Yadana Field - (Total, Chevron, PTTEP, MOGE)

UNOCAL, a former partner in the consortium, was bought by Chevron
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Websites/Multiple Documents

Description: Search for Myanmar
Source/publisher: Chevron
Date of entry/update: 2010-08-20
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Total?s presence in Myanmar (Burma) has been surrounded by controversy and misperception. The European Parliament has denounced the ?dire political situation”* in Myanmar and the International Labour Organization (ILO) regularly criticizes the country?s ?widespread and systematic” resort to forced labor. A number of Western companies have withdrawn from Myanmar under pressure from activist groups. The question now is what Total is doing there, what it has already done and why it is staying in Myanmar. Unfortunately, the world?s oil and gas reserves are not necessarily located in democracies, as a glance at a map shows. As a result, oil companies often face criticism and questions from civil society concerning their operations in countries with repressive regimes, their relations with governments, the security measures deployed to protect their facilities, and the way in which host countries spend oil revenues. Wherever we operate, we are dedicated to developing economically viable projects while adhering to national and international laws and ensuring compliance with our Code of Conduct. Long before joining the UN Secretary-General?s Global Compact initiative in 2002, we had demonstrated a constant commitment to responsible corporate citizenship and have always aimed to contribute to economic and social progress and environmental stewardship in our host countries. Total has been the subject of numerous allegations and accusations that challenge both our presence in Myanmar and our actions there. This web site provides a history of our engagement in Myanmar and describes the initiatives that have been implemented. Rather than respond to the unwarranted criticism, we want to restore balanced debate on whether a responsible multinational company can contribute positively to the economic and social development of a country that faces sharp internal divisions."
Source/publisher: Total
Date of entry/update: 2005-08-18
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English, Francais, French (Alternate URL)
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Description: Company website...Search for Myanmar, Yadana etc.
Source/publisher: Total
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: Francais, French
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Description: International Labur Rights Fund Burma litigation page. Legal documents, images of forced labour and link to articles. Major site for information on the Los Angeles legal action against UNOCAL. ILRF Executive Director, Terry Collingsworth, is lead plaintiffs? counsel in the case. The site contains the appellants? 9th Circuit Opening Brief, the full text of Judge Lew?s Opinion, links to other important reports and articles on forced labour in Burma, a press archive on UNOCAL in Burma and an image gallery of forced labour in Burma. "ILRF is an advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide. ILRF serves a unique role among human rights organizations as advocates for and with working poor around the world. We believe that all workers have the right to a safe working environment where they are treated with dignity and respect, and where they can organize freely to defend and promote their rights and interests. We are committed to overcoming the problems of child labor, forced labor, and other abusive labor practices. We promote enforcement of labor rights internationally through public education and mobilization, research, litigation, legislation, and collaboration with labor, government and business groups."
Source/publisher: International Labur Rights Fund (ILRF)
Date of entry/update: 2003-08-07
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Individual Documents

Description: "... In debates about economic globalisation, the case for leading corporations to engage with some of the world?s most desperate development challenges is increasingly heard. In just the last few years, the World Bank and Mandle have shown that economic globalisation can operate to the benefit of the poor, Bhagwati and Wolf have issued powerful defences of globalisation, and Friedman has urged individuals, corporations and governments to seize the opportunities present in the increasingly "flat" world in which we live.2 From the peak of the international political system, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has endorsed all these arguments by holding that it is "the absence of broad-based business activity, not its presence, that condemns much of humanity to suffering."3 To stimulate action, he sponsored the UN Global Compact, dedicated to promoting responsible corporate citizenship throughout the world, and appointed its principal author, Kennedy School Professor John Ruggie, to the position of Special Representative on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. However, despite all the mood music lauding the contribution business can make to development, it remains an open question whether corporate engagement, and in particular inward investment, should take place in extreme contexts. On the one hand, foreign capitalist involvement in some industries, notably resource extraction, has long been seen as highly exploitative. For decades, neo-Marxist critiques of capitalist underdevelopment held sway, stressing the extent of local state dependence on foreign capitalist interests, and the catastrophic impact of corporate engagement on local economic, social and political evolution.4 Notions of captured, rentier states mired in corruption and committed to systematic exploitation of Third World populations were commonly encountered. Few other than baleful local effects, generated by unprincipled involvement on the part of foreign corporations, were recorded. Today, criticism of this kind continues to be heard in, for example, responses to the World Bank?s Extractive Industries Review, released in December 2003, which itself reached rather equivocal conclusions.5 Under the influence of more recent analyses of economic globalisation and its effects, should such activity now be encouraged? As economies are opened to the forces of global capitalism, is resource extraction to be placed alongside other corporate activity as positive and constructive in its contribution to pro-poor policies? On the other hand, all forms of corporate engagement with regimes that commit gross human rights violations are widely viewed as thoroughly unprincipled. For many years now, the sanctions lobby has trained a moral spotlight on inward investment in countries dominated by violator regimes. While the condemnation, and the resultant corporate pullouts, have always been highly selective, picking up on, say, Myanmar in the Asian context but making little comment on China, they have been no less powerful for that. Indeed, informal sanctions, targeting brands and corporations with a great deal to lose from negative publicity, have often been much more potent than formal government sanctions applied by the US and some of its allies.6 Again, under the influence of the latest writings on economic globalisation, should this activity also now be endorsed? Even in the most unpromising domains, can profits and principles be secured in tandem?7 This article tackles these issues by focusing on one very specific development context: Myanmar, or the country formerly known as Burma. By almost any definition, this is a difficult environment for poverty reduction.8 It is also one of the most unpromising settings for business activity, ranking last out of the 127 countries included in the Fraser Institute?s Economic Freedom of the World Index for 2003.9 Furthermore, the kinds of extreme circumstance that generate the greatest development challenges are readily found here. Global corporations are engaged in extractive activities that provoke fierce critiques. Reports published over many years by Amnesty International, EarthRights International, Human Rights Watch and other organisations document gross human rights abuse by government-backed forces in virtually all parts of a country of more than 50 million people. Within this context, the article examines one particularly controversial extractive enterprise: the Yadana gas project, in which Western oil companies have long been prime movers. The debate that encircles this project is of course not unique. It is nestled in a broader discourse about corporate engagement with rights violating regimes all over the world, and reflected in specific ethical controversies thathave flared up in recentyears.11 When companies such as Carlsberg, Heineken, Levi Strauss and Reebok pulled out of Myanmar in the early and mid-1990s, they made public the moral concerns that prompted their decisions.12 Equally, some corporations targeted by campaigners have issued ethical justifications for ongoing engagement.13 Similar divisions are visible in other spheres. While the Global Fund made a high-profile withdrawal from Myanmar in August 2005, citing intolerable official interference in its work to combat AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, key internal groups such as the National League for Democracy and the Student Generations Since 1988 now call for humanitarian intervention; and international agencies such as Save the Children USA continue to operate inside the country.14 The Yadana project is special because this single case encapsulates Western corporate involvement in resource extraction in a highly repressive context. It also has the virtue of being very well documented. The article addresses two main questions. First, is the involvement of foreignowned corporations in Myanmar?s Yadana project to be welcomed? Second, with the experience gained from this involvement, can wider lessons about global corporate citizenship be drawn? To generate answers, the first section of the article provides some brief background material on the Yadana project. The second section then examines the cases made by its backers and critics, and evaluates the project from the perspective of its impact on the people of Myanmar. The third section focuses on wider lessons for corporate engagement that flow from the project, and in particular, the conditions in which inward investment in repressive settings is likely to be most constructive and positive in its effects. Applying these conditions to Myanmar, the fourth section considers ways forward for corporate involvement with the country. The article closes with a brief conclusion. The argument is that it is not possible to reach an overall evaluation of the Yadana project. However, some principles of responsible cross-border corporate engagement can be derived from it..."
