"...Burma is ruled by a military dictatorship renowned for both oppressing and impoverishing its people, while enriching itself and the foreign businesses that work with it. TOTAL Oil, the fourth largest oil company in the world, is in business with Burma?s dictatorship. It has been in Burma since 1992 against the wishes of Burma?s elected leaders, many of whom are being detained by the Junta. Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma?s pro-democracy leader, has said that ?Total has become the main supporter of the Burmese military regime.? 1 She told the French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur that ?TOTAL knew what it was doing when it invested massively in Burma while others withdrew from the market for ethical reasons.? She added, ?the company must accept the consequences. The country will not always be governed by dictators.? The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won 82 percent of the seats in Burma?s 1990 election. It has called on foreign companies not to invest in Burma because of the role investment plays in perpetuating dictatorship in that country. All the major ethnic leaderships from Burma have whole-heartedly supported this position too. Therefore, the mandate from which companies are asked not to invest in Burma comes from within the country. This report gathers together much of the available evidence relating to TOTAL?s role in fuelling the oppressive dictatorship in Burma. Broadly, it covers human rights abuses associated with TOTAL?s gas pipeline, TOTAL?s financing of Burma?s dictatorship and TOTAL?s influence on French foreign policy and therefore on European Burma policy as a whole. TOTAL?s presence in Burma has consequences far beyond its 63-kilometre pipeline across Burmese territory. Its destructive influence goes to the heart of international policy towards one of the world?s most brutal regimes. For that reason, it is essential for all those who want change in Burma to deal with the problem of TOTAL Oil. As long as TOTAL remains in Burma, the dictatorship will be satisfied that the chances of real pressure against it are unlikely..."