Washington: US Congressman and former co-chairman of the India-Caucus Frank Pallone has joined Bhopal gas tragedy survivors Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla in their campaign for extradition of Union Carbide Corporation officials and its former chairman Warren Anderson on criminal charges to face trial in the case.

Pallone joined the women also in supporting long-term health care and monitoring for survivors and their children, as well as release of information on the health impact of the gases that were leaked.

The two other demands are clean up of former Union Carbide site and the surrounding area and adequate economic and social support to survivors who can no longer pursue their trade because of illness or to families widowed by the disaster.

"It's outrageous that this year marks the 20th Anniversary of this tragic event and that the CEOs of Union Carbide and its successor Dow Chemical still remain absconders of justice" Pallone said.

"It is unacceptable to allow an American company not only the opportunity to exploit international borders and legal jurisdictions, but also the ability to evade civil and criminal liability for environmental pollution and abuses committed overseas."

Pallone, a Democrat, praised a ruling last month from the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit against a Union Carbide motion to dismiss a case before the court holding Dow Chemical responsible for the environmental disaster.

The Appeals Court's decision allows the claim to continue against Dow Chemical that came from victims and their families after a US district judge in New York dismissed the claims against the company last year.

After the decision in New York last year, Pallone and eight of his House colleagues sent a 23-page brief to the Appeals Court urging the court to hold Dow Chemical responsible and not dismiss the case against it.

Pallone also announced plans to introduce a legislation in remembrance of the Bhopal disaster.

Nearly 20 years after the Union Carbide Corporation plant in Bhopal leaked 40 tonnes of lethal gas killing 4,000 people and injuring more than 20,000, Pallone held a briefing on Capitol Hill yesterday (Apr 26, 2004) to discuss the horror of the disaster with Goldman Environmental Prize winners and Bhopal survivors Bee and Shukla.

The two women, survivors of the Bhopal disaster and leading activists today in Bhopal, joined Pallone here after being awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize this week.

In a united front, Bee, Shukla and Pallone called upon Dow Chemical, the American corporation that now owns Union Carbide, to step forward and take full responsibility for the actions of Union Carbide.

"As they (Bee and Shukla) witnessed the horror of the Bhopal disaster in 1984 and have dedicated their lives to an international campaign to seek justice for people struggling each day as a result of the gas leak, I join them in their efforts to make sure the site is completely cleaned-up and the survivors' needs are fully addressed by Dow Chemical."