Creator/author: Ian Holliday
Source/publisher: City University of Hong Kong
2008-01-02
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.62 MB
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Description: "The oil companies Total (France), Chevron (US), and PTT Exploration & Production (PTTEP) (Thailand) have failed to stop human rights abuses occurring in relation to their natural gas project in Burma (Myanmar), abuses for which the companies bear responsibility and remain vulnerable to liability.1 The companies are financing the world?s newest nuclear threat with multi-billion dollar payments, and have refused to practice financial transparency, despite calls by the Burmese and international community. As Burma braces itself for its first elections in 20 years, elections widely discredited as unfair, it is not too late for the companies to change course..."...TABLE OF CONTENTS: Methodology... Executive Summary... Chapter I: Continuing Abuses: Human Rights Violations and the Yadana and Pipeline, 2009-2010: i Targeted Killings; ii Mandatory Military Trainings: Protecting the Pipeline Corridor; iii Forced Labor; iv What?s Green is not Always Good: Land Confiscation for Forest Conservation Areas ; v The Companies? Legal Liabilities for Complicity in Human Rights Abuses.... Chapter II: Revenue Secrecy: Total, Chevron, and PTTEP?s Payments to the Junta and Refusals to Practice Revenue Transparency: i A Global Call for Revenue Transparency in Burma 15; ii Total?s Response; iii Chevron?s Response; iv Binding Mechanisms for Revenue Transparency.... Chapter III: The Yadana Natural Gas Project Revenue: i Introduction: Financing the World?s Newest Nuclear Threat; ii Yadana Project Revenue Totals; iii Yadana Project Revenue Distribution.... Conclusion.... Recommendations.... Appendix A: Yadana Gas Revenue Calculations.... Appendix B: A Call for Total, Chevron, and PTTEP to Practice Revenue Transparency in Burma (Myanmar), April 27, 2010.... Appendix C: Total and Chevron?s Responses to the Global Call for Revenue Transparency.... Endnotes
Source/publisher: Earth Rights International (ERI)
2010-07-05
Date of entry/update: 2010-12-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The Norwegian government has been accused of complicity in illegal land seizures, forced labour and killings, by investing national funds in international companies that operate inside Burma on projects where widespread abuses are alleged to have taken place. A state-controlled pension fund that is a repository for some of Norway?s own oil wealth has invested up to $4.7bn in 15 oil and gas companies operating inside the South-east Asian country. The companies are accused of participating in projects where various human rights violations have taken place. Activists claim the pension fund is in breach of its own guidelines for responsible investment. The allegations come just days after Norway hosted the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Land confiscation, forced labour and other abuses are happening in connection with several gas and oil pipeline projects in Burma, according to Naing Htoo of EarthRights International, which is today publishing a report detailing the alleged abuses being committed by the Burmese government. "There?s every indication abuses connected to these projects will continue, and, in some cases, worsen," he said. A number of those companies in which the Norwegian fund has investments have previously been accused in relation to controversial projects in Burma which has been controlled by a military junta since 1962. Among them are Total Oil of France, in which the Norwegian fund has an investment of $2.6bn, and the US-based Chevron Corp, in which the fund has $900m invested. EarthRights International insists that widespread violations continue to be committed by the Burmese army in support of many oil and gas projects that earn the regime millions of dollars. The group says that troops providing security for the Yadana and Yetagun pipelines have carried out extra-judicial killings..." ["The Independent"]
Creator/author: Matthew Smith, Naing Htoo, Zaw Zaw, Shauna Curphey, Paul Donowitz, Brad Weikel, Ross Dana Flynn, Anonymous Field Teams
Source/publisher: EarthRights International
2010-12-15
Date of entry/update: 2010-12-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Thailand has finally decided to pay up, and Unocal feels vindicated, but investors in Burma?s oil industry are still beset with problems, according to recent reports. The Petroleum Authority of Thailand PTT has revealed that it paid a consortium developing the Yadana offshore oilfield US $277 million at the end of July, ending two years of speculation over whether it would compensate the group for unused gas.
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 8. No. 9
2000-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-08-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...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..."
Source/publisher: The Buram Campaign UK
2005-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-08-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...In this inquiry I have explored the multiple interactions between corporate, state and civil society actors through which understandings of ‘responsible? corporate engagement in Myanmar are created, enacted and transformed. I have identified and conceptualised four social processes at work in these interactions, which I describe in the grounded theories of: (1) Commercial Diplomacy (describing the use of enterprise as a conduit for foreign policy by states, particularly as it relates to ‘ethical? business activity) (2) Stakeholder Activism (critiquing the aims and strategies of transnational civil society organisations who advocate for ‘responsible? corporate engagement) (3) Corporate Engagement (explaining variation in the motivations and terms of corporate engagement, specifically different forms of divestment or engagement, as strategic responses to stakeholder activism, commercial diplomacy and other factors which influence the enterprise context) (4) Constructive Corporate Engagement (a conceptual framework, grounded in multiple stakeholder-views and drawing from the international development discourses of state fragility and human security, for considering the potentially constructive impacts of corporate engagement). Working within and between these four theories, I generated an overarching grounded theory of (5) Corporate Citizenship in Fragile States. From these theories I offer a critical analysis of Corporate Citizenship as the normative basis for a new articulation between the economic, social and political spheres in pursuit of a more equitable global order..."
