U. Virginia examines investments in Unocal
By Justin Bernick & Ben Sellers
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Oct 03, 2001 (Cavalier Daily, U-WIRE via COMTEX) -- Unocal, a large energy resource development company now in the middle of a hotUniversity of Virginia debate regarding its business in Burma, continues to deny any alleged misconduct in its dealings with the military-led nation.The California-based company absolutely has not engaged in any form of misconduct, Unocal spokesman Barry Lane said.
Burma, a small country in Southeast Asia wedged between Bangladesh and Thailand,has been the recent subject of intense international and local controversy. The nation's government, which can be categorized as a repressive "military regime" with a poor humanitarian record, overturned democratic elections in 1990,according to the CIA.
Although Unocal has not denied the Burmese government is repressive, the company itself has "totally adhered to Western labor standards," Lane said.
Smaller than Texas, Burma relies on natural gas as one of its chief resources.The country began developing its resource, discovered in the early 1990s, with the formation of the Moattama Gas Transportation Company.
University of Virginia's role
The University currently owns about $1.5 million worth -- or roughly 0.02 percent -- of Unocal stock, said Alice Handy, president of the University of Virginia Investment Management Company.The University has "external managers to make the decisions on what companies to invest in," she said, and "right now we have stock in a U.S. company that just happens to be involved in Burma."
Unocal now is valued at more than $8.1 billion, Lane said, which is equivalent to "254 million shares at approximately $32 and change." Unocal, in turn, owns 28.4 percent of the $1 billion Moattama Gas Transportation Company. Unocal is one of four investors in the Moattama Gas Transportation Company, which include companies from several nations.
A French oil and gas company TotalFinaElf S.A. is the "project builder and operator," with a 31.24 percent interest. Thailand's PTT Exploration & Production Public Co. Ltd., with 25.5 percent interest, and the Burmese state-owned Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise, with 15 percent interest, are the other project investors.
The controversy
In 1996 the Moattama Gas Transportation Company began construction on the Yadana pipeline project in Burma. The pipeline currently is used to carry natural gas from the Yadana gas field, located 43 miles offshore, to Thailand to fuel a major power station operated by the Thai government.
The project involved the placement of 412 kilometers of pipeline, 39 miles of which cross the Burmese mainland. Various international contractors managed the pipeline's construction, and 74 Burmese college graduates operate the Yadana project's operations.
According to Unocal, the project has contributed to "modernization and social change" in the region. Unocal and its partners have been a source of "socioeconomic aid and programs for the Burmese citizens" in the form of hospitals and infrastructure improvements, Lane said.
The other side of the issue
Nationwide objection to the Yadana pipeline project in Burma centers on the human rights atrocities committed by the country's ruling military dictatorship,the State Peace and Development Council.
According to Ka Hsa Wa, director and cofounder of EarthRights International, a human rights and environmental protection organization, military violations include forced slavery, rapes and murders.
The Burmese state-owned Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise receives $150 to $400 million per year from the pipeline project, half of which is used to fund the Burmese army, Wa said.
The army is responsible for relocating several villages, including the village of Mi Chaung Laung, and causing thousands of Burmese people to flee the country,said Katie Redford, co-director of EarthRights and a 1995 graduate of the University Law School."Hundreds of people who have fled Burma have testified" to the atrocities, she said.Unocal, on the other hand, said the idea that villages were relocated is a "common misperception."
Wa said the sentiment of the Burmese people in the pipeline area regarding Unocal is that "if the white people [leave], the military will [leave]."
Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the Burmese National League of Democracy, who led her opposition party to win 82 percent of the Parliament in the nullified 1990 election, has spoken out in support of sanctions on trade with Burma, said Jeremy Woodram, director of the Washington, D.C., branch of the Free Burma Coalition.
The Coalition is a group working to nurture grass-roots support for freedom and democracy in Burma. The U.S. State Department, the Department of Labor and the U.N. Human Rights Commission all have condemned the military regime, Woodram said.
In 1997 former President Bill Clinton imposed sanctions against Burma for its human rights violations, an act that compelled many American businesses to leave Burma. President Bush also has expressed his support for sanctions against Burma.
The campaign, especially on college campuses, "has had a very strong effect inside Burma," Woodram said. "These types of actions at universities do have concrete and real effects."
The verdict
In 1997 a U.S. Federal District court agreed to hear EarthRights International's claims against Unocal in Doe v. Unocal. After three years the court granted Unocal's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the case.
Although the court agreed "Unocal knew that forced labor was being utilized," it said because "there are no facts suggesting that Unocal sought to employ forced or slave labor," there was insufficient evidence to establish liability under international law.The ruling currently is in appeal.
At the University the Board of Visitors announced Tuesday on its October meeting agenda its decision to hear concerns related to a unanimous Student Council resolution regarding the divestment of University assets in Burma.Council will present its position regarding Unocal investments to the Board of Visitors Oct. 19.