Six prominent legal and advocacy organizations warned the joint owners Dakota Access Pipeline of their legal responsibility amidst the escalating violence in Standing Rock, North Dakota. The letter highlights the corporate duty of project proponents Energy Transfer and Phillips 66 under international law and the laws of the United States to respect human rights and to avoid complicity in further human rights abuses... The letter cautions Energy Transfer, Phillips66 and lender Wells Fargo that, as a matter of international law, companies have an affirmative responsibility to protect human rights. It warns that the active involvement of state or local law enforcement does not absolve companies of these duties... 

“Unfortunately, we are used to seeing human rights abuses in our work outside the United States. It is deeply alarming to see these same abuses happening today in North Dakota,” says attorney Katie Redford, Director of EarthRights International.