In a press release today, EarthRights International condemned recent killings and torture connected to the Yadana and Yetagun gas pipelines in Burma, and is calling on the oil companies operating the projects to do everything in their power to prevent more violence.
EarthRights detailed how three Burmese Army soldiers and an ethnic Karen individual were killed in early February in two separate incidents in the area of the Yadana and Yetagun gas pipelines in Burma’s Tenasserim Division. A local villager was also tortured by the Burmese Army in a related incident and villagers were forced by the Army to transport deceased soldiers to Army headquarters. Local villagers have expressed grave concern for their safety as security forces have established a continuous presence around Michaunglaung Village in the Yadana-Yetagun pipeline corridor.
"There's a serious risk of further violence by the Army against the villagers of Michaunglaung," said Naing Htoo, EarthRights Program Coordinator. "The foreign oil companies involved in the pipelines must immediately do everything in their power to prevent future violence."
This statement comes just days after the Norwegian government announced it has increased its multi-billion dollar investments in oil companies operating in Burma, in violation of its own rules for responsible investment, which EarthRights analyzed in detail in a December 2010 report released in Oslo.
