by Christopher Hatton

On Thursday, 29 October 2009, people participating in the Christian Peacemaker Team United Kingdom training picketed, handed out leaflets, performed street theatre and sang outside of sixteen Body Shop outlets in London to raise the concerns of 123 families forcibly displaced from their land in Las Pavas, Columbia.  The Body Shop obtains 90% of its palm oil from Daabon Organics, a Colombian company involved in the forced eviction of the Las Pavas community on 14 July 2009.

The Body Shop promotional material advertises that "all people have a right...to be treated with respect," and that "for years we've campaigned against injustices, stood up for the vulnerable."  CPT in Colombia has previously appealed to The Body Shop to address this unjust action by their supplier, Daabon Organics.  As The Body Shop had recently indicated it was not responsible for the evictions, CPT decided to raise the concerns of the Las Pavas community is a more direct nonviolent way.

After morning worship on 29 October, CPT trainees and supporters divided into three teams and visited fifteen Body Shop outlets in central London.  They handed out packets of information on the Las Pavas community, palm oil, Daabon Organics, its subsidiaries, and the role of the Body Shop in this issue.  They then began leafleting and engaging passersby.  A pastor from a North London Pentecostal Church, after meeting CPTers, walked in one of the stores, demanded to see the manager, and (unsuccessfully) asked that staff remove palm oil products from display.  Some people commented that the situation in Las Pavas would not have happened if Body Shop founder Anita Roddick had not sold the chain to a multinational cosmetics company L'Oréal.

Staff members at the Body Shops were largely polite and pleased that CPT intended to highlight its concerns in a respectful way.  However many were also concerned and unhappy that their company had become involved in such an issue.

At 4:00 p.m., the three teams and additional supporters gathered outside The Body Shop on Oxford Street, in the heart of London's busy West End shopping district.  Using street theatre and music, the group highlighted the role of The Body Shop and its dealings with Daabon Organics in the violent displacement of the Las Pavas community.

On the evening of 29 October 2009, the Director of Values at The Body Shop contacted CPT and requested a meeting.  On 30 October, a three-way telephone conference occurred between Body Shop representatives, CPT Colombia & Christopher Hatton, a newly qualified CPT Reservist regarding the Las Pavas situation.  The Body Shop representatives asked for additional photographic evidence and said they intended to take their views and those of the Las Pavas community to a face-to-face meeting with Daabon Organics during the week of 2 November 2009.  The results of this meeting are not yet known.  CPT encourages its constituency to continue applying pressure on Daabon Organics by responding to the 13 November 2009 Urgent Action.

See footage of the Body Shop London witnesses here 

For more information on the CPT UK training witness, see

http://www.cptuk.org.uk/las-pavas-background