case of Unocal Burma
Case of Unocal Burma
A landmark case
The Unocal case is a breakthrough for foreigners trying to sue multinational corporations for their alleged collaboration with repressive regimes in human rights abuses. Work in progress at the Yadana pipeline project ... modern equivalent of slavery?
Unocal Corporation, the California-based giant gas-and-petroleum corporation, will face trial in a United States court on charges of forced labour of Burmese people to build the $1.2 billion Yadana Gas Pipeline Project in southern Burma.
On September 18 last year(2012), a panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena reversed a previous Federal District Court decision and allowed the groundbreaking human rights lawsuit against Unocal to go forward. In the Doe v. Unocal case, 11 Burmese villagers are suing Unocal for human rights abuses including rape, forced labour and murder during the building of the Yadana gas pipeline project in Burma.
"This is a landmark decision," said Richard L. Herz, an attorney with the non-profit group EarthRights International (ERI), co-counsel in the lawsuit. "In recognising that corporations that aid and abet egregious human rights abuses can be held accountable, the Ninth Circuit has affirmed that U.S. corporations cannot violate international human rights with impunity." The decision said that plaintiffs need only demonstrate that Unocal knowingly assisted the military in the perpetration of the abuses, and that they had done so. The court also found that forced labour such as that employed by the Burmese military on behalf of the Unocal pipeline is the "modern equivalent of slavery".
The ruling stated, "The evidence supports the conclusion that Unocal gave `practical assistance' to the Myanmar Military in subjecting Plaintiffs to these acts of murder and rape. Thus, because Unocal knew that acts of violence would probably be committed, it became liable as an aider and abettor when such acts of violence, — specifically,
A landmark case
The Unocal case is a breakthrough for foreigners trying to sue multinational corporations for their alleged collaboration with repressive regimes in human rights abuses. Work in progress at the Yadana pipeline project ... modern equivalent of slavery?
Unocal Corporation, the California-based giant gas-and-petroleum corporation, will face trial in a United States court on charges of forced labour of Burmese people to build the $1.2 billion Yadana Gas Pipeline Project in southern Burma.
On September 18 last year(2012), a panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena reversed a previous Federal District Court decision and allowed the groundbreaking human rights lawsuit against Unocal to go forward. In the Doe v. Unocal case, 11 Burmese villagers are suing Unocal for human rights abuses including rape, forced labour and murder during the building of the Yadana gas pipeline project in Burma.
"This is a landmark decision," said Richard L. Herz, an attorney with the non-profit group EarthRights International (ERI), co-counsel in the lawsuit. "In recognising that corporations that aid and abet egregious human rights abuses can be held accountable, the Ninth Circuit has affirmed that U.S. corporations cannot violate international human rights with impunity." The decision said that plaintiffs need only demonstrate that Unocal knowingly assisted the military in the perpetration of the abuses, and that they had done so. The court also found that forced labour such as that employed by the Burmese military on behalf of the Unocal pipeline is the "modern equivalent of slavery".
The ruling stated, "The evidence supports the conclusion that Unocal gave `practical assistance' to the Myanmar Military in subjecting Plaintiffs to these acts of murder and rape. Thus, because Unocal knew that acts of violence would probably be committed, it became liable as an aider and abettor when such acts of violence, — specifically,