"To
observe businessmen who come to Burma with the intention of enriching
themselves is somewhat like watching passers-by in an orchard roughly
stripping off blossoms for their fragile beauty, blind to the ugliness
of despoiled branches, oblivious of the fact that by their action they
are imperilling future fruitfulness and committing an injustice against
the rightful owners of the trees."
Aung
San Suu Kyi
Letters from
Burma
"Total has become the main supporter of the
Burmese military regime."
Aung San
Suu Kyi
Le Monde
An
Investor's Perspective
Co-operative
Financial Services (CFS) was formed in 2002 to bring The Co-operative
Bank and Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) under common leadership.
CFS
is one of the larger financial services organisations in the UK, with
more than seven million customers and over £30 billion of assets.
Via
regular customer consultation, the bank and CIS aim to build up a picture
of what matters to customers in terms of ethics and sustainability,
and reflect this in how they manage and provide products and services.
The bank screens business applications against a customer driven Ethical
Policy, whilst CIS engages with the companies in which it invests, and
seeks to change behaviour via dialogue and a process of shareholder
activism. Both the bank and CIS, via their Sustainable Procurement and
Supplier Policy, seek to avoid relationships with suppliers that have
a significant involvement in Burma.
CFS
is happy to support the production of this report, and looks forward
to a progressive response from TOTAL and others involved in Burma.
With
the support of 98% of customers, the bank¹s Ethical Policy includes
a commitment not to invest in regimes where there is a systematic abuse
of human rights. In 2000, faced with a continuing unacceptable situation
in Burma and the call for the severing of business relations by a range
of organisations, governments and the Burmese democratic community,
this Policy was extended to exclude businesses with operations in Burma.
In line with this, the bank screens all finance applications against
this commitment and has declined to fund any business with operations
in Burma. This has resulted in finance worth millions of pounds being
denied to such businesses.
The
bank is proud to have supported The Burma Campaign UK (BCUK) in its
campaigns and has been a part of the Burma sanctions coalition for a
number of years.
Since
2001, CIS has called upon companies investing in Burma to justify their
involvement in light of the extraordinary business risks that such activity
imposes upon shareholders. Subsequently, many large businesses have
withdrawn from the country; however, some remain.
Companies
such as TOTAL have cited a policy of constructive engagement as a justification
for their continued presence. However, to date, they have been unable
to demonstrate how this has made a decisive impact upon the regime.
TOTAL's
investors are concerned about the legal challenges faced in Europe,
the outcome of the court case involving TOTAL's business partner, Unocal,
and the material contingent liabilities these may present. These could
serve to undermine TOTAL's license to operate, tarnish its reputation,
and ultimately impact long-term shareholder value.
CIS
is also concerned about the degree to which companies such as TOTAL
can influence the political process in favour of single company interests,
e.g. with regard to the position of the French government on Burma,
and the potential for this to undermine economic and social revival.
In
correspondence with TOTAL, CIS has questioned the degree to which the
company's current approach is commercially sustainable or meets society's
expectations in relation to corporate responsibility. CIS has asked
the company to explore avenues to end its' direct financing of the regime
and to outline any legal and practical implications relating to this.
Barry
Clavin
Jo
Allen
Ethical
Policies Manager
Head
of Engagement Strategy
Executive
Summary
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."2.
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.
This
report has been produced to coincide with the launch of a new international
campaign calling for TOTAL's withdrawal from Burma. The campaign comprises
43 organisations across 18 countries. 3.
The
report's findings:
•
French foreign policy:
One of the most significant consequences of TOTAL's presence in Burma
is its influence on French foreign policy. In order to protect TOTAL's
interests, the French government has become an obstacle to any strengthening
of the EU's Common Position 4. on
Burma – particularly with regard to economic sanctions. TOTAL's
influence on the French government ensures an EU policy that is devoid
of any serious sanction against Burma's dictators.
•
Financing dictatorship: TOTAL's project provides significant annual revenue to the regime.