Creator/author: Nicola M. Black
Source/publisher: Te Waananga o Waikato (The University of Waikato)
2009-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-04-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: On September 10, 2009 EarthRights International (ERI) published almost 200 pages of new research in two publications linking the oil giants Total S.A., Chevron Corporation, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand Exploration and Production Company Ltd. (PTTEP), and the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) to forced labor, killings, high-level corruption, and authoritarianism in connection to their Yadana natural gas pipeline in military-ruled Burma. The reports also document the flawed corporate social responsibility programs implemented by Total, the operator of the project, and reveal for the first time that the pipeline in Burma has generated more than US$7 billion dollars for the companies and the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)... On October 15, 2009 Total publicly released a 12-page response to ERI... This publication, Total Impact 2.0, is a detailed and fact-based rejoinder to Total's response to ERI. It finds that while the company may be softening to criticism and to the idea of engagement with a nongovernmental organization (NGO) such as ERI, it has yet again misled the general public, investors and policymakers regarding the impacts of their pipeline project in Burma. This report finds that the companies are still linked to violent abuses such as forced labor and killings in their project area, and that their project has generated multi-billion dollar revenues for the Burmese military regime.
Source/publisher: EarthRights International
2009-12-16
Date of entry/update: 2009-12-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "In September 2009, EarthRights International published a report entitled Total Impact that makes serious allegations against Total. We would like to set the record straight..."
Source/publisher: Total
2009-10-15
Date of entry/update: 2009-12-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...In the spirit of collaborative learning, CEP has engaged with Total over a period of six years, visiting (among others) the Yadana pipeline joint venture project in Myanmar/Burma in October 2002, May 2003, November-December 2003, and April- May 2005. The Reports of these site visits are available on CDA?s web site. Building on these visits and pursuing the issues raised in the previous Reports, Mary B. Anderson, Executive Director of CDA1 and Brian Ganson, independent consultant, carried out a fifth in-country visit to Total and the Yadana Project between February 9 and February 19, 2008. The purpose of this trip, as with all CEP field visits, was to examine and report on the interaction between corporate operations and the lives of people in the pipeline corridor, as well as to assess the impacts of the corporate presence and operations on the wider context of Myanmar/Burma. Specifically, the focus in the pipeline area was to follow up on findings from previous CEP visits that raised concerns about village dependency on Total and the non-sustainability of the Socio-Eco projects when Total ultimately leaves the region. The focus of this trip with regard to the broader society was to consider how the changing environment of recent months has shaped the working environment for Total and the Yadana Project. Because in examining the operations of the Joint Venture Project, we engaged with the operational partner, Total, we consistently refer in this report to Total?s actions and impacts. However, our observations and analyses concern all the joint venture partners: Total, Unocal/Chevron, MOGE and PTTEP2. This Report begins with an Introduction in which we outline the approach and process of the field visit team. Section I covers the findings with regard to impacts in the pipeline corridor, the defined geographical region that encompasses the gas pipeline where Total conducts a Socio-Eco program in support of the twenty-five villages in the area. Section II of the Report then examines the broader context of Myanmar/Burma and considers how the ongoing presence and operations of Total and its partners in this context affect broader social and economic welfare..."
Creator/author: Mary B. Anderson, Brian Ganson
Source/publisher: Collaborative for Development Action/Collaborative Learning Projects/Corporate Engagement Project
2008-02-18
Date of entry/update: 2009-09-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Dans un rapport que «Libération» dévoile en exclusivité, l?ONG Earth Rights révèle les liens entre le groupe pétrolier français et la dictature de Rangoun.
Creator/author: ARNAUD VAULERIN
Source/publisher: "Liberation.fr"
2009-09-10
Date of entry/update: 2009-09-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Francais, French
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Description: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "Since the early 1990s, two western oil companies have partnered with the Burmese military regime in a remote corner of southern Burma (Myanmar) on one of the world?s most controversial development projects: The Yadana Gas Project by France-based Total and US-based Chevron. "Yadana", which means "treasure" in Burmese, is a large-scale project that transports natural gas from Burma?s Andaman Sea to Thailand through an overland pipeline that passes through a secluded and environmentally sensitive region in southeast Burma. From the project?s beginning, the Burma Army has been tasked with providing security for the companies and the pipeline and has committed widespread and systematic human rights abuses against local people. Well-documented allegations of violent and systematic abuses include extrajudicial killings, rape, torture, forced labor, land confiscation, and forced relocation. Many of these abuses and others are ongoing and are documented in the ERI report "Total Impact"(2009). Total and Chevron have repeatedly denied complicity in abuses committed by the Burma Army against people living in the pipeline area. The truth has been laid bare, however, through multiple lawsuits brought by Burmese villagers in U.S. and European courts, in out-of-court settlements between the companies and victims of abuses, as well as in detailed and firsthand documentation by EarthRights International and others, published in numerous advocacy reports since 1996. Rather than accept responsibility to mitigate harms caused by their operation, to this day Total and Chevron continue to misrepresent their impacts in Burma, to the detriment of the people directly affected by the project and the people of Burma as a whole. This report documents in detail how impact assessments commissioned by Total were flawed in methodology and factually inaccurate and incomplete, particularly those undertaken by the Corporate Engagement Project (CEP) of US-based CDA Collaborative Learning Projects (CDA). It also documents and analyzes brazen misrepresentations of the project by the oil companies, who continue to claim that there are no abuses in the pipeline area and that their project in Burma is wholly positive. CDA describes its Corporate Engagement Project, under the rubric of which it has conducted field assessments for Total in Burma, as an initiative that aims to help companies ensure that their operations? impacts on local communities are positive rather than negative. Branded as "independent experts" by Total, CDA has visited Burma five times since 2002 and published five reports based on a mere 20 days in the pipeline region. The reports promote an overall favorable view of Total and Chevron?s impacts and presence in Burma. This is in stark contrast to the enormous body of evidence and testimony of villagers in the Yadana region collected by ERI and other organizations since the mid-1990s. This report and its companion, "Total Impact", are intended to provide an accurate and current picture of the Yadana Project. Part I of this report details CDA?s myriad flaws in Burma in no less than 10 areas pertaining to its methodology for assessing Total?s impacts in Burma, and ranging from its naive and misguided attempts to conduct "open" interviews with villagers in Burma?s repressive and closed society, to their failure to adequately assess impacts in villages just outside the narrowly-defined pipeline corridor. Among other oversights, CDA interviewed villagers within earshot and eyesight of military intelligence, soldiers, Total staff, and through interpreters provided by Total. Information obtained in such compromised settings is questionable in any human rights investigation or impact assessment, but especially in Burma where retaliation against critics of the regime and its business partners is well-documented. The fact that CDA failed to take proper security precautions for those it interviewed, who in advance of CDA?s visits were warned by the Burma Army about criticizing the companies, further casts doubt on CDA?s findings. Even if the conclusions of the CDA reports were not compromised by these and other methodological flaws described in Part I of this report, the reports have been repeatedly distorted and publicly misrepresented by Total and Chevron. Part II of this report catalogues the companies? perversions of their presence in Burma as well as the companies? public misuse of the CDA reports. For example, Total has repeatedly made false, bold and unsubstantiated claims to have eradicated forced labor in the pipeline corridor, and has claimed further that both CDA and the ILO have found there is no forced labor in the pipeline corridor, which is untrue: This report documents that neither CDA or the ILO have ever stated that forced labor has been eradicated in the pipeline corridor. On the contrary, forced labor is prevalent and ongoing in the pipeline corridor; even more so in the entire pipeline area. EarthRights International?s documentation indicates that human rights abuses connected to the Yadana Project are ongoing and systematic, that the companies are responsible for these crimes, and that Total and Chevron have misrepresented their impacts in Burma. There is a great deal the companies could do to improve their presence in Burma. "Getting it Wrong" concludes that the Yadana Project is far from a model of responsible investment under difficult conditions, and CDA?s assessments of the project should no longer be relied upon as accurate or credible."
