Korean Corporations Linked to Human Rights Abuses in Military-Ruled Burma

OECD Complaint Filed Against Daewoo International and Korea Gas Corporation

October 30, 2008, Seoul, South Korea, Chiang Mai, Thailand, and Washington, D.C. - EarthRights International (ERI) filed a complaint yesterday in Seoul to the South Korean National Contact Point (NCP), on behalf of the Shwe Gas Movement (SGM) and nine Korea-based organizations, alleging Daewoo International and the Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) are in breach of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises related to their involvement in a large-scale natural gas development project in military-ruled Burma. Co-complainants include Korea's two largest labor organizations, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and Federations of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU).

EarthRights International claims in the complaint that human rights abuses have been perpetrated against local people opposing Daewoo’s Shwe Gas Project, and that the company’s plans to construct a cross-country, transnational natural gas pipeline to China poses an unreasonably high risk of more serious and widespread human rights and environmental impacts. Daewoo has been in partnership with the Burmese regime since 2000. The pipeline is planned to travel from the Bay of Bengal through western Burma to Kunming, China.

“We’re confident the Government of South Korea will recognize the urgency of this complaint and respond with their commitment to human rights, international law, and to upholding the OECD Guidelines,” said ERI Project Coordinator Matthew Smith. “This is an opportunity for the Government to stop Korean complicity in abuses happening now and to prevent more widespread and severe abuses from happening in the future.”

The complaint calls on the companies and the Korean government to postpone the project. It details allegations that Daewoo International and KOGAS – a state-controlled firm - are currently and potentially in breach of at least six OECD Guidelines by failing to respect human rights, contributing to forced labour, failing to promote sustainable development, failing to disclose information about the project, failing to consult with local populations, and by failing to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) according to international standards.

"Local people in Burma have been detained and forced into hiding for opposing this project and for exercising their basic human rights - Daewoo needs to stop this project," said Wong Aung, Coordinator of the Shwe Gas Movement, a coalition of organizations representing people affected by the Shwe Gas Project. "The people of Arakan State deserve nothing less than the freedom to genuinely participate in decisions about the use of their natural resources."

Daewoo International is the operator of the Shwe Project, with a 51 percent stake. KOGAS holds an 8.5 percent stake; other consortium members include two Indian state-controlled firms and the state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). Daewoo discovered the offshore Shwe gas deposits in 2004. In agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Daewoo and KOGAS are preparing to transport the gas to Kunming, China by constructing what will be one of Asia’s longest natural gas pipelines. Previous natural gas pipelines in Burma were linked to abuses such as forced labor, forced relocation, rape, torture, and killings and led to high profile legal settlements with people from affected communities.

In related news, the British NCP recently found the British mining company Afrimex in violation of the OECD Guidelines related to minerals mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The NCP found that the company did not satisfy its “due diligence” requirements to ensure compliance with national laws of the host country or to manage the risk of negative human rights impacts.