Some sources estimate as much as $450million. 5.Natural
gas is now Burma's largest single source of export revenue, accounting
for around 30% of export earnings in 2002/03. TOTAL's investment in
Burma has helped the regime to build its military capacity and therefore
its control of the country's population. It has therefore impeded the
prospect of democratic change.
•
Human rights abuse:
TOTAL was fully aware of the dangers inherent in deploying Burmese Army
troops in an area where civilian families were living. The company was
equally aware of its clear civil responsibility to protect the villagers
in the pipeline area from these dangers. Despite this, the company opted
to employ, through MOGE, the services of an Army internationally renowned
for its extreme and unrelenting brutality. In doing so it unleashed
a terrible and lasting devastation on the communities of the region
and for this, TOTAL must bear responsibility.
•
Legal challenges:
TOTAL's pipeline partner Unocal's decision (December 2004) to settle
out of court rather than to go before a jury to defend itself against
allegations of human rights abuses should worry TOTAL. A similar case
has been accepted for investigation by a French court for allegations
against TOTAL. In the US the evidence was strong enough to go trial,
this could well prove to be the case in France too.
•
Drugs, guns and money laundering: There are serious allegations that TOTAL's money
has been used by the regime to cover its money laundering activities
through MOGE in order to purchase arms.
•
Failure of constructive engagement: The "constructive engagement" that TOTAL
claims to have been carrying out in Burma over the last decade has not
resulted in a single democratic reform by the regime.
•
Benefits of TOTAL's withdrawal from Burma: A withdrawal by TOTAL would end the company's support
for the regime, deter future foreign investment in Burma and open the
way to a French foreign policy that no longer undermines Burma's pro-democracy
movement.
•
Taking action! The
report recommends that civil society organisations concerned with making
corporations accountable for their actions join the international coalition
on TOTAL. It recommends that individuals visit www.burmacampaign.org.uk
or email info@burmacampaign.org.uk to request TOTAL campaign postcards
and materials.
Background
on Burma
Burma,
situated between India, China, Tibet, Laos, Bangladesh and Thailand,
is one of the largest countries in Southeast Asia. For the last forty-three
years it has been ruled by a military dictatorship with a reputation
for brutality. In 1990 the National League for Democracy (NLD) won a
landslide election victory in Burma. But the result has never been honoured.
The NLD, led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has called on
foreign companies not to invest in Burma. TOTAL Oil is Burma's largest
foreign investor and one of the military dictatorship's greatest sources
of support. A new international coalition across 18 countries is calling
for TOTAL's withdrawal from Burma. This report explains why.
The
Problem
Burma's
ruling military has an appalling record:
•
Rape as a weapon of war against ethnic women and children; 6.
•
Widespread use of forced labour described by the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) as a "crime against humanity"; 7.
•
More than 1,350 political
prisoners, many of whom are routinely tortured; 8.
•
Between 600,000 and one
million internally displaced people forced from their lands; 9.
•
A continuous exodus of Burmese
to neighbouring countries. Thailand alone absorbs an estimated million
or more Burmese in search of better life opportunities;
•
One of the largest armies
in Asia despite having no external enemies; 10.
•
Nearly half of the regime's
budget spent on the military while only two to four percent spent on
health; 11.
•
The death of one in ten babies before their fifth birthday. 12.
Business
and the Dictatorship
Though
foreign trade and investment can often be of crucial importance to the
people and economies of developing countries, in Burma the reverse is
true. A regime responsible for the impoverishment and oppression of
a whole nation survives through foreign investment, revenue from exports
and illegal narcotics. 13.
It
is clear that fifteen years of constructive engagement, whereby businesses
and governments cooperated with the regime in the hope that reform would
result, have been a failure. The pro-investment advocates have ignored
the uncompromising nature of the regime, the connection between the
military's economic base and its political support, and the leverage
that economic pressure provides the NLD in its negotiations with the
military. 14.
