EURO-BURMANET : JOIN THEWORLDWIDE T

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Subject: EURO-BURMANET : JOIN THEWORLDWIDE TOTAL BOYCOTT!

EURO-BURMANET : JOIN THEWORLDWIDE TOTAL BOYCOTT!
 

GREATLY OUTRAGED BY THE ILLEGITIMATE USE OF FORCE BY THE ALLEGED 
GOVERNMENT POLICE AND MILITARY OF SLORC AGAINST THE PEACEFUL 
CONGRESS AT THE RESIDENCE OF DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI LEADER OF THE 
NLD EUROBURMANET CALLS FOR A UNITED OUTSPOKEN CONDEMNATION OF 
TOTAL THE FRENCH GIANT ENERGY COMPANY AND ITS PARTNERS IN THE 
ILLICIT EXPLOITATION AND PLUNDERING OF THE NATIONS RESOURCES
AT A CRITICAL TIME WHEN ITS NATIONAL WILL IS DEMANDING TO BE 
HEARD.EUROBURMANET CALLS FOR THE IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF WORK ON THE 
YADANA PIPELINE PROJECTF. ANY FAILURE NOT TO DIRECTLY SUPPORTS THE 
ILLEGITIMATE AUTHORITY OF SLORC AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF 45 
MILLION PEOPLE. 

DAWN STAR  

 Source: BurmaNews Network (BNN), Free Burma Coalition (FBC),
 Euro-Burmanet, 
                                                           29 Aug 1996 


Paris -- Dear Free Burma activists, supporters and friends in Europe and 
elsewhere. The time has
come. It seems to be constant now, -that the movement must accelerate to 
meet the challenge of
the recent onrush of events which the summer of 1996 has occasioned. 

It is not now the time to lower the guard against the ever-present 
menace of fascism in Burma.
Worse, its co-conspirators in the great oil companies TOTAL and Unocal 
have widened the gap
between responsible government intervention through diplomatic and 
economic pressure leaving
the door open for renewed attacks on the NLD and relentless rape and 
dehumanization of an
entire nation of peoples, ethnics and cultures. 

The Genocide and annihilation of the Burmese nation must stop. 

We unanimously support the announcement taken by the Free Burma Movement 
in the United
States on August 19, 1996 when it declared in a letter to TOTAL 
Petroleum North America of an
all-out TOTAL and Unocal Boycott. 

In Chechnya and Bosnie we have seen the failure of European and western 
nations to deliver their
promise of peace and to end the bloody conflict that wretches the heart 
of Europe, and, even more
tragically than thought possible, Europe now cringes under the weight of 
its own discontent at
home where social unrest and unemployment pull at an old and tired dying 
soul. Europe of the 20th
century. Europe ravaged by war, Europe prosperous. Europe humbled by a 
lack of vision and
humanity. 

The century is coming to an end. And so too must end the inertia of 
frustrated and warring
diplomats afraid to stand up to Asian autocrats and dictators taunting 
the world with their
corruption, nepotism and illegitimacy as leaders on the world stage of 
democracy. The curtain must
close on these harbingers of ill-fate, suffering, poverty and despair. 

For TOTAL, and its pipeline partners, the crisis in Burma is a long-term 
crisis investment. Slorc
aims to rule for the long-term, TOTAL invests for the long-term. The 
summer's series of crisis to
crisis news-breaking events is over, but the crisis goes on with no end 
in sight. Once the West
signaled that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was not to be harmed, or imprisoned - 
her public and
private life is already under seige and around the clock surveillance,- 
it appeared that the West
could save face and go away with its dignity intact. That is not so, for 
as long as Slorc remains
bold and brazenly in place, the dignity of the West suffers further loss 
with the lives of the forgotten
Burmese people. 

Evil never ceases to change its forms. The Slorc rulers play out their 
tea-time diplomacy gaining
time to reap more hell and rich profits as the people endure more harsh 
suffering and unspeakable
brutality at the hands of a western-supported army of ignorant violent 
thugs. TOTAL has said
clearly that the huge French energy company will not pull out of Burma 
and abandon their Slorc
business partners. TOTAL's security directors coordinate strategy with 
the Slorc generals for
construction and protection of their " Death pipeline ". 

Meanwhile, Slorc continues to defy Warren Christopher's muted warnings 
and increases its
repression, as TOTAL's own directors and corporate spokesmen publicly 
credit the company with
improving conditions of life for the Burmese economy..All the while, 
Slorc kills and terrorizes an
entire nation. 

For Slorc and TOTAL, nothing has changed. It is the same Evil in another 
form. As Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi has illuminated, augering silence to denounce these evils is 
complicity and encourages
more of the same. 

There is no more time to lose. 

This is why we have called to JOIN THE WORLDWIDE TOTAL BOYCOTT. 

