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Global Call to Action against the Shwe Gas Project in Burma

sara | 30.09.2005 16:21

October 14, 2005, has been called as the International Day of Action against the Shwe Gas Project for their actions in western Burma.

October 14, 2005, International Day of Action

Global Call to Action against the Shwe Gas Project in Burma

Demonstrate your democratic rights on October 14 so that others may someday demonstrate theirs

On October 14, 2005 join thousands of activists from around the world to stand up for human rights and environmental protection by protesting the Shwe Gas Pipeline in western Burma. Human rights activists in major cities around the world will gather at local South Korean Embassies and Daewoo Offices to protest the Shwe gas Pipeline:

Why Should You Oppose the Shwe Gas Pipeline?

The construction of the Shwe gas pipeline in western Burma is disastrous for the people of Arakan State in western Burma in particular, but also all Burmese people, for two main reasons:

1) The construction of the Shwe gas pipeline will involve a legion of severe human rights abuses, including forced labor, land confiscation, and forced and uncompensated relocation of entire communities living along the proposed overland pipeline route, as well as violence such as rape, torture and murder.

2) The Shwe gas pipeline is potentially the single largest source of revenue for the Burmese military government, which annually spends upwards of forty percent of their budget arming a military that devastates the lives and livelihoods of Burmese people.

October 14, the International Day of Action:

October 14 is The International Day of Action on the Shwe pipeline. It is an opportunity to stand in solidarity with victims of severe human rights abuses and environmental destruction and to tell Daewoo International and the governments of South Korea and India that their involvement with the government of Burma in the Shwe Gas Project will perpetuate severe environmental and human rights abuses against the people of Burma.

On this date, October 14, there will be direct actions in various cities in the United States, South Korea, Japan, Bangladesh, India, Thailand, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Activists in these respective locations will gather at their local South Korean Embassy and Daewoo International Offices in protest of the Shwe gas project.

Background on the Shwe Gas Pipeline:

In August 2000 the Korean based company Daewoo International became contractual partners with the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), a subsidiary of the notoriously repressive and brutal Burmese military government. Four years later, in 2004, the Korean company Daewoo announced that they had discovered a “world class commercial scale gas deposit” off the west coast of Burma in the Bay of Bengal, valued between 19-26 billion US dollars. This gas will be sold to India. The major partners include Daewoo International, the governments of South Korea, India and Burma. These parties are now negotiating the construction of the Shwe gas pipeline, which will carry that newly discovered natural gas in an overland pipeline from the West coast of Burma to India to cater to India’s growing energy needs.

Who is Responsible?

In their partnership with the Burmese military government on this project, Daewoo International, the governments of South Korea and India and financing bodies are all working against the interests of democracy, human rights, and environmental protection for the oppressed people of Burma, especially those of Arakan State in western Burma. Any government, company or financial institution involved in the project will be responsible for perpetuating the severe environmental and human rights abuses that the people of Burma suffer under authoritarian rule and will suffer as a result of this gas project.

A Painful History:

Severe environmental and human rights abuses associated with the construction of pipelines in Burma are not new. In the early 1990s the Burmese government partnered with the US company UNOCAL and Total of France to construct the Yadana and Yetagun pipelines through Southern Burma. This large project had disastrous affects on local Burmese people, as it led to increased militarization and systematic human rights abuses by the Burmese military: forced labor was widely used along the pipeline route to build access roads, helipads and military barracks; land was confiscated from local farmers; entire communities were forcibly relocated; and the Burmese soldiers committed rape, torture and extrajudicial killings in the pipeline area. (see EarthRights International web article Another Yadana)

All of these systematic violations continue to this day.

A Glimmer of Hope:

In an unprecedented victory for human rights and the suffering people of Burma, the US oil company Unocal recently agreed to compensate Burmese villagers who sued the firm in US Courts for complicity in forced labor, rape and murder. This victory hinged on the fact that there was clear evidence that Unocal knew that the military government held a poor human rights record prior to joining the energy project, thus making them complicit in the egregious abuses directly associated with the project.

The Shwe Gas Movement believes that the regime’s partners in the Shwe project also have full knowledge of the Burmese military regimes’ ongoing human rights abuses and demonstrated reputation for brutality. Their direct partnership with the notoriously repressive Burmese government will not go unnoticed.