One
of the most worrying consequences of investment and trade with Burma
is the way it has enabled the regime to expand the armed forces. In
1988 there were 200,000 personnel, there are now an estimated 400,000.
The regime's ultimate target is half a million military personnel. 15.
Military
spending fluctuated between a third and a half of the regime's budget
during the 1990s. A country of around 50 million people has one of the
largest armies in Asia, and yet has no external enemies.
The
high proportion of the state budget spent on the military has resulted
in an allocation to education and health that ignores the needs of Burma's
people. In 2000, the World Health Organisation ranked Burma near rock
bottom, 190 out of 191 countries, in health care delivery. The people
of this resource-rich country are slipping further into poverty. UNICEF
reports that 36 percent of children under five years old in Burma are
moderately to severely underweight, 16.
while the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reports that one
in ten babies die before their fifth birthday. 17.
There
can be no doubt that the greatest obstacle to peace and prosperity in
Burma is the military dictatorship itself.
The
NLD has asked the world to cut the lifelines that keep the regime alive.
Like Nelson Mandela and the ANC during the Apartheid regime in South
Africa, Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD have called for economic sanctions
and for foreign companies to stay away.
The
regime depends on foreign investment and foreign trade for a substantial
part of its income. It is essential to cut those lifelines in order
to force the regime to the negotiating table. As long as the regime
and its associates are financially secure they have no incentive to
reform. When the regime finds it difficult to satisfy the political
constituency that supports it, it will have to consider change.
The
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) reports that total revenue from gas
exports since the Yetagun and Yadana gas fields commenced operations
in 1998 has risen dramatically from zero in 1997/8 to US$921 million
in 2002/03. 18.
Natural gas is now Burma's largest single source of export revenue since
the Yadana and Yetagun gas fields came online, accounting for just under
30% of export earnings in 2002/03. 19.
TOTAL
– a short profile
TOTAL
and French foreign policy have always been closely intertwined. TOTAL
was born out of the aftermath of World War I. WWI was the first war
fought with large-scale use of oil. Tanks, armoured vehicles, and trucks
replaced cavalry on horseback, horse and carts. Oil began to replace
coal as fuel for the Navy and merchant fleets. Speaking days after the
end of WWI Senator Berenger, who was in charge of France's oil policy,
described oil as "the blood of victory." 20.
Oil was now vital for the projection of international power. Compagnie
Française des Pétroles (CFP) – now TOTAL –
was established as France's vehicle for securing the oil it needed to
project international power.
Compagnie
Française des Pétroles (CFP) was formed in 1924 at the
instigation of the French government. It was initially privately owned,
although the government approved all members of its board. Its first
oil production project was as a partner in the Iraqi Petroleum Company,
which began producing crude oil near Kirkuk in 1927. Following a parliamentary
review in 1928 it was decided further steps had to be taken to ensure
CFP prioritised French interests. Many foreign shareholders were forced
out of the company and the state took 25 percent ownership. Following
these reforms, one French political deputy described CFP as being ready
to become "the industrial arm of government action."21.
War
again spurred the creation of another constituent part of TOTAL, this
time Elf. In the aftermath of World War II French president Charles
de Gaulle decreed that French oil production should be equal to that
of France's oil consumption. CFP was already over-stretched in the Middle-East,
so two new bodies were set up, the Bureau de Recherches Pétroliers
(BRP), and Régie Autonome des Pétroles (RAP). Their mission
was to find oil away from the Middle East, preferably within the French
empire. They were very successful, securing major oil reserves in Algeria.
BRP and RAP were merged in 1965, and later became Elf.
The
TOTAL brand name was launched in 1954 as the marketing name used for
its petrol stations. In 1985 CFP changed its name to Total CFP, and
in 1991 the company dropped CFP from its name. In 1999 TOTAL merged
with Petrofina to become Totalfina, and a year later Totalfina and Elf
merged to become TotalFinaElf. In 2003 the company reverted to being
called simply TOTAL.
