Unocal Settles Human Rights Suit Over Alleged Abuse at Myanmar Pipeline

[DeepModem Mom]

Los Angeles Times:
Unocal Settles Human Rights Lawsuit Over Alleged Abuses at Myanmar Pipeline
A deal ends a landmark case brought by villagers who said soldiers committed atrocities.

By Marc Lifsher, Times Staff Writer


Unocal Corp. settled a landmark human rights lawsuit Monday that accused the El Segundo-based energy company of being responsible for forced labor, rapes and a murder allegedly carried out by soldiers along a natural gas pipeline route in Myanmar.

The suit, filed on behalf of 15 Myanmar villagers in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1996, is the furthest along of about three dozen cases that charge corporations in U.S. courts for alleged crimes that took place in other countries in violation of international treaties. Its outcome was being closely watched both in the U.S. and abroad....

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The Unocal case, brought under the U.S. Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789, alleged that the company knew or should have known that the Myanmar army committed human rights abuses while providing security for the $1.2-billion pipeline project in the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma.

Monetary terms of the settlement weren't made public. However, a statement released by both sides said the agreement would provide compensation for the villagers and provide money "to develop programs to improve living conditions, healthcare and education and protect the rights of people from the pipeline region." The final settlement followed the general outlines of a tentative agreement reached in December.

Unocal's decision to settle indicates that the company "wanted to avoid a trial where humble villagers get on the stand and talk about rape and murder," said Robert Benson, a Loyola Law School professor who specializes in international human rights law....


http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-unocal22mar22,0,7383710.story?coll=la-home-business

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1. A defeat for Bushco

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The settlement bolsters other Alien Tort Claims Act cases, he said, and "signals to corporations that this law is applicable to them, and they are going to face major litigation."

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Business lobbying groups contend that cases dealing with overseas disputes don't belong in U.S. courts. The Bush administration maintains that the lawsuits make it difficult to conduct foreign policy.

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"What this settlement does is start setting the parameters of what's acceptable and not acceptable conduct for a company doing business abroad," he said. "This is one more piece of the puzzle."

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