To Commission for Justice & Peace

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To Reverend R. W. TIMM and Justice  K. M. SUBBHAN
Commission for Justice & Peace
Bangladesh

Dear Sirs.

We regret you did not answer to our first letter. Please, find hereafter
a second one whose object is to get new pieces of information concerning
your evaluation of the burmese pipeline.

Your names and your report concerning your 5 days trip in Burma, in
1998, are once more used by the burmese junta. Your  evaluation of the
Yadana pipeline project is mentioned, indeed, in a letter written by the
Myanmar embassy in Washington DC, dated January 22, 1999, to prove there
was no human rights abuses committed by the burmese army in  the
southern part of Burma.

Could you tell us what 's your feeling concerning this use of your
report by the burmese junta ?

    In France, the Parliament created an Information Commission
concerning oil  companies and the Total Yadana project is presently
scrutinized. Your report is the object of  many questions in this
Commission and your answers to the following questions could be  very
usefull.

Concerning your report:

You wrote in a letter to Roger C. Beach, Chairman of UNOCAL Corp, dated
january 28th 1998, that, during your inspection "There was never any
army or government presence". How was it possible ? Specialists of Burma
are used to write that army presence in this country is so oppressive
that, even if arms are hidden for a moment, nobody could want to speek
freely.
Could  you imagine that arms were hidden just during your sejourn ?

According to your list of inspected villages, it seems that you did not
go in the Thaïland -Burma frontier area. Could you confirm this very
important point ?

According to several reports, in the border area, you may have seen many
military camps. And if you had cross the border, you may have seen Thaï
public demonstrations opposed  to the pipeline and the burmese refugees
in Thaïland, too, having fled the peace &  development message of the
Rangoon junta. And you may have seen burmese refugees  having fled the
local development project of TOTAL & MOGE.

Please, note that, if there is no army presence in the pipeline area,
one must conclude that  there is no threat from KNU nor from other
"destroying elements".  Could you accept, presently, to defend the falsy
called "destroying elements", as  NLD offices in the pipeline area were
forcibly shut a few weeks ago, as many other  NLD offices in Burma  ?

Concerning the accusation of villages delocalisations :

In Migyaunglaung you saw one of these destroyed villages mentionned in
other reports.  You wrote : " The Army took for the people (mostly
Karen) out of East Bank in 1991 for  security reasons and they were
given land in West Bank."

Do you ask what was the real meaning of the "security reason" argument ?
One  knows that when the "security" word is used in Burma many questions
must be asked.

Concerning the accusation of forced labor :

TOTAL & UNOCAL are no more denying there is massive use of forced labour
for the construction of the Ye - Tavoy railway.
According to several reports, indeed, hundreds of thousands peoples were
forced to  work on this railway and ILO wrote that forced labour is
still going on. Concerning  the connection between the pipeline and the
railroad work sites, you wrote that  : "it is  possible... that
outsiders confused forced labour on the railroad with forced labour on
the  pipeline".
Why didn't you take into account the fact that the EGAT, Electical
generating  authority of Thaïland, wrote in a press report, dated May
1994, that : "the Burmese  government is, however, reported building a
railway from Ye in Mon State to Tavoy,  which will be used to transport
troops to guard the pipeline" ?

And what is the real interest of the local development project of  TOTAL
& MOGE if hundred of thousands peoples have been forced  to work for
this death railway ? What is the use of the local  development project
if villagers, paying the "railway fees", are  racketeered by troops
along the Ye - Tavoy railway ?

    Concerning your methodology and your conclusions :

You wrote that your interpreter was a MOGE employee, do you think that
this was the best condition to be told the truth ?

UNOCAL sent you in the Ye - Tavoy railroad area and you asked a question
to a  TOTAL official, as you saw no one of the hundreds of thousands
workers giving their  "contributions" to the work site. The TOTAL
official answer was : "there was no  involvement of TOTAL with the
railroad". In Paris, we have been told the same thing by TOTAL
executives for a long time, but we have not been convinced yet.

Could you recognize your report is not giving any proof that several
accusations against the  junta and oil firms are false, as it is now
written in the last Myanmar embassy statement  ?

Reverend TIMM, we were told by a Vatican speaker that you are a generous
fighter of the human rights causis : we are sure that you will not stay
silent while the Rangoon junta is using your name to hide the real
burmese situation.

Regards.