In
2003 TOTAL was at the centre of France's largest-ever corporate corruption
scandal. Thirty-seven defendants were put on trial for illegally siphoning
350 million euros (£245m) from Elf in illegal kickbacks. Based on a
seven-year investigation by the French authorities, the trial exposed
that in the early 1990s Elf had been paying millions to French political
parties to buy their support. Bribes were paid to smooth Elf's operations
around the world, ranging from £10 million to the president of Gabon,
right through to £3.2 million to the ex-wife of Elf's former Chairman
to buy her silence about the widespread corruption. Bribes were paid
to several other African leaders, and business and political figures
around the world.
TOTAL
today
TOTAL
is now the world's fourth-largest oil and gas company, ranking only
behind Exxon, BP and Shell. TOTAL operates in more than 130 countries
and has over 110,000 employees. In 2003 Total reported net income (profit)
of £4.8 billion (€7billion). Its chemicals division is also one
of the world's largest chemical companies, with reported sales of €17.3
billion in 2003. 22.
TOTAL
operates a network of almost 16,000 service stations worldwide. Its
exploration and production division has activities in 43 countries with
production in 27 of these countries. It is the largest oil refiner in
Europe, selling 3.7 million barrels of petroleum products per day. 23.
The
company has around 540,000 shareholders. 36% in France, 41% in the rest
of Europe, 21% in the USA, and 2% in the rest of the world. 24.
Total
is the largest company in France, with a market capitalisation of £69bn
(€100bn). 25.
TOTAL
Oil in Burma - a brief history
In
1988, Burma's regime launched a bid for tenders for the development
of the Burmese gas fields. On July 9, 1992, TOTAL signed a contract
for shared production with the State Company, MOGE (Myanmar Oil and
Gas Enterprise) to exploit and develop the Yadana field in the Gulf
of Martaban.
At
first the holder of all the shares in the project, TOTAL then ceded
some of them to various partners – in 1993 to American company,
Unocal (28.26 % of the shares), in 1995 to the Thai company PTT-EP (Petroleum
Authority of Thailand exploration and production public Co. Ltd. 25.5%),
and then in 1997 to the MOGE (15%), maintaining 31.24% of the shares
as operator of the project.
After
tests revealed the presence of significant gas reserves the consortium
signed a thirty-year take-or-pay sales contract with the Petroleum Authority
of Thailand (PTT) in 1995. This meant that PTT were committed contractually
to paying for Yadana gas even if they later found themselves unable
to take it. The gas was contracted to be sold onto EGAT (the Electricity
Generating Authority of Thailand). A pipeline crossing the Tenasserim
region of Burma for a distance of 63 kilometers (about 40 miles) was
built in order to carry the gas to Thailand. A separate company the
Moattama Gas Transportation Company (MGTC) - owned in the same proportionate
amounts by Total, Unocal PTT-EP and MOGE - built both this and the 346-kilometre
sub-sea pipeline bringing the gas from the offshore platform to land.
Today
TOTAL's project 26.
provides significant annual revenue to the regime. Some sources estimate
as much as $450million annually. Whilst TOTAL claims that the Yadana
project provides it with less than 1% of its own overall profits, (although
this is hard to verify due to lack of transparency), it is clear that
the company is one of the regime's main pillars of financial support.
The
TOTAL pipeline has been closely associated with serious human rights
abuses - including forced labour, forced relocation, forced portering
(carrying of munitions), beatings, torture, rape and the use of civilians
as human mine sweepers. 27.
The revenue from the pipeline has also been associated with weapons
purchases by the military. In particular the acquisition of Russian
MIG fighter planes and helicopters.
Despite
this, TOTAL maintains it plays a positive role in Burma – making
the case for constructive engagement with the regime and attempting
to spotlight its humanitarian work in the area of the pipeline. The
company claims to have "concern" for the plight of Aung San
Suu Kyi and the national reconciliation process in Burma. TOTAL is,
however, contractually bound not to engage in any "political activities"
judged unsuitable by the military authorities: "The Contract shall
be terminated in its entirety by MOGE if irrefutable evidence is brought
that (TOTAL) is involved willingly with political activities detrimental
to the Government of the Union of Myanmar". 28.