Source/publisher: EarthRights International
2009-09-10
Date of entry/update: 2009-09-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Sur la Birmanie, le groupe communique à tour de bras, quitte à arranger les faits..."Des rapports, un site internet, des courriers, une charte, des interviews, des visites guidées… Total sait communiquer et le fait à tout va. Car le groupe a du pain sur la planche : l?Erika, AZF, profits records, Birmanie… «Notre image n?est clairement pas très bonne», déplorait en mai le directeur général de Total, Christophe de Margerie..."
Creator/author: ARNAUD VAULERIN
Source/publisher: "Liberation.fr"
2009-09-10
Date of entry/update: 2009-09-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Francais, French
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Description: "Total et le groupe pétrolier américain Chevron enrichissent la junte birmane avec un projet gazier et pétrolier, et dissimulent les exactions commises par les forces de sécurité sur les populations locales. C'est ce qu'affirme, jeudi 10 septembre, l'ONG américaine EarthRights International (ERI) dans deux rapports distincts. "Le projet de gaz de Yadana de Total et Chevron a généré 4,83 milliards de dollars pour le régime birman". La très grande majorité de cet argent, assure l'ONG échappe au budget national et repose dans des banques basées à Singapour, l'Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) et le groupe DBS. Total est présent en Birmanie depuis 1992 sur le champ gazier de Yadana, dont il possède 31,24 %. Chevron détient pour sa part 28 % des parts de ce champ, qui représente 60 % du volume des exportations de gaz de la Birmanie vers la Thaïlande. Les deux groupes sont régulièrement cités dès lors que sont évoquées des sanctions renforcées contre la junte birmane..."
Source/publisher: "Le Monde.fr" avec AFP
2009-09-10
Date of entry/update: 2009-09-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Francais, French
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Description: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "Two western oil companies are currently partnered with the Burmese military regime in a remote corner of southern Burma (Myanmar) on one of the world?s most controversial development projects: The Yadana Gas Project by the France-based Total and the US-based Chevron. "Yadana", which means "treasure" in Burmese, is a large-scale project that transports natural gas from the Andaman Sea across Burma?s Tenasserim region to Thailand, where it generates electricity for the Bangkok metropolitan area. The gas is transported through an overland pipeline that passes through the dense jungle and rugged terrain of a secluded and environmentally sensitive ethnic area in southeast Burma. From the project?s beginning, the Burma Army has been tasked with providing security for the companies and the pipeline and has committed widespread and systematic human rights abuses against local people. EarthRights International (ERI) has been documenting human rights abuses related to the Yadana Project since 1994, and new evidence collected through 2009 attests to the on-going violent abuses committed by the Burma Army providing security for the companies and the project. Abuses include extrajudicial killings, torture, and other forms of ill-treatment; widespread and systematic forced labor; and violations of the rights to freedom of movement and property. Based on new and original evidence, this report further documents the Burma Army?s role in the construction phase of the Yadana Project as well as its continuing connection to the companies and the pipeline. Rather than acknowledge its inherent and close relationship with Burma?s armed forces, Total has traditionally denied the connections between its company and the Burma Army in its project area, raising important ethical questions about the company?s willingness to misrepresent its material risks to investors and shareholders. In addition to the localized human rights impacts in the pipeline region, the Yadana Project has been a significant factor in keeping the Burmese military regime financially solvent. This report documents for the first time the aggregate revenue generated by the Yadana Project for the ruling SPDC, from 2000 to 2008. Rather than contribute to Burma?s economic development, the billion dollar revenues from the project have instead contributed to high-level corruption: the revenue is not accounted for in Burma?s national budget and according to reliable sources it is stored in two offshore banks in Singapore. Moreover, there are apparent correlations between the SPDC?s increasing financial wherewithal and its overall authoritarian behavior. While the severity and seriousness of the human rights and financial impacts of the Yadana Project are logical focal points of concern, the environmental impacts of the project cannot be discounted. This report presents information that details serious problems with Total?s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), a document which ERI obtained through US courts and which is now part of the public record; details of which are published here for the first time. Villagers in the pipeline corridor also report ongoing adverse impacts associated with an ill-conceived environmental protection group established and supported by Total in the pipeline corridor. Rather than acknowledge or attempt to mitigate these and other known impacts of the Yadana Project, Total CEO Christophe de Margerie has publicly told critics to "go to hell" and instead focused resources on public relations, including claims that the Yadana gas has made neighboring Bangkok a cleaner city. Total has also systematically whitewashed their complicity in abuses and authoritarianism in Burma in three key ways: first, and most directly, Total has commissioned a number of impact assessments by the US-based CDA Collaborative Learning Projects (CDA), which the corporations tout as evidence that the Yadana Project hurts no one and benefits many. These impact assessments and their fundamental flaws are the subject of the ERI report "Getting it Wrong" (2009). Second, the companies repeatedly misuse both these impact assessments and third-party reports and statements, asserting that others support their claims that there are no abuses in the pipeline area. Third, the companies promote their local "socio-economic" program and declare that it provides economic, educational, and health benefits to every person in the pipeline corridor. While many of the companies? socio-economic efforts might be desirable in theory, local villagers argue that these programs have not worked the way the companies claim they do, if at all. Moreover, ERI has found that the true effectiveness of these local projects have never been independently or fully examined and verified; and regardless of the effectiveness of these programs, they do not exonerate the companies from accountability for complicity in human rights violations and they do not erase the deeper national impacts connected to the revenue stream from the Yadana Project to the SPDC. Total and Chevron?s impacts in Burma are profound. ERI makes several specific demands of the companies and calls on the corporate and investment community and policymakers to seriously consider the ethics of Total and Chevron?s operations in Burma, and to heed the recommendations included at the end of this report."
