Escapees tell of pipeline's slave l

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Subject: Escapees tell of pipeline's slave labour 

South China Morning Post
Thursday  August 21  1997

Burma 
Escapees tell of pipeline's slave labour 

WILLIAM BARNES in Bangkok 
Two Burmese villagers have been smuggled into Thailand to tell the world how 
forced labour on a controversial US-backed gas pipeline destroyed their lives.

Their evidence is part of a unique legal bid to prevent Western companies from 
denying responsibility for the actions of foreign partners.

One of the men said that "a foreigner" he exchanged greetings with while 
working on the pipeline must have known he was being forced to carry "huge, 
huge loads" for the Army.

American lawyers representing ethnic Karen, Mon and other Burmese villagers in 
the southern region are hoping that the pair, who cannot be identified, will 
help to persuade a Los Angeles judge that urgent action is needed.

The judge might then use a preliminary injunction to order the American 
partner in the project, Unocal Corporation, to suspend its participation 
before the full human rights case comes to court.

The two witnesses said they were abducted from their homes to endure long 
weeks of forced toil for the brutal Burmese Army guarding the US$1.2 billion 
(HK$9.3 billion) project, designed to deliver vital hard currency to the 
military junta in Rangoon.

Both men rejected the claims of the French Total group and Unocal that the 
scheme benefits the region.

"The people in my village voted for democracy [in the 1990 general election]. 
They did not vote for portering and forced labour," said one of the men, who 
used to grow cashew nuts.

The other escapee, a Karen, was a rubber planter.

They are two of 15 plaintiffs who are suing Unocal, Total and two named Unocal 
executives for their links to gross human rights abuses - beatings, forced 
labour, murder and relocation - associated with the pipeline.

Their lawyers claimed a huge success in March when a Los Angeles court made 
legal history by declaring that private companies could he held responsible 
for the actions of their foreign partners - in this case Burma's military 
dictatorship.

Previously, only governments and officials could be held liable.

The case has now gone into discovery, a process of information exchange 
between the two sides that could take years. So the plaintiffs are attempting 
to take out a preliminary injunction against Unocal.

They hope to persuade a judge that the human rights abuses are so bad that the 
court must take action quickly rather than wait for the outcome of the full 
court case.

One of the plaintiffs is a baby who died after her mother refused to be driven 
out of her house on the pipeline route. Burmese soldiers attacked the baby who 
died of her injuries two months later. Her parents are suing on her behalf.

Unocal and Total vigorously deny any involvement in human rights abuses, 
claiming that economic development can only benefit the Burmese.