The
Oil and Gas Journal in April 2003 indicated that the TOTAL-led consortium
is now also involved in a further project in Burma. The consortium has
been working on the development of Sein and Badamyar fields in the Gulf
of Martaban adjacent to the Yadana field and will be drilling wells
at Sein and Badamyar over the next 4-5 years. The $40 million cost of
developing Sein field is said to include a platform and an inter-field
pipeline. 29.
TOTAL's
presence in Burma continues to influence French foreign policy, which
in turn has affected the foreign policy of the EU as a whole towards
Burma. The effect has been a weaker EU Common Position towards Burma's
military dictatorship. It is likely that the French government will
block UN Security Council and EU action on Burma for as long as TOTAL
remains in the country.
Human
Rights Abuses
Securing
the pipeline
After
the oil companies signed contracts with Burma's military in the early
1990s, life changed dramatically for the people inhabiting what's become
known as the pipeline region. In 1991, to "secure" the area
for TOTAL and other foreign oil companies, the entire pipeline region
was militarized; thousands of troops renowned for their extreme brutality
were drafted into an area where the civilian families of farmers, plantation
workers and fishing communities were living. In all, at least 16 battalions
have either been stationed in the area or patrolled the pipeline region
at one time or another since 1991. 30.
TOTAL
and other oil companies active in the pipeline region have long denied
any contractual arrangement with the Burmese military to provide security
for their projects. TOTAL's own website makes this plain: "TOTAL
has...never had a contractual relationship, either direct or indirect,
with the Army, and has not provided it with financial or logistical
support. Neither MGTC (Moattama Gas Transportation Company - responsible
for piping gas from the offshore Yadana production platform to the Thai
border) nor its operator, TOTAL, has ever had any authority over the
Army or given it instructions." 31.
Other
reports, however, dramatically contradict this, suggesting that not
only was security identified as a key concern by the Yadana consortium,
but that it made requests and payment for security services to partner
MOGE, who then deployed the Burmese Army.
The
Production Sharing Contract (PSC) between TOTAL and MOGE signed on 9
July 1992 makes direct reference to the security issue. Under "Rights
And Obligations of MOGE and Contractor" it reads: "MOGE shall:
assist and expedite (TOTAL's) execution of the Work Programme by providing
at cost...security protection and rights of way and easements as may
be requested by (TOTAL)". 32.It
is made explicit (in the PSC contract) that security personnel were
to be ³made available from resources under MOGE's control" 33.
– i.e. the Burmese Army.
A
US Department of State unclassified cable, obtained by the Thailand-based
organisation Earthrights International (ERI), details a 1995 meeting
between US Embassy personnel and Unocal's Manager for Special Projects
Joel Robinson. In this meeting Robinson states that Unocal and TOTAL
did hire and pay the Army for pipeline security through MOGE. He also
admits that the companies not only directed military activities in the
region but also gave the Army responsibility for building helipads for
the project. He states that TOTAL/Unocal foreign staff were not permitted
access to these helipad sites until after they were completed, indicating
that no monitoring of the army's labour practices can have been carried
out in this instance. As improbable as it might seem that a foreign
company would entrust the Burmese military regime with such responsibilities,
given its long and well-known practices of forced labour, forced portering
and violence, but it appears that this is exactly what happened.
"He
stated forthrightly that the companies have hired the Burmese military
to provide security for the project and pay for this through the Myanmar
Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE)." 34.
US
Embassy Cable
"It
would hardly be surprising for the Burmese military to have access to
the company's aerial photos, precision surveys, and topography maps
since TOTAL and Unocal used these to show the military where they need
helipads built and facilities secured." 35.