Source/publisher: EarthRights International
2009-09-10
Date of entry/update: 2009-09-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Les mesures économiques contre le régime restent sans effet. Cibler le secteur des hydrocarbures serait plus efficace, mais pas sans danger..."Pas question de sanctionner la compagnie privée française Total qui est, aux côtés de la Chine, un des plus gros investisseurs en Birmanie. Le 11 août, suite à la condamnation de l?opposante et prix Nobel de la Paix Aung San Suu Kyi à 18 mois de résidence surveillée supplémentaires, l?Union européenne a décidé de nouvelles mesures punitives contre la junte militaire au pouvoir. Celles-ci comprennent des interdictions de visa à des personnalités birmanes et des gels d?avoirs de membres de la junte. Elles s?ajoutent à de nombreuses mesures déjà prises depuis 1996, telles que l?interdiction d?exportation d?armes. Il n?a absolument pas été question de sanctions dans le domaine stratégique du gaz et des hydrocarbures, qui auraient concerné Total. L?éventualité de mesures punitives touchant le pétrolier français n?a même pas été vraiment évoquée dans les discussions entre les pays de l?UE. «Il n?y a pas eu de débat approfondi sur cette question», nous affirmait hier un diplomate européen..."
Creator/author: PHILIPPE GRANGEREAU
Source/publisher: "Liberation.fr"
2009-09-10
Date of entry/update: 2009-09-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Francais, French
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Description: "Chevron Corp. of San Ramon is drawing harsh criticism for its business ties to Burma, the Asian nation conducting a brutal military crackdown. The company owns part of a natural gas project in Burma, where soldiers crushed pro-democracy protests last week and killed at least 10 people. U.S. sanctions prevent most U.S. companies from working in Burma, but Chevron's investment there existed before the sanctions were imposed and continues under a grandfather clause. As a result, the company is one of the few large Western companies left in the country. Now Chevron faces pressure to pull out..."
Creator/author: David R. Baker
Source/publisher: San Francisco Chronicle
2007-10-04
Date of entry/update: 2008-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Executive Summary: "This report documents Chevronâ�?„?s ongoing role in financing the military regime in Burma (Myanmar) and profiting from human rights abuses on the Yadana natural gas development project. It is based in part on over 70 formal interviews over the past five years, documenting conditions in the region of Burma affected by the Yadana gas pipeline, and corroborating information from ERIâ�?„?s network of contacts, as well as ERIâ�?„?s prior experience in documenting abuses on the Yadana Project dating back to 1994, and on documents that have become public through the groundbreaking human rights lawsuit Doe v. Unocal. ERI has published three previous reports on the Yadana Project, and filed Doe v. Unocal in U.S. courts on behalf of victims of the pipeline project who had suffered rape, murder, torture, and pervasive slave labor. Part 1 describes the background of the Yadana Project, which involves a pipeline constructed to carry gas from offshore fields, across Burma, and into Thailand. In 2005, Chevron became part of the Yadana Project through its acquisition of Unocal, one of the original developers of the project. The Burmese military junta, a brutal regime routinely condemned by the United Nations and the world community for its widespread violations of basic human rights, is one of Chevronâ�?„?s partners in the project through its military-run oil company, Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise. Part 2 explains how the Yadana Project finances oppression. The project is the single largest source of income for the Burmese military; it was instrumental in bailing out the junta when it faced a severe financial crisis in the late 1990s, and it has enabled the regime to dramatically increase its military spending and continue its rule without popular support. Part 3 describes how Chevron was fully aware of the human rights abuses associated with the Yadana Project when it acquired Unocal in 2005, but nonetheless chose to stay involved with the project and the Burmese military. The Yadana pipeline is guarded by the Burmese army, and the human rights abuses committed by the army in the course of providing security have been widely reported and documented; victims of the project sued Unocal in U.S. courts in the landmark case Doe v. Unocal. Part 4 documents the continuing serious human rights abuses by the pipeline security forces, including torture, rape, murder, and forced labor. Seventeen years after abuses connected to the Yadana Project were first documented, and years after they were highlighted in Doe v. Unocal, these human rights abuses continue in the pipeline corridor. Residents and refugees fleeing the pipeline region report that they are still forced to work for the pipeline security forces, who continue to commit acts of violence and terrorize the local population. This forced labor occurs thousands of times each year. Part 5 debunks the oil companiesâ�?„? claims that life in the pipeline region has improved. While some villages have realized minimal benefits from the companiesâ�?„? socio-economic program, the benefits do not reach the entire population affected by the pipeline security forces. Even for the chosen â�œpipeline villagesâ�� life remains so difficult and dangerous that families continue to flee for the relative safety of the Thai-Burma border. Part 6 discusses Chevronâ�?„?s response to the 2007 demonstrations in Burma against the military regime and the regimeâ�?„?s crackdown. Despite its threefold status as the largest U.S. investor in Burma, the militaryâ�?„?s direct business partner, and a partner in the project that constitutes the largest source of income for the regime, Chevron has failed to take any noticeable steps to condemn the violent repression or to pressure the military to respect human rights. Finally, Part 7 describes Chevronâ�?„?s ongoing potential legal liability for its role in the Yadana Project. Although the Doe v. Unocal litigation resulted in a settlement in 2005, that settlement only covers the claims of the victims involved in that suit; Chevron remains responsible for compensating the thousands of other residents of the pipeline region who have suffered abuse by pipeline security forces. Two appendices offer additional detail on oil and gas investment in Burma. Appendix A details the Shwe Project, a new gas project which could dwarf Yadana both in revenues for the military and in the abusive impact on the local population. The project is being developed by South Koreaâ�?„?s Daewoo International along with other companies from Korea, India and China. Appendix B briefly outlines Chinaâ�?„?s growing involvement in Burma, especially in the oil and gas sector. The Yadana Project remains a serious problem both for the people of Burma and for Chevron itself. In light of this, EarthRights International makes the following recommendations:..."
