Unocal becomes 1st to stand trial for rights abuses<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Los Angeles<\/p>\n
Oil giant Unocal on Tuesday became the first U.S. firm to
\nstand trial in the United States for alleged human rights abuses
\nabroad, in a case centered on the building of a gas pipeline in
\nMyanmar.<\/p>\n
Myanmar villagers have sued the California-based oil titan
\nclaiming it was complicity in human rights abuses by the
\nSoutheast Asian country's brutal military junta, including forced
\nlabor, rape and torture.<\/p>\n
The trial in Los Angeles stems from two lawsuits filed by up
\nto 15 unidentified villagers from the nation formerly known as
\nBurma over the construction of the 62-kilometer (39-mile) Yadana
\nnatural gas pipeline.<\/p>\n
The villagers claim in their seven-year-old lawsuit that
\nUnocal turned a blind eye as junta troops murdered, raped and
\nenslaved villagers and forced them to work on the US$1.2 billion
\npipeline in the 1990s.<\/p>\n
\"Burmese soldiers enforced a system of slave labor and
\ncommitted horrible acts of violence on Unocal's behalf,\" said
\nTerry Collingsworth, executive director of the International
\nLabor Rights Fund, which represents some of the villagers.<\/p>\n
Unocal, which did not directly operate the field that was
\nowned by the Myanmar government, strongly denies any involvement
\nin abuses.<\/p>\n
The case centers on the construction of the much-disputed
\npipeline, built by Unocal and partners including France's Total,
\nto carry natural gas from Myanmar to neighboring Thailand.<\/p>\n
The villagers are suing for unspecified damages alleging that
\nUnocal benefited from use by the Yangon junta of forced labor and
\nits soldiers' use of murder and rape, even if it did not agree
\nwith the abuses.<\/p>\n
At issue in the first part of the complex trial is whether
\nUnocal can be held liable for the conduct of its subsidiaries
\nwhich invested in the pipeline.<\/p>\n
Daniel Petrocelli, Unocal's lead lawyer, said California's
\n\"alter-ego doctrine\" bars plaintiffs from trying to tap a parent
\ncorporation if a subsidiary has valuable assets of its own.<\/p>\n
\"The whole case boils down to one point: If the subs
\n(subsidiaries) can pay, the case goes away,\" he told a crowded
\ncourtroom in opening arguments.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/unocal-becomes-1st-to-stand-trial-for-rights-abuses-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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