US
Embassy Cable
A
letter to Unocal dated 1st February 1996 (uncovered by the American
Unocal lawsuit) written by TOTAL's Business Development Manager, Hervé
Chagnoux, also appears to confirm that the companies did employ the
army as security for their project and further suggests that TOTAL accepted
that accusations of forced labour by the troops could not simply be
dismissed:
"As
far as forced labour used by the soldiers in charge of security on our
gas pipeline project is concerned, we must admit between ourselves,
TOTAL and Unocal, that we're probably in a grey area." 36.
Other
statements from TOTAL and its partners, and from soldiers employed to
work on the Yadana project, further suggest that security was provided
by the Army for the benefit of the Consortium. Some statements make
clear that the companies knew only too well what the consequences of
this security arrangement were likely to be:
"Military
presence in the region was reinforced to ensure protection of the area"
37.
Mr.
Thierry Desmarest, TOTAL CEO
"Obviously
the government has told us they will make the area safe." 38.
Herve
Madeo, TOTAL, Director Total Myanmar Exploration Production 1992-1999
"Unless
the area is pacified, the pipeline won't last for its thirty-year duration."
39.
TOTAL
Executive
"All
indirect aid to the army will have to go through MOGE." 40.
Yetagun
project impact assessment, 1996
"The
strategic commander told us we had to take security of the gas pipeline
in June 1993. He said we had to make sure the whole area was safe from
the rebel group because the foreigners are going to come into this area
and start to survey the pipeline very soon." 41.
Soldier
providing security for the pipeline
"[An]
immediate issue for the project is the fact that military security will...have
to be increased or relocated to enable the pipeline to be built. There
is a potential for any continuation of the past harsh policies of the
army to be blamed on companies involved...It is impossible to provide
guarantees...It needs to be recognized that the local people have been
and probably will continue to be subject to heavy levies of money and
food from the military." 42.
Yetagun
project impact assessment, 1996
What
is certain is that security was prioritized for the viability and success
of the project, by the companies involved. Equally certain is that TOTAL
was fully aware of the implications for local people of importing a
heavy military presence into the area. Again their own website confirms
this: "TOTAL was well aware that the Army's presence in the region
could have negative consequences for villages in the area.43.
Although the heightened Army presence provided some reassurance for
the construction team as far as security was concerned, it was aware
of the burden that the troops' presence might put on the villages near
the pipeline." 44.
Given
the company's knowledge of the consequences of militarisation, the evidence
that TOTAL/Unocal made requests and payments to MOGE for security provided,
and the fact that the company itself stresses in its own materials the
need to ensure ³that the security measures implemented do not negatively
impact the local population², 45.
it is clear that TOTAL must bear responsibility for the terrible consequences
of militarisation for the people of the pipeline region in Burma.
The
consequences of militarisation
As
a direct consequence of the militarisation of the pipeline region countless
human rights violations against the local population have occurred over
the years. First hand testimony from victims, witnesses and army defectors
from the area testify to a litany of abuses including forced labour,
forced relocation, torture and rape carried out by pipeline security
troops - some of which have become known to local communities as the
"TOTAL battalions" (Light Infantry brigades 273 and 282 who
set up barracks around 1995-1996).
Forced
Labour
The
accusation that the Yadana project has benefited from the heavy use
of forced labour by Burmese citizens, including children, the elderly,
and the infirm is well-documented. There are countless reports that
Burmese soldiers in the pipeline region conscripted thousands of civilians
to perform forced labour for the benefit of the pipeline. As onshore
work commenced, the military directed the construction of service roads
and helipads, as well as their own camps and barracks, through the use
of forced labour.
Typically
the army called on village heads to send forced labourers on a rotational
basis. Each group coming for one to two weeks leaving only when a replacement
group arrived. Hundreds of acres of land were cleared, bamboo and trees
cut down, stumps dug out and ground levelled. Villagers dug wells and
trenches, built fences, cut thatch and made posts and boards to build
barracks. Villagers had to supply their own shelter in which to sleep
during conscription and their own food and water. They worked through
the heat of the day under threat of punishment and ill treatment. Testimonials
from villagers paint a grim picture:
"They
did not give us any food...they even did not allow us to make huts for
ourselves. Most of us used plastic sheets or sacks for our beds so many
got malaria, colds and coughs...We had about 10 people who were 60 to
70 years oldŠif you had headache, coughing, cold and a little fever
they did not let us take a rest." 46.
