Summary:
This report is intended to inform the upcoming meetings of the OECD Investment Committee in Paris, France in 2009. It documents substantive errors in the Korean NCP’s interpretations of the OECD Guidelines, and its failure to achieve functional equivalence with other NCPs. EarthRights International (ERI) and the Shwe Gas Movement (SGM) request the Investment Committee to address the governance gap within the OECD Guidelines system of implementation by acknowledging the Korean NCP’s errors in interpretation, and by clarifying certain aspects of Guidelines with respect to the Korean NCP’s decision in the Shwe case.

Summary:
This report is the most comprehensive survey on Chinese investment in Burma to date and identifies 69 Chinese MNC’S involved in 90 completed, current and planned projects in the hydropower and extractive sectors in Burma. Previous ERI research collected between May and August 2007 identified only 26 Chinese MNCs involved in 62 projects. This research, conducted over the last year, draws upon government statements, English and Chinese language news reports, and company press releases.

Summary:
This report is the most comprehensive survey on Chinese investment in Burma to date and identifies 69 Chinese MNC’S involved in 90 completed, current and planned projects in the hydropower and extractive sectors in Burma. Previous ERI research collected between May and August 2007 identified only 26 Chinese MNCs involved in 62 projects. This research, conducted over the last year, draws upon government statements, English and Chinese language news reports, and company press releases.

Summary:
Este informe es el estudio más completo realizado hasta ahora sobre inversiones chinas en Birmania e identifica 69 multinacionales chinas involucradas en 90 proyectos en los sectores hidroeléctricos y extractivos en Birmania. Estos resultados recientes amplían la anterior investigación realizada por EarthRights International entre Mayo y Agosto del 2007, la cual identificó 26 multinacionales chinas involucradas en 62 proyectos. Esta investigación, realizada durante el último año, se basa en comunicados gubernamentales, artículos en inglés y chino, y comunicados de prensa de las multinacionales.

Summary:
The Ministry of Knowledge (hereinafter, "MKE") of the Republic of Korea finds it hard to assume that the involved corporations breached the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises Ch. II, III, IV, and V; thus, the MKE does not see a necessity to initiate an additional investigation or an arbitration. However, the MKE expects the relevant companies to make a continuous effort to disclose relevant information and consult with the affected communities, regarding the size and socio-economic effects of this gas development.

Summary:
The Ministry of Knowledge (hereinafter, "MKE") of the Republic of Korea finds it hard to assume that the involved corporations breached the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises Ch. II, III, IV, and V; thus, the MKE does not see a necessity to initiate an additional investigation or an arbitration. However, the MKE expects the relevant companies to make a continuous effort to disclose relevant information and consult with the affected communities, regarding the size and socio-economic effects of this gas development.

Summary:
EarthRights International (ERI), on behalf of the Shwe Gas Movement (SGM), brings this complaint alleging that Daewoo International and the Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) have breached and will continue to breach a number of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (the “Guidelines”) related to their activities in Burma (Myanmar). These breaches are related to the companies’ exploration, development, and operation of the natural gas project in Burma known as the Shwe Gas Project, meaning “gold” in Burmese (hereinafter “Shwe Project”).

Summary:
EarthRights International (ERI), on behalf of the Shwe Gas Movement (SGM), brings this complaint alleging that Daewoo International and the Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) have breached and will continue to breach a number of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (the “Guidelines”) related to their activities in Burma (Myanmar). These breaches are related to the companies’ exploration, development, and operation of the natural gas project in Burma known as the Shwe Gas Project, meaning “gold” in Burmese (hereinafter “Shwe Project”).

Summary:
This collection of reports is the result of the hard work and dedication of fourteen young men and women from diverse ethnic groups and regions in Burma who attended EarthRights International’s year-long leadership school for human rights and environmental advocacy, the EarthRights School of Burma (ERSB). While conducting research the students took great risks, often placing themselves in danger, to reveal the truth about Burma and the perspectives of the people directly affected by human rights abuses and environmental destruction.

Summary:
This report is the most comprehensive survey on Chinese investment in Burma to date and identifies 69 Chinese MNC’S involved in 90 completed, current and planned projects in the hydropower and extractive sectors in Burma. Previous ERI research collected between May and August 2007 identified only 26 Chinese MNCs involved in 62 projects. This research, conducted over the last year, draws upon government statements, English and Chinese language news reports, and company press releases.

Summary:
EarthRights International (ERI) began collecting on-the-ground information about human rights abuses connected to the Yadana gas project in 1994, including witness and victim testimony in Burma and on the Thai-Burma border. This report draws on original field data collected by ERI between 2003-2008 in Burma and along the Thai-Burma border, as well as desk research. ERI also interviewed defected soldiers, residents, and recent refugees from the pipeline region.

