs) at the UN as well as proposals in the EU, the U.S. and in other countries to phase out the use of PVC plastic in toys and other products as well as environmental justice struggles in the U.S. and globally. Hind has held this position since 1991. Prior to joining Greenpeace, he was the Environmental Program Director for the US Public Interest Research Group in Washington, DC.

Ward Morehouse, President of the Council on International and Public Affairs

New York, NY
413-584-9642
ward@cipa-apex.org

Ward Morehouse, author and human rights activist, is President of the Council on International and Public Affairs, a research, education, publishing and advocacy group working on environmental and social justice issues, that houses the Bhopal Action Resource Center. He is a co-founder of the International Coalition for Justice in Bhopal (1985) and the US-based Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy. Morehouse writes, edits and publishes books on Bhopal, including the newly-published The Bhopal Reader (2006), The Bhopal Tragedy (l986), Abuse of Power: The Social Performance of Multinational Corporations. [All books are available in the US and India.] His website offers a virtual Bhopal library online [www.cipa-apex.org ].He is organizer of the Permanent People’s Tribunal on Industrial Hazards and Human Rights.

*Carolyn Toll Oppenheim, Public Purpose Communications Director

Northampton, MA
1-413-584-9645
cell 1-413-530-6484
carolyn@publicpurposecommunications.com

Carolyn Toll Oppenheim is a journalist and activist who specializes in media work for human rights organizations. She has been to ICJB international meetings in Bhopal for the past three years and works on education and outreach to inform the public about the ongoing unresolved issues. The countries she has focused on also include Israel/Palestine, the former Yugoslavia, as well as human rights struggles in the United States.

*Diana Ruiz, Dow Campaign Coordinator, Dow Accountability Network, San Francisco, CA

San Francisco, CA
1-415-999-9074
diana_ruiz@earthlink.net

Diana Ruiz is the U.S. based Coordinator for the International Dow Accountability Campaign. She coordinates activists, NGOs and student groups in strategic planning and action aimed at Dow Chemical. Prior to her work with the Dow Accountability Network, she directed the mining campaign program for Project Underground a human rights group based in Berkeley, California. Ruiz has a range of expertise working with corporate accountability, human rights and environmental justice issues worldwide. The countries she has focused on include Peru, Ecuador, Indonesia, Philippines, Ghana and the Western part of the United States.

H. Rajan Sharma, Esq., Primary Attorney Representing Bhopal Survivors

New York, NY
(732) 494-8876
h_rajansharma@msn.com

H. Rajan Sharma, Esq. is a New York attorney who specializes in international law, including litigation and arbitration in U.S. courts.  Sharma has been the primary attorney representing the Bhopal survivors in federal class action litigation against Union Carbide since 1999.  His work on behalf of survivors is the subject of a documentary film, entitled Litigating Disaster, soon to be released by Tamouz Media, Inc. and Point du Jour International.  Sharma has published a number of articles in professional legal publications on Bhopal and international law, including a recent article published in the official journal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague as part of the "Peace Palace Papers.