Villager
from the pipeline region
"For
three weeks we had to dig the mound with only seven people...At that
time we were beaten by soldiers...(Because the soldiers thought we were
not working, they) called all of us and punished us... (T)hey asked
us to jump like frogs." 47.
Villager
from the pipeline region
"They
kicked us when we did not have enough strength to take out the stumps.
At that time I wanted to take revenge against them in my heart, but
I dared not." 48.
Villager
from the pipeline region
"The
mountain (on Heinze Island) that we had to carry sand up had 345 steps.
When we were carrying the sand I saw a teenager from Paung Htaw village
take a break to eat during the work, and he was beaten four times."
49.
Villager
from the pipeline region
Forced
labour also included the widespread practice of forced "portering,"
by which villagers were forced not only to carry heavy loads - arms
and supplies for soldiers patrolling the pipeline route - but also in
extreme cases to act as human minesweepers:
"In
2001, I had to go porter about ten times. Most of the portering we did
was for battalion 282 and battalion 273. They are patrolling for pipeline
security, and we had to carry their food and supplies whenever they
needed us."50.
Villager
from the pipeline region
"When
he came [home], he had lost his left eye, and his arms and legs were
wounded and swollen. His back was bruised and swollen severely. I saw
the scar from the rope on both of his arms and legs." 51.
Villager
from the pipeline region
"Before
our village was relocated, the soldiers killed many villagers in my
village. Even though they were civilians, the soldiers did not trust
them, so they were killed. One person from every house had to go to
clear mines. The villagers had to go all over the place to find out
whether the land mines were set up or not. We were very frightened of
the land mines." 52.
Villager
from the pipeline region
"When
we were patrolling for the safety of the pipeline, we always used the
villagers as porters. Even in one company, we separated into many groups
to split up all over the area that we had to take responsibility for
securing the project. Therefore we needed the villagers to porter. Each
separate group took six or seven porters."53.
Soldier
providing security for the pipeline
"When
I saw the porters working very hard, and they were yelled at by the
sergeants I wondered, ³why didn't the foreigners use equipment or vehicles
to make their heliports, so the civilians and the soldiers would not
be tired or suffer from that?" 54.
Soldier
providing security for the pipeline
That
TOTAL was aware of forced labour in the vicinity of the pipeline is
absolutely clear. However the company has consistently played down both
the frequency of occurrence and the link with their project: "Certain
incidents" they grudgingly admit on their website "may have
escaped TOTAL's attention in the very early phases of the project".
55.
"I
know that in the early days of the execution of this project, military
units in the area of the project were using conscripted labor."
56.
John
Imle, former President of Unocal
"What
I know is that in the very early stages of the project, in the very
first months, we learnt about the use of forced labor by the army..
and we decided voluntarily to pay the people who had been conscripted."
57.
Michel
Viallard, head of TOTAL Myanmar
"Military
housing and local infrastructure is provided by underpaid or unpaid
labour. The harsh conditions of those carrying out such labour—including
young children—and the testimony of local people who will go to
extremes to avoid it, belie the government claim that such work is voluntary."
58.
Yetagun
project impact assessment, 1996
However,
a French parliamentary mission in 1999 investigating evidence of abuse
in the pipeline region points to TOTAL's integral role in fostering
the use of forced labour and other abuses: "the link between the
military presence, the acts of violence against the populations and
the forced labour is established as a fact. TOTAL had to be aware of
that". 59.