Source/publisher: EarthRights International
2008-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2008-04-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.2 MB
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Description: Moattama Gas Transportation Company Operator: Total Myanmar/Burma...PREFACE: The Corporate Engagement Project (CEP) is a collaborative effort, involving multinational corporations that operate in areas of socio-political tensions or conflict. Its purpose is to help corporate managers better understand the impacts of corporate activities on the contexts in which they work. Based on site visits, CEP aims to identify and analyze the challenges for corporations that recur across companies and across contexts. Based on the patterns that emerge, CEP develops management tools and practical options for management practices that respond to local challenges and address stakeholder issues. In this context, Doug Fraser, Independent Consultant, and Luc Zandvliet, Project Director of CEP, visited Myanmar from April 22 ? May 3, 2003 to visit the Yadana pipeline project, operated by Total, as a follow up to our first visit conducted in October 2002. This visit was the second CEP visit to the Yadana Project in what is planned as a series of three visits. To avoid duplication, this report should be read in combination with the first report (available at http://www.cdainc.com/cep/cep-casestudylist.htm). Our purpose, as in all CEP field visits, was to examine the interaction between corporate operations and surrounding communities, as well as the impact of corporate operations on the wider context of conflict. The CEP team intends to visit Thailand to explore allegations from several international NGOs that people originating from the pipeline area were displaced into Thailand. If people had to leave Myanmar/Burma recently for reasons related to the pipeline or the presence of oil companies, this would be important for CEP to know. The trip will serve the following purposes: * To learn additional information related to the impact of the pipeline on local civilians. We want to address the possibility that we only hear positive stories about the pipeline from people currently residing in the corridor, while people that were possibly forced to leave the corridor might tell of a different reality... * To verify why CDA?s observations in the pipeline area differ from the observations in some of the reports produced by international NGOs about the impact of the pipeline on the local contexts... * To explore rumors in the business community in Thailand and Myanmar/Burma (and among NGOs themselves) that some NGOs make a ?business” of producing allegations against companies, based on testimonies from Myanmar/Burmese refugees. This is of concern to CEP because if CEP is unable to confirm allegations that ?NGOs fabricate ?evidence,” it supports the credibility of the NGOs that make allegations or advocate on behalf of Myanmar/Burmese refugees. On the other side, if the fabrication of evidence is confirmed, this would support sentiments in the business community that allegations should not be taken seriously. This undermines the ability of individuals with genuine grievances against companies to be heard... We attempted to arrange the trip from Bangkok to Northern Thailand to precede this visit, but logistically it was not feasible (during the water festival), and therefore the trip has been postponed to coincide with the third visit. Because we were examining the operations of the Yadana project, in this report we consistently refer to Total?s role as the operator of the project. However, our observations concern all joint venture partners. The point of departure for any CEP visit is what we observe on site and what we hear that is substantiated both by examples and by consistent repetition. Although familiarity with the history of a project and region is indispensable for understanding current operations and policies, we neither validate nor invalidate past operational policies or their impacts, unless we observe these in current dynamics. We invite feedback on the observations laid out in this report. We hope, as well, that this report will contribute to broader discussions within the company and between the company and stakeholders, on the options for corporate engagement in the Myanmar/Burma context. After the introduction, in which our methodology is explained, the report is divided into two parts. The first section reports on the direct and indirect impacts of the Yadana project within the pipeline area. Direct impacts take place through the Socio-Economic Program implemented by the company. But equally important, according to villagers, is the indirect impact of Total?s presence on the human rights situation in general, and forced labor in particular, in the immediate region. The second section explores the company?s impact on the broader national context. Addressing both the local impacts as well as the impacts of the pipeline on the national social and political level is a challenge for any company working in the country. In order to address these challenges, Total will need to develop a clear vision and coherent strategy to support this vision. We will discuss some of the building blocks for such a strategy and suggest options that could enable the company to constructively address these challenges while continuing its operations.
Creator/author: Luc Zandvliet, Doug Fraser
Source/publisher: Collaborative for Development Action
2003-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2007-09-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Corporate Engagement Project ? Myanmar/Burma report November 2002...PREFACE: The Corporate Engagement Project (CEP) is a collaborative effort, involving multinational corporations that operate in areas of socio-political tensions or conflict. Its purpose is to help corporate managers better understand the impacts of corporate activities on the contexts in which they work. Based on site visits, CEP aims to identify and analyze the challenges for corporations that recur across companies and across contexts. Based on the patterns that emerge, CEP develops management tools and practical options for management practices that respond to local challenges and address stakeholder issues. In this context, a team of three (Mary B. Anderson, President of the Collaborative for Development Action; Doug Fraser, Independent Consultant; and Luc Zandvliet, Project Director of CEP) traveled to Myanmar from October 18 ? 30, 2002 to visit the Yadana pipeline project, operated by TotalFinaElf (TFE). Our purpose, as in all our visits, was to examine the interaction between corporate operations and surrounding communities, as well as the impact of corporate operations on the wider context of conflict. While our focus was on these interactions at many levels, our review inevitably also included a consideration of the corporation?s effects on the human rights situation in the region of the pipeline and beyond in the country at large. The point of departure for any CEP visit is what we observe on site and what we hear that is substantiated both by examples and by consistent repetition. Although familiarity with the history of a project and region is indispensable for understanding current operations and policies, we neither validate nor invalidate past operational policies or their impacts, unless we observe these in current dynamics. Therefore, this visit was focused on analyzing present operations and policies and their positive or negative consequences on people living in the contexts of operations. This focus follows the same approach undertaken in all CEP work with corporations that participate in the Corporate Engagement Project. As a matter of principle, the Corporate Engagement Project works with all corporations who wish to be engaged and who express their interest in understanding and improving their relations with communities where they work. This visit was the first CEP visit to the Yadana Project in what is planned as a series of three. We invite feedback on the observations laid out in this report. We hope, as well, that this report will contribute to broader discussions within the company and between the company and stakeholders, on the options for corporate engagement in the Myanmar/Burma context. Because we were examining the operations of the Yadana project, in this report we consistently refer to TotalFinaElf?s role (TFE) as the operator of the project. However, our observations concern all joint venture partners.
Creator/author: Mary Anderson, Doug Fraser, Luc Zandvliet
Source/publisher: Collaborative for Development Action
2002-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2007-09-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Moattama Gas Transportation Company Operator: Total Myanmar/Burma...PREFACE: "The Corporate Engagement Project (CEP) is a collaborative effort involving multinational corporations that operate in areas of socio-political tensions or conflict. Its purpose is to help corporate managers better understand the impacts of corporate activities in the context in which they work. Based on this analysis, CEP helps companies to develop management tools and practical options for management practices that respond to local challenges and address stakeholder issues. Against this background, Doug Fraser, Independent Consultant, and Luc Zandvliet, Project Director of CEP, visited Thailand and Myanmar/Burma from November 22 ? December 6, 2003 to visit the Yadana pipeline joint venture project, operated by Total. This trip was a follow-up to our previous visits conducted in October 2002, and in May 2003. This report should be read in combination with the two earlier reports, which are available at: www.cdainc.com/cep. Our purpose, as in all CEP field visits, was to examine both the interaction between corporate operations and surrounding communities, as well as the impact of corporate operations on the wider context of conflict. Because we examined the operations of the Yadana project, in this report we consistently refer to Total?s role as the operator of the project. However, our observations concern all joint venture partners: Total, Unocal, MOGE and PTTEP. After the introduction, in which we explain our approach, the report is divided into two parts. The first section reports on the direct and indirect impacts of the Yadana project within the so-called pipeline corridor. This is the geographical area on both sides of the pipeline that Total has defined as the local working environment on which it focuses its attention. Direct impacts take place through the Socio-Economic Program (referred to in the report as Socio-Econ Program) implemented by the company. Indirect impacts occur simply through the presence of the company and its effects on human rights in the pipeline corridor. The second section explores a range of opinions of Myanmar people not living in the pipeline corridor on a variety of topics such as freedom, expectations concerning the company, and the impacts of sanctions on the country. We report these ?voices” of people because for the company to ensure its presence has a positive impact on society, it first needs to gain a better understanding of how it can respond to the aspirations of those beyond the pipeline corridor also impacted by its activities. We invite feedback on the observations laid out in this report. In all of CEP?s efforts, we work to establish partnerships between groups with different agendas with the ultimate objective of increasing the positive impact that companies have, or can have, on the quality of life of people where they operate. The purpose of this report, as of our earlier reports, is to contribute to broader discussions within the company and between the company and stakeholders on the options for positive corporate engagement in the Myanmar/Burma context..."
