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News: Unocal Undermines US Policy



F R E E   B U R M A   C O A L I T I O N
P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036  Tel: (202)-777-6007
http://www.freeburmacoalition.org ; http://www.freeburma.org

"The Burmese junta and the Taliban oversee the vast majority of heroin
exported around the world.  They both violate fundamental human rights.
Both regimes actively oppose US foreign policy positions.  And they each
receive tangible financial and lobbying support from the Unocal
corporation.  These facts translate into unacceptable corporate behavior
far outside the norm.  Unocal is a rogue corporation that must be
stopped."  U Bo Hla Tint, Minister for North and South American Affairs,
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma.
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For Immediate Release:


 Unocal, Heroin and Forced Labor

 Rogue Oil Company Undermines US Foreign Policy

Los Angeles, September 1 -- Human rights groups and foreign policy
analysts are increasingly concerned that the Unocal corporation is
actively undermining US foreign policy initiatives and interests.  The
company is closely linked to two foreign regimes tied to international
narcotics trafficking and forced labor. 

Unocal is the only large US corporation still in partnership with Burma's
military junta.  Many other US corporations -- including Arco, Texaco and
Amoco -- have have cut their ties to the Burmese military.  US policy
calls for the economic and political isolation of the Burmese junta
because of human rights violations, suppression of democracy, and the
world's largest exports of heroin, but Unocal persists in a pipeline
project that will funnel hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the
military junta. 

The International Labor Organization in Geneva reports that the junta
"treat(s) the civilian population as an unlimited pool of unpaid forced
laborers and servants at their disposal."  Villagers who refuse summons
for forced labor must pay soldiers for replacements, or are subject to
murder, rape, beatings, and torture. 

Unocal President John Imle acknowledged in a sworn deposition in a lawsuit
in federal court that forced labor has been used along the pipeline route.

An article in The Nation magazine asserts that Unocal's pipeline partner,
the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) is the main conduit for the
laundering of drug money by the junta.  Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright has  said, "Burma's drug traffickers, with official
encouragement, are laundering their profits through Burmese banks and
companies -- some of which are joint ventures with foreign businesses."
The State Department reports that Burma exports 60% of the heroin found on
US streets.

Unocal shareholders from the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW)
have asked the company to investigate the money laundering allegations.
"Uncovering the truth may mean that Unocal bears direct responsibility for
the rise in heroin use in the US," says the OCAW.

"Unocal's partnership with the junta has encouraged the generals to stay
in power, waiting for their big petroleum pay-off," says author and Burma
expert Edith Mirante.  "Unocal is undermining US Government efforts to
pressure Burma for democracy and narcotics control."

Afghanistan is the world's second leading producer of heroin.  As in
Burma, Unocal has close ties with the oppressive Taliban regime. The
international news service Reuters reports that Unocal has flown Taliban
leaders to the US for meetings, and advocated for recognition of the
Taliban by the US Government.  The Taliban is widely regarded as the worst
violator of women's rights in the world, banning both employment and
education for women and girls.

Reuters also reports that Unocal has spent $10-15 million in an effort to
bring a natural gas pipeline across Afghanistan. 

The Taliban was quoted as saying that it would refuse to hand over
international terrorist Osama bin Laden, "even if the US proved he was
responsible" for embassy bombings in Africa.  Unocal then announced that
it has "suspended all activities" involving the Afghan pipeline.

The US-based Feminist Majority notes that, "Unocal has 'suspended,' not
ended its involvement in Afghanistan, and it has not conditioned its
pipeline participation on the restoration of human rights to women and
girls."

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

END

Contact:	U Bo Hla Tint, NCGUB, 202-393-7342
		Edith Mirante, Project Maje, 503-226-5189
		Mary Hood, Feminist Majority, 213-651-0495
		Kevin Rudiger, Free Burma Coalition LA, 310-399-0703
		Katie Redfern, EarthRights Int'l, 202-785-8700 ext. 27