The strength and resistance of the Burmese people against the Slorc-led 
Genocide brings us to a
turning point in the history of the struggle for freedom. 

Recent diplomacy has proved sadly ineffective. Slorc and Washington do 
not speak the same
language, their bluffs at reform is nothing but winds in the sails of 
stately internationalism gone
dangerously off-course and on the shoals. But what of it ? Even the US 
sanctions movement in
Congress showed that neither Mr. Warren Christopher or his boss in the 
White House are going
to stop the killing and torture or end the dying. 

The arrest and tragic death in Insein Prison during the June crackdown 
of the European Honorary
Consul Mr. James Leander Nichols is a timely omen that Slorc has too far 
transgressed the
principles of international law. "Leo" Nichols was a symbol of all that 
was right in the democratic
struggle in Burma, and the ears and eyes of Europe there. 

The European diplomats were caught off-guard. European human rights 
lobbies failed to sway
them. United Nations condemnations were ignored. 

When at last Mr. Nichols closed his eyes at his tortures and took his 
last breath, he died. Did he
die in vain ? Will Europe and the free men and women of the world, close 
their eyes on forgottten
Burma ? 

Dr. Sein Win, Prime Minister of the exile Burmese government and cousin 
to Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi ( their fathers were brothers and founders of independence of Burma 
from the British) is right
when last week, in Australia, he again called upon the world to assert 
international pressure on
Slorc's alleged government and end their repression. Dr. Sein Win urged 
that international
investors heed the call of Suu Kyi and stop supporting Slorc with their 
investments in Burma.
Foreign investors are increasing suppression and Genocide in Burma. 

For the past year Euro-Burma's repeated recommendations that the company 
TOTAL SA reverse
its strategy of financial support and partnership with the alleged 
government of " Myanmar " have
gone virtually ignored. 

In fact, TOTAL is strengthening its security measures to protect the 
pipeline, fosters the use of
forced labor in its pipeline area under its supervision, and trades in 
sex with young Burmese girls. 

Essentially, TOTAL is destroying the integrity of the Burmese culture 
and its traditions - and
making money on the Burmese energy ressources it exploits. It is the 
rape of Burma. TOTAL, and
its directors in the great French oil and gas bully, are raping Burma. 

Last June,at TOTAL's annual shareholders' meeting in Paris, 
Euro-Burmanet denounced TOTAL's
indifference and delivered a copy of the SAIN report "Total Denial" to 
Thierry Desmarest, PDG of
TOTAL SA. He could not have cared less about any human rights victim. 

Our letters and interviews with Mr. Thierry Desmarest, PDG of TOTAL SA 
have been met with
calculated insensibility and blatant disregard for human rights abuses 
for which they bear a great
direct responsibility. TOTAL SA is a partner to genocide. There is 
already extensive
documentation and eye-witness testimony bearing out the role of TOTAL SA 
as they pursue
undeterred in their plans to exploit the energy ressources of the 
country to their own benefit and
the profit of the Slorc killing machine. 

Like in Bosnia, European ministers overlooked the massacres and rape of 
suppression in Burma,
of ordinary villagers helpless to defend themselves against ignoble 
soldiers of a 400,000 man army
trained and equipped by China. 

Therefore, Euro-Burmanet,based in Paris, with determination and 
committment of its supporters,
while it regrets the conditions that make its decision irreversible, 
joins in solidarity with the Free
Burma Movement in the United States - and the millions of people in the 
free world to STOP
INVESTMENT IN BURMA. 

We call upon all active Free Burma groups in Europe to join together now 
to coordinate united
action JOIN THE WORLDWIDE TOTAL BOYCOTT 

Further, Euro-Burmanet joins in the international call to - 

-Stop all non-humanitarian investment and financial support of the Slorc 
regime in Burma -Boycott
all tourism to Burma -Withdraw European Union's Generalised System of 
Preference (GSP) status
to Burma -Release of all political prisoners in Burma -Endorse the 
political program of the
National League for Democracy 

Please send your letters now denouncing TOTAL's pipeline venture and 
SLORC GENOCIDE in
Burma to : 

MR RAJSOOMER LALLAH

SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN BURMA

C/O- U.N. CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

PALAIS DES NATIONS

1211 GENEVA 10

SWITZERLAND

JOIN THE TOTAL WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT! TOTAL'S BUSINESS
PRODUCES REFUGEES !

Send your letters now : 

TOTAL SA

Thierry Desmarest, CEO, President of Exploration and Production, HQ: 24 
Cours Michelet
92800 Puteaux France Tel: 33-1-41-35-40-00 Fax: 33-1-41-35-64-65 

E-mail :

Paris France, : <hourcard@xxxxxxxxx New York City <TOTALNYC@xxxxxxx ,
<roberth@xxxxxxxxx 

http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/asia/euro-burma 
http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/asia/euro-burma/total 

TOTAL WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT TOTAL WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT
TOTAL WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT

We reprint the August 19 letter to TOTAL NORTH AMERICA. 

