Humanitarian Aid for Burma

As a consequence of my failure to blog for a week, I haven't been posting on the situation in Burma. If you want to make a difference in this oppressed country, visit Ten Percent and see what you can do.

Burma - Another Reason to Hate Chevron

As if the situation in Ecuador wasn't enough. This from The Guardian:

A human rights watchdog group on Tuesday accused Chevron Corp of complicity in human rights abuses along a natural gas pipeline in Myanmar in which it holds a stake and said Chevron could be sued.

EarthRights International claimed in a report issued on Tuesday that Myanmar's army has in recent years committed serious abuses including rape and murder while providing security for the pipeline that moves gas from the Yadana gas field, located offshore in the Andaman Sea.

The group also said the army has forced Burmese citizens to build sentry posts, perform security duties along the pipeline and maintain roads.

"The people of Burma are making the pipeline go through their own physical energy, their blood, their sweat and their tears," Katie Redford, U.S. office director of EarthRights, said in an interview.

"That's what 'Human Energy' means in Burma," Redford said, referring to Chevron's current advertising campaign, which aims to improve the company's image on environmental and social issues.

Mmm, another human rights abuse for William Haynes to get his teeth into. Still, he has plenty of experience, doesn't he?

You can read more about the report on the Yadana pipeline here.

Email UN Secretary To Put Pressure on Burma

Taken from The Burma Campaign:

Ban Ki-moon – Go To Burma!

Email UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon now calling on him to go to Burma.

On Monday 10th March the UN Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, left Burma empty handed after the regime rejected every proposal he made for restoring democracy in Burma.

It was the 35th visit to Burma by a UN envoy in the past 18 years, and there has not been a single reform to show for any of them. In fact, the human rights situation has got much worse.

It is time the UN woke up to the fact that this regime has been lying to UN envoys for almost two decades. It does not want reform and it is not interested in democracy.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should take over the process. He should have the backing of a binding Security Council resolution, which under international law will force the regime to reform.

[Email template here]

Corporate Pressure Yielding Results in Burma

First, some good news regarding Burma. It would appear that some of the pressure on companies who invest in Burma is starting to pay off. This from the Burma Campaign website:

UK Timber firms start to pull out of Burma

30 Sep 2007

The Burma Campaign UK today warmly welcomed announcements by Timbmet and K J Howells and Son that they will no longer sell teak from Burma. Timber exports are a major source of revenue for the regime in Burma.

Both companies have featured on a ‘Dirty List’ of companies directly or indirectly funding the regime in Burma. http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/dirty_list/dirty_list.php

In an email to the Burma Campaign, K J Howells stated: “In light of the recent brutal treatment of the Burmese people by the military, we have made the decision to end all ties with suppliers of Burmese products, and will not place any further orders until a democratic government is put in place. I have contacted my primary supplier, who has also announced their withdrawal of ties with Burma, and we are now together looking at alternative sources.”

“We warmly welcome the withdrawal of these companies,” said Mark Farmaner, Acting Director of the Burma Campaign UK. “Companies buying teak from the regime are helping to pay for the bullets being used on the streets of Burma. We call on all timber companies to stop selling Burmese teak.”

Timbmet will phase out imports of Burma teak by the end of the year. K J Howells will make no further purchases of Burmese teak. Both companies have been removed from the ‘Dirty List’.

For more information contact Mark Farmaner on 02073244713.

Good news indeed. Perhaps other timber firms that invest in Burma might like to take this into account. I would strongly recommend emailing other timber merchants who rely on Burmese timber and informing them of the stance some of their competitors have taken. It might just increase the pressure.

It has also emerged that there will be an International Bloggers' Day for Burma on the 4th October. To find out how you can play a part, visit the 'Free Burma!' site here. So far, 463 people have signed up to take part in the action. Get the message out there. Tell as many people as possible about the situation in Burma. The monks need our support and we need to keep the pressure up on our establishment to ensure that they keep the pressure on the military junta.