Info Birmanie


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To Reverend R. W. TIMM and Justice  K. M. SUBBHAN 
Commission for Justice & Peace 
Bangladesh 

Dear Sirs. 

We regret you did not answer to our first letter. Please, find hereafter a
second one whose object is to get new pieces of information concerning your
evaluation of the burmese pipeline. 

Your names and your report concerning your 5 days trip in Burma, in 1998, are
once more used by the burmese junta. Your  evaluation of the Yadana pipeline
project is mentioned, indeed, in a letter written by the Myanmar embassy in
Washington DC, dated January 22, 1999, to prove there was no human rights
abuses committed by the burmese army in  the southern part of Burma. 

Could you tell us what 's your feeling concerning this use of your report by
the burmese junta ? 

    In France, the Parliament created an Information Commission concerning
oil 
companies and the Total Yadana project is presently scrutinized. Your
report is
the object of  many questions in this Commission and your answers to the
following questions could be  very usefull. 

Concerning your report: 

You wrote in a letter to Roger C. Beach, Chairman of UNOCAL Corp, dated
january
28th 1998, that, during your inspection "There was never any army or
government
presence". How was it possible ? Specialists of Burma are used to write that
army presence in this country is so oppressive  that, even if arms are hidden
for a moment, nobody could want to speek freely. 
Could  you imagine that arms were hidden just during your sejourn ? 

According to your list of inspected villages, it seems that you did not go in
the Thaïland -Burma frontier area. Could you confirm this very important point
? 

According to several reports, in the border area, you may have seen many
military camps. And if you had cross the border, you may have seen Thaï public
demonstrations opposed  to the pipeline and the burmese refugees in Thaïland,
too, having fled the peace &  development message of the Rangoon junta. And
you
may have seen burmese refugees  having fled the local development project of
TOTAL & MOGE. 

Please, note that, if there is no army presence in the pipeline area, one must
conclude that  there is no threat from KNU nor from other "destroying
elements".  Could you accept, presently, to defend the falsy called
"destroying
elements", as  NLD offices in the pipeline area were forcibly shut a few weeks
ago, as many other  NLD offices in Burma  ? 

Concerning the accusation of villages delocalisations : 

In Migyaunglaung you saw one of these destroyed villages mentionned in other
reports.  You wrote : " The Army took for the people (mostly Karen) out of
East
Bank in 1991 for  security reasons and they were given land in West Bank." 

Do you ask what was the real meaning of the "security reason" argument ? One 
knows that when the "security" word is used in Burma many questions must be
asked. 

Concerning the accusation of forced labor : 

TOTAL & UNOCAL are no more denying there is massive use of forced labour for
the construction of the Ye - Tavoy railway. 
According to several reports, indeed, hundreds of thousands peoples were
forced
to  work on this railway and ILO wrote that forced labour is still going on.
Concerning  the connection between the pipeline and the railroad work sites,
you wrote that  : "it is  possible... that outsiders confused forced labour on
the railroad with forced labour on the  pipeline". 
Why didn't you take into account the fact that the EGAT, Electical generating 
authority of Thaïland, wrote in a press report, dated May 1994, that : "the
Burmese  government is, however, reported building a railway from Ye in Mon
State to Tavoy,  which will be used to transport troops to guard the pipeline"
? 

And what is the real interest of the local development project of  TOTAL &
MOGE
if hundred of thousands peoples have been forced  to work for this death
railway ? What is the use of the local  development project if villagers,
paying the "railway fees", are  racketeered by troops along the Ye - Tavoy
railway ? 

    Concerning your methodology and your conclusions : 

You wrote that your interpreter was a MOGE employee, do you think that this
was
the best condition to be told the truth ? 

UNOCAL sent you in the Ye - Tavoy railroad area and you asked a question to a 
TOTAL official, as you saw no one of the hundreds of thousands workers giving
their  "contributions" to the work site. The TOTAL official answer was :
"there
was no  involvement of TOTAL with the railroad". In Paris, we have been told
the same thing by TOTAL executives for a long time, but we have not been
convinced yet. 

Could you recognize your report is not giving any proof that several
accusations against the  junta and oil firms are false, as it is now
written in
the last Myanmar embassy statement  ? 

Reverend TIMM, we were told by a Vatican speaker that you are a generous
fighter of the human rights causis : we are sure that you will not stay silent
while the Rangoon junta is using your name to hide the real burmese
situation. 

Regards. 

Info Birmanie 
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