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Free Burma Coalition Backs Call for



F R E E   B U R M A   C O A L I T I O N
P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036  Tel: (202)-777-6009
http://www.freeburmacoalition.org ; http://www.freeburma.org

For Immediate Release:

Free Burma Coalition Backs Call for Unocal Dissolution

Washington, D.C. September 11 -- The Free Burma Coalition (FBC), an
umbrella organization of more than 100 university and community groups
worldwide, endorses the effort by the National Lawyers Guild's
International Law Project for Human, Economic and Environmental Defense
(HEED), seeking action by the California Attorney General to revoke the
charter of the Union Oil Company of California (Unocal). 

Full details of the HEED petition and allegations against Unocal can be
found on the World Wide Web at <http://www.heed.net>.  Unocal is accused
of complicity in human rights violations in Burma and Afghanistan, and a
pattern of environmental irresponsibility and labor law violations, as
well as undermining US foreign policy.

"We call on Attorney General Dan Lundgren to to begin the process of
revoking Unocal's corporate charter," says Kevin Rudiger of the Los
Angeles Burma Forum, an FBC member.

Burmese refugee Taw Myo Shwe spoke at a Los Angeles news conference
yesterday, announcing the corporate dissolution effort.  "The Burmese Army
is brutal to its own people.  Right now there are hundreds being arrested.
The pipeline Unocal is building is vital for the survival of the Army,"
she said.  The Burmese Army is a partner with Unocal.  It has arrested
scores of Burmese in recent days, drawing condemnation from the US, Great
Britain, France, Germany and others.

Unocal spokesman Barry Lane was quoted by the Associated Press saying
"This petition is an attempt to organize anti-business pressure and
further the political agenda of these activist groups."  

"Unocal is attempting yet again to deflect criticism of its behavior onto
the wider business community," says Larry Dohrs of the FBC.  "But other US
companies have withdrawn from Burma, leaving only Unocal.  Only Unocal
officials have made public calls for US recognition of Afghanistan's
Taliban militia.  This is about Unocal's own track record."

"The Burmese junta and the Taliban oversee the vast majority of heroin
exported around the world.  They both violate fundamental human rights.
Both regimes actively oppose US foreign policy positions.  And they each
receive tangible financial and lobbying support from the Unocal
corporation.  These facts translate into unacceptable corporate behavior
far outside the norm.  Unocal is a rogue corporation that must be
stopped." says U Bo Hla Tint of the National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma (NCGUB), the country's democratic government in exile.

END

Contact:        U Bo Hla Tint, NCGUB, 202-393-7342
                Mary Hood, Feminist Majority, 213-651-0495
                Kevin Rudiger, Burma Forum LA, 310-399-0703
		Larry Dohrs, Free Burma Coalition, 206-784-5742
		Nick Penniman, Alliance for Democracy, 781/259-9395