Yesterday, an activist phoned the Lister Lutyens timber company from Eastbourne in East Sussex, to request a reply to his questions on the company's business links to the Burmese military dictatorship. It appears that the flustered secretary assumed he was a Greenpeace activist, and let it slip that 'I assure you our management are in negotiations with Greenpeace right now'. The activist was not of course allowed to speak to the manager, who 'could not take such calls', but on following up the Greenpeace connection with a phonecall he discovered that as well as being in the Burma Campaign UK's bad books, Lister Lutyens is also being targeted by Greenpeace's Ancient Forests Campaign. Greenpeace demonstrates that garden furniture timber imports are devastating the world's remaining rainforests and the intricate plant/ animal biome that this supports. Information on this campaign is available online at:

 http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/forests/

Therefore, this news provides an excellent opportunity for south coast human rights and environmental groups to co-organise and apply pressure together!

Lister Lutyens is unethically engaged in the business of importing timber from Burma (Myanmar). The military junta in power there continues to deny the people of Burma their democratically elected government since 1990, led by Aung San Suu Kyi with 82% of the vote. Burma is ruled by perhaps the most brutal military dictatorship in the world. International human rights organisations like Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly condemned the junta's widespread use of illegal detentions, torture, ethnic cleansing, mass rape/ murder, and forced labour.

Suu Kyi requests that western companies should not allow the junta in Burma the legitimacy of investment until democracy and basic human rights are restored. Lister Lutyens is one of a minority of UK companies who continue to invest regardless. While Lister Lutyens do admit their timber business in Burma, they do not like to be questioned about it, and try to avoid engaging the public in any relevant debate about the issue. I appeal to activists on the south coast to apply pressure until they do.

Write or phone expressing your concern to:

Nick Mottershead
Joint Managing Director
Lister Lutyens Co Ltd
6 Alder Close
Eastbourne
East Sussex BN23 6QF
01323 431177
 sales@listerteak.com

And follow this up with a public information letter to:

Peter Lindsey
Group Editor
Eastbourne Herald
Beckett House
1 Commercial Road
Eastbourne BN21 3XQ
01323 722091
 http://www.eastbournetoday.co.uk/contactus.aspx

For more information on the Burma Campaign UK and other companies investing in Burma (including the Let's Go and Lonely Planet backpacker tour guides!), go to:

 http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk