Talisman Energy Faces Lawsuit Over Conduct in Sudan Berger

Talisman Energy Faces Lawsuit Over Conduct in Sudan
Berger & Montague, P.C. 8/30/2004
Talisman Energy, Inc., a Canadian company listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges, to face charges of alleged complicity in genocide and war crimes in a federal District Court in New York.

On August 27, 2004, Judge Denise Cote denied Talisman Energy's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, ruling that Talisman had "continuous and systematic" contacts with New York State and that the maintenance of the lawsuit was consistent with "traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice."

The complaint, filed by the Presbyterian Church of Sudan and other victims of the oil war in southern Sudan alleges that Talisman, in an "unholy alliance" with the Islamic government of Sudan, committed genocide and war crimes in connection with the exploration and extraction of oil in southern Sudan. The plaintiffs seek disgorgement of Talisman's revenues from its Sudan operations as compensation for hundreds of thousands of victims forced to flee their homes and left in despair without food, water, shelter, or medical care as a result of the strategic plan by Talisman and the government of Sudan to use helicopter gunships and high altitude bombing to depopulate areas around the oil fields.