EBO BURMA NEWS 1 AUGUST 2003
News Summary:
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1. Judge rules Unocal can be tried in US
for alleged
2. Must Pay Restitution for Its Profits
From Burmese Imports
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Judge rules Unocal can be tried in
US for alleged
LOS ANGELES, July 31 (AFP) - US oil giant
Unocal must stand trial in
junta, including forced labor, rape and
torture, a judge ruled.
"Prior to its involvement in the
pipeline project, Unocal had specific
knowledge that the use of forced labour
was likely, and nevertheless chose to
proceed," said Los Angeles Superior
Court judge Victoria Chaney.
In the decision seen here Thursday, Chaney
rejected arguments by the
California-based energy firm, which built
a gas pipeline in
case should be tried at least in part
under
Unocal had made a bid to have the
long-running case shifted to the country
formerly known as
where a Unocal unit is registered.
But lawyers representing
Southeast Asian nation's military regime
contested the move and the judge
agreed it would be offensive to allow
But the judge said foreign laws such as
could not be given precedence if they were
morally offensive to public policy,
while
business within the
Chaney discounted allowing Myamar law to
apply, because "even in the
unlikely event that these statutes
authorized the violent and oppressive
behavior at issue in this case, this court
would refrain from applying (them)
for public policy reasons."
The judge's move cleared the way for plaintiffs in the case -- 14
unnamed
The case centres on the construction of
the much-disputed Yadana pipeline,
built by Unocal and partners including
from
A lawyer for Unocal, which strongly
rejects the allegations, said the firm
was unhappy with the ruling and was
considering whether to appeal it
immediately or wait until after the trial,
due to start September 22.
"We disagree with the judge's
decision," said Los Angeles-based attorney
Daniel Petrocelli, adding that the villagers
were trying to strip Unocal's
"The principal company involved (...)
was not even a Unocal subsidiary,
even though the court referred to it as
such," he said.
But Rick Herz, litigation director at the
advocacy group Earthrights
International in Washington and co-counsel
for 11 of the plaintiffs, welcomed
Chaney's ruling.
"This is great. We thought their
(Unocal's) arguments that
applies and that
with us," he said.
"This is a great victory for the
villagers," said another attorney for
them, Dan Stormer in
"It prevents Unocal from playing a
shell game with corporations. It is a
great step towards obtaining justice for
these ... villagers."
The villagers are suing Unocal for
unspecified damages alleging that the
firm benefited from use by
soldiers' use of murder and rape, even if
it did not agree with the abuses.
In written complaints, they say they were
pressed into service in the 1990s
to clear a route and build facilities for
the pipeline, widely described as
the largest foreign-invested project in
The plaintiffs' identities have been
concealed for fear of reprisals by
Unocal executives have acknowledged that
troops did force villagers to
carry ammunition and supplies for the
military and to perform other labor in
the vicinity of the project, but deny that
any of the labor was linked to the
pipeline's construction.
Unocal owned the pipeline jointly with
Total, formerly TotalFinaElf, and
the Thai and
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Must Pay Restitution for Its
Profits From Burmese Imports
UNITE, the Federation of Trade Unions -
Against Sweatshops (USAS) today demanded
that Fred's Inc. immediately stop
selling Burmese goods and make amends for
profits made this year from
Burmese products. These demands come two
days after President Bush signed
legislation that severs financial ties to
in 30 days.
'Fred's claimed it 'didn't know' about the
situation in
certainly do now' declared Harris Raynor,
UNITE Vice President and Director of
the UNITE Southern Regional Joint Board.
'Fred's should refuse to profit from its
bankrolling of a brutal dictatorship and
donate the profits to the appropriate
agency assisting internally displaced
Burmese people.'
Raynor continued, 'Fred's CEO Michael
Hayes promised shareholders in June
that he would respond to the government's
policy on
to see if he will keep this promise.'
UNITE, USAS and the FTUB have called on
Fred's to remove all goods made
in
all 2003 profits made from Burmese
products to an organization assisting
Internally Displaced Persons in
also making these demands through
LabourStart and behindthelabel
(see www.labourstart.org and
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/fredsnoburma/wgiw35za5nj8).
'Fred's should not profit from goods
tainted with the blood of a violently
repressed workforce,' declared Tiffany
Williams, USAS -
'Fred's must stop selling products made in
'Fred's purchases from
genuine will of the people of
Secretary. 'Fred's should repair the
damage it has caused by donating profits
to organizations assisting victims of the
dictatorship.'
Fred's Inc. imported more than $5.3
million dollars worth of goods from
between
Fred's continues to sell these products.
UNITE is the largest union of garment,
apparel, textile, laundry and distribution
workers in
SOURCE UNITE; Federation of Trade Unions -
Sweatshops
Kelly Knochel, +1-646-872-2059, for UNITE
http://www.uniteunion.org
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