United States courts have also registered sufficient evidence to show
that forced labour and other abuses occurred in the construction of
the Yadana pipeline. According to the 2000 District Court opinion in
Doe v. Unocal Corp: "Unocal knew that the military had a record
of committing human rights abuses; that the project hired the military
to provide security for the Project; that the military, while forcing
villagers to work and relocate, committed numerous acts of violence;
and that Unocal knew or should have known that the military did commit,
was committing, and would continue to commit these tortuous acts."
60.
Forced
Relocation
As
a key part of the effort to secure the pipeline region for TOTAL and
other oil companies villages had to be moved. Through early 1993 Karen
communities that lay east of the Ye-Tavoy road were particularly targeted
for relocation to create a secure region for the pipelines. Karen villages
15 to 20 miles both north and south of the pipeline routes were forced
to move to the Ye-Tavoy road - closer to military outposts - to create
a labour pool and eliminate threats from armed ethnic groups. This relocation
area became the pipeline region and the timing of the relocations coincided
with the negotiation of the pipeline deals and an attack on Nat-E-Taung
in late 1991. The pattern of relocations further suggests that the impending
pipelines were related directly to the relocations and gave the regime
further pretext to control the population in this particular area. 61.
Bullets enclosed with written relocation orders were sometimes sent
to village heads as a stark symbol of what would happen to those who
refused to leave. Villagers were not compensated for their losses.
The
relocations and evictions devastated communities. Those who did not
flee to Thailand or escape into the jungle have since endured routine
and systematic forced labour and a life defined by fear.
The
companies active in the pipeline region have consistently denied that
any relocations took place for the benefit of their projects. Reports
from villagers consistently contradict this denial. The US Department
of Labour reported in 1998 that "in preparation for clearing the
pipeline route...on a recent visit to the pipeline (a US Embassy) officer
was told by villagers that relocations did occur." 62.
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), the major purchaser
of Yadana gas, has also publicly acknowledged that people were relocated
to facilitate pipeline construction. A half-page advertisement in the
Bangkok post on April 17, 1995, paid for by EGAT, unequivocally confirms
this:
"The
Myanmar government aims to complete its part of the gas pipeline system
by 1996. The pipeline will pass through Karen villages in Laydoozoo
district, Mergui-Tavoy province and in Mon villages, Ye-Tawai province.
Myanmar has recently cleared the way by relocating a total of 11 Karen
villages that would otherwise obstruct the passage of the gas resource
development project." 63.
Further
abuses
In
addition to rampant forced labour and relocations, abuses such as extrajudicial
killings, torture, rape and extortion by pipeline security forces dramatically
increased after the Yadana Project began. Documentation of human rights
abuses in the pipeline region has been rigorous. Since 1995, EarthRights
International (ERI) field staff have collected first hand testimonies
from several hundred victims, witnesses and army defectors interviewed
from the pipeline region. The testimony of villagers who have encountered
pipeline security forces and from soldiers themselves is compelling:
"[O]n
the way back from the video shop, four men wearing uniforms grabbed
[a woman] and took her to the side of the road. And these four men covered
her face with clothes and stripped her and rapidly raped her one by
one.² 64.
Villager
from the pipeline region
"They
killed my brother.... He had seven children. He was 28 years old. He
also owned land and was a farmer. He was not rich or poor, just average....
[The military] ordered him to come, but he did not know why. They told
him to come with the village headman, and two others. At that time,
my husband and I were on the farm. And we heard the sound of automatic
gunfire.... He was a normal villager, just working very hard for his
family." 65.
Villager
from the pipeline region
Amnesty
International released a report in June 2001 documenting serious human
rights abuses committed by at least two Light Infantry Battalions (LIBs)
who have regularly provided pipeline security (LIB 273 and 282) and
are known locally as the TOTAL battalions. Amnesty reports the testimony
of one villager abused by ten soldiers from LIB 273:
"I
was tied with a rope...beaten on my back, hit with a rifle butt and
cane stick...I was forced to lie on my stomach while they put two wooden
rods on my back while a soldier stood on each side of the rods. They
dug a hole and put me in it... I was kept under the hot sun all day."
66.
Inadequate
safeguards