E-mail, please, it to : 

TOTAL US

TOTALNYC@xxxxxxx roberth@xxxxxxxxx 

Gary Jones, CEO TOTAL Petroleum North America TOTAL Tower, 900-19th 
Street Denver,
Colorado [Hand Delivered] 

Dear Mr. Jones: 

We are here to express our concern about the irrefutable links between 
TOTAL and Burma's
illegal military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council 
(SLORC). 

Through numerous exchanges with TOTAL International, we have 
conscientiously informed your
company of the dangers -- both to the people of Burma and to TOTAL 
employees -- inherent in a
joint venture partnership with the SLORC. 

Since 1993 we have urged Unocal and TOTAL to reconsider this project 
until there could be real
guarantees that the SLORC wouldn't behave in the region of your proposed 
natural gas pipeline as
it does throughout the country. 

Human rights violations along the route of the TOTAL/Unocal/SLORC 
pipeline have been clearly
documented and continue to be reported by refugees fleeing the area. 

As you may know, Unocal is the target to a growing boycott throughout 
the western United
States. We regret to inform you that we now find no other alternative 
but to launch a North
American campaign to boycott TOTAL and its service stations. 

At the same time, Free Burma groups in seven European countries are 
launching a TOTAL
boycott after convincing Heineken and Carlsberg to cancel plans for 
breweries in Burma. 

Please take some time to review the attached report, "TOTAL Denial", 
published by the Southeast
Asian Information Network and EarthRights International. 

We are certain you'll agree it's time for TOTAL to suspend this project 
until the National League
for Democracy is given a chance to exhibit the will of Burma's 43 
million citizens -- who gave the
NLD a mandate for Democracy in Burma's 1990 elections. 

Sincerely, 

Inge Sargent Kyaw Win, Ph.D. Kim Mizrahi David Wolfberg 

Finally, I would like to call on you and organisations all to contribute 
in any way possible to JOIN
THE WORLDWIDE TOTAL BOYCOTT. No one must have illusions here. TOTAL is a
formidable adversary not to be underestimated. 

It will take a lot of coordinated and organised lobbying here in Europe 
and in the United States if
we are to accomplish our common objectives. Let us all work together 
now. 

Please send your suggestions of ways and means for a better campaign. We 
will do our best to
respond quickly. 

And please be sure to send a copy of your letters e-mail to 
Euro-Burmanet. If you would like it
posted, we will put it on the Web site annoncing your participation and 
support. 

So, together, let's make it a presidential election issue, part of the 
campaign activity. (It already is
at the Chicago 1996 Democratic Presidential Convention, with Daw Aung 
San Suu Kyi being
honored with the Harriman Award, with honorary speeches by former Vice 
President Mondale,
and US Ambassador Albright. Target TOTAL's distribution network in the 
United States. Hit'em
where it hurts. Burma has become a national issue. Keep it so. 

You may wish to Email your Congressional reps, and the White House : 

President@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

And please send a copy of your letter to your State representatives and 
Federal legislators in
Congress. 

Euro-Burmanet endorses the Free Burma Coalition in the Free Burma 
Movement. 

Dawn Star (Paris) Coordinator (TOTAL) cd@xxxxxxx 

Burmanet Euro-Burmanet The Free Burma Coalition http://wicip.org/fbc/ 

http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/ http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/asia/euro-burma/
http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/asia/euro-burma/nld/ 
http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/asia/euro-burma/total 

Help support our effort. Write now, to 

Mrs. Emma BONINO

EC HUMANITARIAN OFFICE 

The European Commission Directorate General 1B External Relations 
(Directorate 1B, D,
Division 3) Rue de la Lois/Westraat 200 B-1049 BrusselsBelgium 
Fax:32-2-299-1047 

Join the Free Burma Coalition. Call 608-256-6572 or email: 
zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

JOIN THE TOTAL WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT! DOWN WITH SLORC
TYRANNY! FREE BURMA NOW ! 

http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/asia/euro-burma/total/ 

Help support the TOTAL WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT by donating funds to
EURO-BURMANET : E-mail to cd@xxxxxxx 

Send letters and cut-up charge cards to: 

Roger Beach, CEO Unocal Corporation 2141 Rosecrans Blvd., Suite 4000 / 
El Segundo, CA
90245 Tel: 310-726-7600 

Gary Jones, CEO Total North America Total Tower, 900 19th Street Denver, 

CO 80202 

Tel: 303-291-2000 

JOIN THE TOTAL WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT! DOWN WITH SLORC
TYRANNY! FREE BURMA NOW ! 

http://www-uvi.eunet.fr/asia/euro-burma/total/ 

TOTAL WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT TOTAL WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT
TOTAL WORLDWIDE BOYCOTT 


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