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petition Heineken Burma
Dear friends,
Burma needs your help! A SEED Europe and Solidarity Fund XminusY just
launched a campaign in the Netherlands to demand from the beer-TNC
Heineken that they leave Burma and stop their cooperation with the
dictatorship SLORC.
This campaign kicked off very well and the press is very interested!
We think that it is very possible that they will pull out of Burma.
That would be a major victory, and an example for other companies!
Putting pressure on them right now is very important, so please sign
this petition, let us know ASAP and we will present the list to them.
Even better, please also print it out and fax it to them yourselves:
+31 20 6263503 (att. Vuursteen (chair of the board) & Verwey,
(Corporate Public Affairs Officer). Still even better, find ways of
putting pressure on Heineken in your country!
Background:
Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd. (APBL), a joint venture of Heineken (it
has 42,5% of the shares and a 50% management share) and the Singapore
based Fraser and Neave, founded a joint venture with the Union of
Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. (UMEHL), to construct a brewery in
Rangoon, Myanmar Brewery Ltd. APBL holds 60% of the shares and 40% is
held by UMEHL. The brewery is being built under the supervision of
Heineken Technical Services. The brewery is expected to be completed
in September 1996. Shares in UMEHL are held by the Ministry of
Defence, Defence Service personnel, regimental institutes
and senior ex-servicemen. 40% is owned by the Directorate of
Procurement of the Ministry of Defense, the department responsible for
the buying of arms.
The petition
TO: Heineken N.V.
Hereby we want to express our concern regarding the investment of
Heineken in the Myanmar Brewery Ltd. in Burma. Through this investment
Heineken is directly supporting the military regime of the SLORC
(State Law and Order Restoration Council), an illegal military junta
that forcibly seized power in 1988.
With this investment Heineken ignores the appeal made by the
democratic opposition, represented by Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi. Her party, the National League for Democracy, won 82% of the
seats in 1990, during the last free elections in Burma. SLORC ignored
the results. Suu Kyi and other opposition groups have repeatedly
requested that international companies not invest in Burma at the
present time because investment reinforces the position
of SLORC. Foreign investments keep the SLORC in power, by providing
hard currency.
The SLORC is one of the most oppressive regimes in the world today.
Forced labour, forced relocation, killings and arrests are their daily
routine. The SLORC is at war with its own people. The United Nations
General Assembly has already adopted five consensus resolutions
calling for the SLORC to respect the will of the people, to accelerate
the process of democratization and to improve human rights. The most
recent one was put forth on December 5th, 1995.
Heineken is building a brewery now in Burma in a joint venture with
the UMEHL, a holding that is owned by the military. By investing in
cooperation with the military, Heineken is an accomplice in the
tragedy of the Burmese people. We demand that Heineken stops its
cooperation with the SLORC and pulls out of Burma.
ENDS
Thanks for your effort. If you sign, we will keep you updated. Please
forward this to other organizations.
On behalf of A SEED Europe and XminusY, yours truly, Kees Kodde
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A SEED Europe
P.O.Box 92066
1090 AB Amsterdam The Netherlands
tel. +31 20 6682236
fax +31 20 6650166