Creator/author: Luc Zandvliet, Doug Fraser
Source/publisher: Collaborative for Development Action
2004-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2007-09-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Moattama Gas Transportation Company Operator: Total Myanmar/Burma...PREFACE: "The Corporate Engagement Project (CEP) is a collaborative effort involving multinational corporations that operate in areas of socio-political tension or conflict. Its purpose is to help corporate managers better understand the impacts of corporate activities on the context in which they operate. Based on this analysis, CEP helps companies to develop management tools and practical options to address local challenges and stakeholder issues. The CEP team visited Thailand and the Yadana operations in Myanmar/Burma from April 17 ? May 6, 2005. This is the fourth visit of the CEP team to the Yadana project and to Thailand. This trip was a follow up visit to previous site visits conducted in December 2003, May 2003 and October 2002. This report should be read in conjunction with the three previous reports available at our website: www.cdainc.com/cep. During the visit to Myanmar/Burma and Thailand, CEP spoke with a broad range of stakeholders to gain a better understanding of people?s perspectives concerning Total?s operations in Myanmar/Burma. Although Total?s name is mentioned throughout this report, our observations concern all venture partners; Total, Unocal, MOGE (Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise) and PTTEP (Thai National Exploration and Production Company). The introductory part of this report explains the approach taken during this visit. The first section lays out the observations made in the pipeline area. Section two discusses the findings during our meetings on a national level with stakeholders in Yangon and Mandalay, and section three describes the observations on an international level based on discussions with stakeholders in Thailand, the United States and Europe. Sections I, II and III are organized as observations and options for change..."
Creator/author: Luc Zandvliet, Ana Paula do Nascimento
Source/publisher: Collaborative for Development Action
2005-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2007-09-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Two days after French oil giant Total made a 5.2 million euros (US $6.12 million) out-of-court settlement to end a suit by 12 Burmese accusing the company of involvement in forced labor to build a natural gas pipeline, a Total executive explained why his company agreed to settle. In a phone interview with The Irrawaddy, Total?s vice president for exploration and production Jean Francois Lassalle claimed his company is paying compensation despite the fact ?we?ve never used forced labor.” The eight plaintiffs and four witnesses had brought the suit against Total in 2002, claiming forced labor was used by Total in building its Yadana pipeline from Burma to Thailand from 1995-1998. This is what Lassalle told "The Irrawaddy":..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 12
2005-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2006-05-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: I - Project Description: A. Figures and facts; B. Development of the construction; C. The pipeline route and the protection of the construction sites; D. Methods of employment... II - Support for the junta: A. An act of moral and political support; B. Disregard for civil society and its legitimate representatives - TOTAL'S interest in upholding the junta; C. Economic support; D. Logistical and military support... III - A Judicial Void: A. The coup d'etat and the absence of rule of law; B. Burma's obligations under international law... IV - Human Rights Violations in conjunction with the Pipeline:- A. Militarisation: 1. Attacks on the project; 2. Reprisals... B. Forced relocation of the population: 1. Evictions from villages; 2. Expropriations... C. Forced labour: 1. Forced labour and the general infrastructure; 2. Forced labour and security; 3. The case of the Ye-Tavoy railway; 4. The porters of the Burmese army... D. Other violations: 1. Summary executions; 2. Torture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading practices; 3. Rape and violence against women; 4. Violations of economic, social and cultural rights; 5. Environmental rights... V - Conclusions and Recommendations.
Creator/author: Beatrice Laroche, Anne-Christine Habbard
Source/publisher: Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH)
1996-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2005-08-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 437.13 KB
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Description: "...Total a conclu des accords commerciaux avec le régime militaire birman après qu?il eut refusé, au lendemain des élections de 1990, de céder le pouvoir au parti élu démocratiquement, la Ligue nationale pour la démocratie (LND). Nous soutenons dans ce rapport que les activités de Total en Birmanie, notamment le projet gazier de Yadana, constituent un soutien moral et fi nancier direct à la junte militaire. Cette junte militaire se livre quotidiennement et de façon régulière à de très nombreuses violations des droits de l?Homme en Birmanie. Le régime a systématiquement recourt au travail forcé et opprime les minorités ethniques et les groupes d?opposition. Quels que soient les arguments théoriques avancés par le groupe pétrolier français, faisant valoir un lien entre investissement et développement1, Total n?exerce en fait aucun contrôle sur la manière dont les revenus tirés de Yadana sont utilisés par la junte et rien ne permet de penser que ces fonds serviront à l?amélioration des conditions de vie de la population. En Birmanie, environ 40 % du budget national sont consacrés à l?armée et des sommes minimes sont allouées à l?éducation et la santé. Qui plus est, le régime militaire se replie de plus en plus sur lui-même. L?investissement de Total en Birmanie ne se traduit en rien par une ouverture du régime sur l?extérieur..."
Source/publisher: FIDH, Agir-ici, Actions Birmanie, France Libertes
2005-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2005-08-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Francais, French
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Description: "...The history of Total in Burma is complex and problematic. It began commercial negotiations with the military regime after the junta refused to cede power to the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) following the 1990 elections. This report shows that Total activities in Burma, particularly the Yadana Gas Project, have provided direct and substantial political and fi nancial support to the military junta. The military junta in Burma perpetrates widespread and systematic abuses of human rights on a daily basis. The regime routinely uses forced labour and severely oppresses ethnic minorities and opposition groups. In spite of theoretical arguments regarding the relationship between investment and development1, Total has no control over the way the Yadana project revenue is used by the military government and there is nothing to suggest that this money will be used, in any way, to improve conditions in Burma. In fact, approximately 40% of the national budget is spent on the military, with infi nitesimal amounts being spent on health and education. The military regime is also becoming increasingly closed to external observation and scrutiny. Up to now, Total?s investment in Burma has not resulted in an opening of the regime to international dialogue. The human rights violations perpetrated by the Burmese Army in the Yadana pipeline area also demonstrate the nature of the regime Total is dealing with, as well as Total?s own legal responsibility for acts carried out by those state actors. Embroiled in the actions occurring in and around the pipeline area, Total was complicit in these human rights violations. It knew the Burmese military would be engaged to secure the pipeline, it was aware of the abuses carried out by the military and it failed to take adequate steps to prevent these abuses. The social projects and compensation offered by Total does not absolve from acknowledging its responsibility and from providing appropriate compensation to all victims..."... N.B. THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE FILE -- IT GETS STUCK ON P30 AND CAN ONLY BE DOWNLOADED WITH INTERNET EXPLORER.