What Can You Do?

- Demonstrate in front of your local South Korea Embassy/Consulate and Daewoo International offices on October 14th (find addresses below).
- Contact Daewoo International Offices and the South Korean Embassy/Consulate (find contact information below, including e-mail addresses)
- Collect letters, postcards or petition signatures and send them to Daewoo International offices and the S. Korean Embassy/Consulate.
- Hold roundtable talks, meetings or letter writing parties to take future action against Daewoo International.
- And connect with a contact from the below list:

USA
Kenny Bruno, EarthRights International (Wash, D.C.)
www.earthrights.org ;  kenny@earthrights.org

Edith Mirante, Project Maje
 maje@hevanet.com

South Korea
Mikyung Choe, Korean House for International Solidarity
 http://khis.or.kr/ khis21@empal.com

Thailand
Nyi Nyi Lwin, Arakan National Council (ANC)
 nyinyilwin8@yahoo.com

Wong Aung, All Arakan Students' and Youth's Congress (AASYC)
 aasyc_hq@gmail.com,  wongaung@yahoo.com

EarthRights International (Southeast Asia)
www.earthrights.org
 infoasia@earthrights.org

Bangladesh
All Arakan Student and Youth Congress (ASSYC)
 aasyc@yahoo.com

Arakan National Committee (ANC)
 anc_bd@yahoo.com

United Kingdom
Maung Maung
 maungkhinemonnzan@yahoo.co.uk

Ray Kyaw Thu
 yekyaw1975@yahoo.co.uk

India
Burma Campaign India
 burmacampaign_india@yahoo.com

The Netherlands
Nyi Nyi Htay
 nyinyihtwe96@yahoo.com

Japan
Hla Aye Maung
 danya_thurein@yahoo.com

For more information online, see:

www.shwe.org
www.earthrights.org

For detailed Contact Information for Korean Embassies and Daewoo International Offices, see below:

Korean Embassies
Korean Embassy in Bangledesh
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
4 Madani Avenue Baridhara,
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Tel : (880-2) 881-2088
Fax : (880-2) 882-3871

Korean Embassy in Belgium
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
haussee de la Hulpe 173-175, 1170
Brussels, Belgium
Tel : (32-2) 675-5777
Fax : (32-2) 675-5221

Korean Embassy in Canada
 http://www.emb-korea.ottawa.on.ca
150 Boteler Street,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 5A6, Canada
Tel : (1-613) 244-5010
Fax : (1-613) 244-5034

Korean Embassy in Denmark
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
Svanem llevej 104,
2900 Hellerup, Denmark
Tel : (45) 3946-0400
Fax : (45) 3946-0422

Korean Embassy in France
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
125 rue de Grenelle,
75007 Paris, France
Tel : (33-1) 4753-0101
Fax : (33-1) 4753-0041

Korean Embassy in Germany
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
Schoeneberger Ufer 89-91,
10785 Berlin, Germany
Tel : (49-30) 26065-0
Fax : (49-30) 26065-51

Korean Embassy in The Netherlands
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
Verlengde Tolweg 8, 2517 JV,
The Hague, The Netherlands
Tel. No.(31-70) 358-6076
Fax No.(31-70) 350-4712

Korean Embassy in New Zealand
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
11th Floor, ASB Bank Tower, 2 Hunter Street, Wellington, New Zealand
Tel. No.(64-4) 473-9073
Fax No.(64-4) 472-3865

Korean Embassy in Norway
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
nkognitogaten 3, 0244
Oslo, Norway
Tel. No.(47) 22552018
Fax No.(47) 22561411

Korean Embassy in South Africa
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
Greenpark Estates Bldg. #3, 27 George Storrar Drive, Groenkloof
Pretoria, South Africa
Tel. No.(27-12) 460-2508
Fax No.(27-12) 460-1158

Korean Embassy in Sweden
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
Laboratoriegatan 10, 115 27
Stockholm, Sweden
Tel. No.(46-8) 660-0330
Fax No.(46-8) 660-2818

Korean Embassy in United Kingdom
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
0 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6AJ,
United Kingdom
Tel. No. (44-20) 7227-5500
Fax No.(44-20) 7227-5503

