Unocal Protests-Alert

[freeburma@xxxxxxxxxxx]

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Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 03:02:42 EST

*** URGENT ACTION ALERT ***
CALL/FAX TODAY

SIX ACTIVISTS SPEND THEIR 4TH DAY IN LA COUNTY JAIL BOOKED ON
FELONY CHARGES FOR
PROTESTING UNOCAL'S PIPELINE IN BURMA.

BAIL SET AT $50,000.

CALL and FAX messages to LA District Attorney Gill Garcetti and LA
County Sheriff Sherman Block (see contact listing at end of
posting).

What Arrestees say:

"If anybody is guilty of conspiracy, it is UNOCAL who is guilty of
conspiring to deprive the people of Burma their basic human rights
and democratic process."
-Celia Alario, from Century Jail

"It is our responsibility as US citizens to stop US corporations
like UNOCAL from investing in and directly supporting regimes that
routinely practice forced labor, torture, rape and drug dealing."
-Jeremy Pastor

UNOCAL and Burma: A Direct Action Protest in LA County

Los Angeles, California - On Thursday morning, December 12, 1996,
a group of Burmese refugees and supporters from Canada, South
Africa, England, Bulgaria, and the United States, engaged in civil
disobedience at a UNOCAL facility in Los Angeles County to protest
that company's continued financial dealings with Burma's brutal
military regime. The activists hung banners and chained themselves
to a loaded tanker truck just outside the facility. The protest
continued for several hours as activists scaled a storage tank and
nearby palm trees unfurling banners condemning UNOCAL's
partnership in crime.

UNOCAL and its partners are constructing a natural gas pipeline
which will slash through not only dense tropical forests, but
through the cultural heart of the Burmese people. The military
regime, known as the SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration
Council), is a partner and is responsible for project "security."
This venture is linked to forced labor, forced village relocation,
rape and torture of Karen, Mon, and Tavoy peoples. Forced laborers
include children, pregnant women and the elderly.

On his recent tour of Asia, President Clinton publicly criticized
the SLORC's complicity in drug trafficking. Burma is reportedly
the source of 60% of the heroin sold in American cities. According
to the Paris-based Geopolitical Drug Watch, the SLORC's Myanmar
Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), a 15% partner in the pipeline
venture, has laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in heroin
money.

In 1988, a democracy movement gained widespread support from the
entire spectrum of Burmese society. Hundreds of thousands of
people took to the streets to demonstrate for democracy, but the
military retaliated in August 1988 by gunning down thousands of
civilians over a three day period. Feeling confident with their
military and political power, the SLORC allowed elections two
years later whereby the National League for Democracy (NLD) won
82% of the vote. The SLORC then nullified the elections, placed
democratically elected president (1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate)
Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest and tortured and imprisoned
her supporters.

For the past several weeks Burmese students and workers have again
been risking their lives in demonstrations for democracy and human
rights. So far they have been met with tear gas and water cannons,
but SLORC leaders have threatened the protesters with
"annihilation," and have once again placed Aung San Suu Kyi under
house arrest.

At Thursday's UNOCAL action, fourteen of the non-violent
protesters were arrested. As of Dec. 16th, some are still being
held on felony conspiracy and felony theft charges, with bail set
at $50,000 each.

Concerned individuals are being asked to:

1. Boycott UNOCAL 76 gas stations.

2. Call/Fax to District Attorney Gill Garcetti and County Sheriff
Sherman Block and ask them to drop the ridiculous felony charges
against the 14 protesters.

Gill Garcetti, DA       Sherman Block, Sheriff (213)974-3501
(213)526-5000 (213)626-5862 (Fax)     (213)267-6640 (Fax)

3. E-mail President Clinton ( president@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ) and urge
him to impose economic sanctions already approved by the US
Congress.

For more info, call (310)306-0655 or freebrma@xxxxxxxxxxxxx