Source/publisher: FIDH, Agir-ici, Actions Birmanie, France Libertes
2005-07-00
Date of entry/update: 2005-08-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Thailand?s state-controlled gas firm signed up for two expensive gas deals that it later realized it didn?t want. Burma has used the revenue to finance an arms build-up. In 1989 with the treasury bare, Burma?s ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC, as the junta then called itself, opened up petroleum exploration to foreign oil companies. In the short term Rangoon profited from signing bonuses paid for exploration blocks. If any of the firms struck commercially viable oil or gas, Burma would collect free rents from petroleum exports that would help maintain an unelected, unpopular administration in power..."
Creator/author: Bruce Hawke
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 12, No. 10
2004-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2005-01-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "For the first time, an American corporation is going to trial for human rights abuses committed by a government with which it did business. Unocal, the US $11 billion oil company headquartered in El Segundo, California is being held liable by a group of Burmese villagers for human right abuses committed by a business partner in Burma in a case before the California Superior Court. The case, John Doe et al versus Unocal, has caused disquiet within the US business community..."
Creator/author: Anna Sussman
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 12, No. 10
2004-11-00
Date of entry/update: 2005-01-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: La drogue, petrole, la junte birmane, la France...Le livre de Francis Christophe (moins Introduction et Annexe). DU ROI THEBAW A LA FRENCH-SLORC-CONNECTION; LA MONTEE DE l'OPIUM EN BIRMANIE; L'ARRIVEE EN FORCE DU SLORC; LA REDDITION-REHABILITATION DE KHUN SA; LE SLORC, REINCARNATION DE LA DICTATURE PRECEDENTE; PARRAINAGES ET RESEAUX; LE PARAVENT DE L'ENGAGEMENT CONSTRUCTIF; LES AMIS DU SLORC; INDE-BIRMANIE: L'HEROINE BOUSCULE LE STATU-QUO; NARCO-REACTION EN CHAINE; EXCEPTION FRANCAISE; LA CHUTE de MANDALAY; MIRAGE ET TABOU SUR LA DROGUE; DIPLOMATIE PETROLIERE TOTAL EN BIRMANIE, L'IMPLANTATION; LE FARDEAU BIRMAN; SUCCES SUR LE TERRAIN, DIFFICULTES MEDIATIQUES; LES CIRCUITS POLITIQUES ET ECONOMIQUES; UNE FRENCH-SLORC-CONNECTION? UN ENGAGEMENT DESTRUCTEUR.
Creator/author: Francis Christophe
1998-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Francais, French
Format : htm
Size: 268.04 KB
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Description: Rapport de situation (octobre 1996). Béatrice Laroche (adjointe à la délégation permanente de la FIDH auprès des Nations-Unies à New-York) et Anne-Christine Habbard (chargée de mission au Bureau Exécutif de la FIDH).
Creator/author: Beatrice Laroche, Anne-Christine Habbard
Source/publisher: Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l
1996-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Francais, French
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Description: "As long as there is no accountable government in Burma," explains opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, "I do not think the money generated by the gas pipeline can be said to be invested for the country as a whole...."
Creator/author: By Yurdle
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 6. No. 1
1998-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Even as they remain locked in conflict along their northern border, Thailand and Burma continue to foster their mutual economic dependency. Energy-hungry Thailand has announced that it will pay US$ 300 million payment for contracted gas from Burma by March 31, easing pressure on the cash-starved Burmese regime as it continues to mount offensives against insurgent groups along the Thai-Burma border. The Petroleum Authority of Thailand PTT has also revealed that it is negotiating to take an additional 10-15% over contracted volumes of natural gas from Burma.
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 9. No. 3
2001-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Sur le rôle des compagnies pétrolières dans la politique internationale et son impact social et environnemental.
Creator/author: Mme Marie-Helene Aubert, M. Pierre Brana, M. Roland Blum (rapporteurs)
Source/publisher: Assemblee Nationale (France)
1999-10-13
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Francais, French
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Description: sur le rôle des compagnies pétrolières dans la politique internationale et son impact social et environnemental. (Report by a French parliamentary commission on the political, social and environmental impact of oil companies, including Total's activities in Burma - French only)
Source/publisher: Assemblee Nationale (France)
1999-10-12
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Francais, French
Format : htm
Size: 964.34 KB
Local URL:
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Description: "?Total Denial? catalogues the systematic human rights abuses and environmental degradation perpetrated by SLORC as the regime seeks to consolidate its power base in the gas pipeline region. Further, the report shows that investment in projects such as the Yadana pipeline not only gives tacit approval and support to the repressive SLORC junta but also exacerbates the grave human rights and environmental problems in Burma.... The research indicates that gross human rights violations, including summary executions, torture, forced labor and forced relocations, have occurred as a result of natural gas development projects funded by European and North American corporations. In addition to condemning transnational corporate complicity with the SLORC regime, the report also presents the perspectives of those most directly impacted by the foreign investment who for too long have silently endured the abuses meted out by SLORC for the benefit of its foreign corporate partners." ...Additional keywords: environment, human rights violations.
Source/publisher: EarthRights International (ERI) and Southeast Asian Information Network (SAIN)
1996-07-10
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 310.45 KB
Local URL:
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Description: "Three Western oil companies -- Total, Premier and Unocal -- bent on exploiting natural gas , entered partnerships with the brutal Burmese military regime. Since the early 1990?s, a terrible drama has been unfolding in Burma. Three western oil companies -- Total, Premier, and Unocal -- entered into partnerships with the brutal Burmese miltary regime to build the Yadana and Yetagun natural gas pipelines. The regime created a highly militarized pipelinecorridor in what had previously been a relatively peaceful area, resulting in violent suppression of dissent, environmental destruction, forced labor and portering, forced relocations, torture, rape, and summary executions. EarthRights International co-founder Ka Hsaw Wa and a team of field staff traveled on both sides of the Thai-Burmese border in the Tenasserim region to document the conditions in the pipeline corridor. In the nearly four years since the release of "Total Denial" (1996), the violence and forced labor in the pipeline region have continued unabated. This report builds on the evidence in "Total Denial" and brings to light several new facets of the tragedy in the Tenasserim region. Keywords:, human rights, environment, forced relocation, internal displacement, foreign investment. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced resettlement, forced relocation, forced movement, forced displacement, forced migration, forced to move, displaced
Source/publisher: Earthrights International
2000-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 5.98 MB
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Description: While Judge Ronald Lew has dismissed the case charging Unocal withliability for human rights abuses, attorneys of the plaintiffs are encouraged by prospects for a successful appeal.
Creator/author: Jed Greer, Tyler Giannini/EarthRights International
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy", Vol. 8. No. 9
2000-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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