Korean Embassy in India
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
9, Chandragupta Marg, Chanakyapuri Extension, New Delhi-110021, India
Tel : (91-11) 688-5412
Fax : (91-11) 688-4840

Korean Embassy in Japan
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
1-2-5, Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku
Tokyo, Japan
Tel : (81-3) 3452-7611
Fax : (81-3) 5476-3212

Daewoo International Offices
Daewoo International New Jersey
85 Challenger Road
Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660-2114
Tel: 1-201-229-4500
Fax: 1-201-229-4538
 ynma@dwa.daewoo.com

Daewoo International Corp.
Talcahuano 833, Piso 7 - F
(C1013AAQ) Cap. Fed. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tel: 54-11)4816-3201
Fax: 54-11)4815-1158
 stkim@daewoo.com.ar

Daewoo Italia S.r.l. (Milano)
Centro Direzionale Colleoni Palazzo Liocorno (A3) Via Paracelso 6
20041 Agrate Brianza (MI), Italia
Daewoo Int’l London Branch Office (London)
10th Floor CI Tower ST.Georges Square,
New Malden, Surrey KT3 4HH, United Kingdom
Tel: 44-208-336-9131~3
Fax: 44-208-949-3783
 iplee@daewoo.co.uk

Daewoo Int’l (Deutchland) GmbH
Im Atzelnest 3, 61352 Bad Homburg
Postfach 1325, Germany
Tel: 49-6172-27959~0
Fax: 49-6172-27959-99
 kwchang@daewoo-intl.de

Daewoo Int'l(Japan) Corp.Osaka Br.
NIHON SEIMEI YODOYABASHI BLDG, 8Th Fl.
5-29, 3-Chome, KITAHAMA, CHUO-KU, Osaka, 541-0041 Japan
Tel: 81-6-6222-0848~9
Fax: 81-6-6222-0865
 khlee@daewoo.co.jp

Daewoo Int'l(Japan)Corp. Nagoya Branch
6F,NAGOYA HIROKOJI Bldg 3-1,SAKAE 2CHOME, NAKA-KU.
Nagoya, 460-0008 Japan
Tel: 81-52-222-3717
Fax: 81-52-222-3719
 ktyoon@daewoo.co.jp

Daewoo Int'l(Japan) Corp.Osaka Br.
NIHON SEIMEI YODOYABASHI BLDG, 8Th Fl.
5-29, 3-Chome, KITAHAMA, CHUO-KU, Osaka, 541-0041 Japan
Tel: 81-6-6222-0848~9
Fax: 81-6-6222-0865
 khlee@daewoo.co.jp

Daewoo Int'l(Japan)Corp. Nagoya Branch
6F,NAGOYA HIROKOJI Bldg 3-1,SAKAE 2CHOME, NAKA-KU.
Nagoya, 460-0008 Japan
Tel: 81-52-222-3717
Fax: 81-52-222-3719
 ktyoon@daewoo.co.jp

Daewoo International Corp. Australia Representative Office
Suite 2 Level 4, 621 Pacific Highway St. Leonards,
NSW 2065 Australia
Tel: 61-2-9906-7355
Fax: 61-2-9906-7588
 cipark@daewoo.com

Daewoo (Bangladesh) Co. Ltd.
BRAC Center(7 th Floor) 75, Mohakhali C/A, Dhaka-1212.
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Tel: 880-2-9881316-21,9882174
Fax: 880-2-882984, 9882173
 mkcho@bdmail.net

Daewoo Int’l Corporation
UNIT 1901-1902, M.Thai Tower, All Seasons Place,
87 Wireless Road,
Lumpini, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330,Thailand
Tel: 66-2-654-0124~8
Fax: 66-2-654-0129
 csnam@daewoothailand.com

Daewoo (M) Sdn Bhd (Kuala Lumpur)
Suite 308, 3rd Floor,Kenanga International, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: 60-3-2161-8033
Fax: 60-3-2161-5790
 tjeong@daewoo-kl.com.my

Daewoo Int’l Corp. New Delhi Office
4/6, First Floor,
Sirifort Institutional Area,New Delhi-110049, India
Tel: 91-11-649-8201~3
Fax: 91-11-649-5387, 4792
 park@daewooi.com





sara