Summary:
This is the third solo report to the United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative on Business & Human Rights, Professor John Ruggie. In this submission, ERI addresses the issue of access to justice, which was highlighted by Mr. Ruggie in his report to the Human Rights Council last year. As he enters the final year of his mandate, ERI seeks to remind Professor Ruggie of the benefits that transnational litigation under the U.S. Alien Tort Statute has afforded to victims by providing a forum for access to justice especially when such access is lacking elsewhere.

Summary:
This report, the first of its kind, outlines the increasing involvement of Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) in securing Burma’s natural resources, listing 26 Chinese MNCs involved in more than 62 projects in Burma over the past decade. The projects range from small hydropower projects to a planned dual oil and natural gas pipeline from western Burma to China’s Yunnan Province.

Summary:
In March 2006, the Federation of Native Communities of the Corrientes River (FECONACO) asked EarthRights International (ERI) to undertake a mission to the Corrientes River basin in the northeastern Peruvian Amazon to investigate the social, environmental, and human rights impacts of more than 30 years of petroleum production activities. One year later in conjunction with the filing of a lawsuit against Occidental Petroleum, this report of ERI's findings was released. This report summarizes the impacts of Occidental's activities in the region as well as explains the legal grounds for civil demands due to Oxy's deliberate use of substandard technology.

Summary:
This report describes how human rights and environmental abuses continue to be a serious problem in eastern Pegu division, Burma – specifically, in Shwegyin township of Nyaunglebin District. The heavy militarization of the region, the indiscriminate granting of mining and logging concessions, and the construction of the Kyauk Naga Dam have led to forced labor, land confiscation, extortion, forced relocation, and the destruction of the natural environment.

Summary:
As more cases are brought and corporations widen the scope of their arguments against transnational litigation, it becomes all the more important that these cases are litigated competently and that all of the relevant considerations are thought through beforehand. Consequently, ERI has recently published this revised second edition in response to changing legal trends. This guide is largely intended for activist organizations, victims and others who want to help bring corporations and others to justice for harms they have caused. It is not intended to substitute for consultation with an experienced attorney.

Summary:
This paper was prepared by ERI in collaboration with the University of Virginia International Human Rights Law Clinic and submitted to the United Nations Special Representative to the Secretary General (SRSG) on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises. It grew out of EarthRights International’s support for the United Nations Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights (the Norms).

Summary:
This joint NGO report by ERI and ESCR-Net includes suggested Next Steps for the UN Special Representative to the Secretary General on Human Rights and Business (SRSG), Professor John Ruggie, who was appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2005 to study the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. A draft of the Joint NGO Submission was circulated at the UN Consultation on Human Rights and the Extractive Industry in Geneva, which took place November 10-11, 2005. The final version was given to Professor Ruggie at a consultation with NGOs in London, on December 9th.

Summary:
This solo submission to the Special Representative on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises focuses on corporate abuses of human rights and environmental rights in Burma. We believe that the corporate record in Burma over the last 15 years demonstrates that any delineation of human rights norms applicable to corporations should explicitly address at the very least the issues of complicity in human rights and environmental violations and destructive engagement.

Summary:
Burma's many conflicts seem frustratingly intransigent, and it is the political, social, and military problems that have gained international attention. While much attention is rightfully paid to the violence and repression around these conflicts, much less is paid to ideas about the natural resources that fuel them – what EarthRights International calls “conflict resources.” Inadequate attention goes, too, to the traditional mechanisms of conflict transformation used at the local level in Burma, which represent a good deal of hope for the future of democracy and peace in the country.

Summary:
This is a report on the fact-finding mission that took place on June 1st-3rd 2005, carried out by the leaders of ORAU, FECONBU and a consultant for EarthRights International. The main objective of the mission was to verify claims made by members of the Peruvian Shipibo - Konibo community Canaan de Cachiyacu (Canaan) and to evaluate the impacts of Maple Gas Corporation (MG)’s oil activities on the environment and human rights at the territory.

Summary:
El presente informe se inscribe en el marco de la misión realizada del 1ro al 3 de junio del 2005, entre dirigentes de ORAU, FECONBU y una consultora de la ONG EarthRights Internacional (Tierra y Derechos). El objetivo de la misión ha sido verificar las denuncias hechas por los miembros de la comunidad Shipibo de Canaan de Cachiyacu (Canaan), y evaluar los impactos ambientales y sobre derechos humanos de las actividades petroleras realizadas por la compañía Maple Gas Corporation (MG) en el territorio de esta CCNN.

Summary:
Much of the route linking the capital of Mon State in Burma to the Thai border remains little more than a narrow road that varies from a dirt track in sections to a single-lane of cracked asphalt. But if the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has its way, the primitive road will become a sophisticated, multi-lane highway by 2008, facilitating the movement of consumer goods and passengers. While the peoples of Burma certainly deserve better transportation networks, ERI does not support the ADB’s proposed road rehabilitation project given the ongoing earth rights abuses inside Burma.

Summary:
After years of speculation, the Royal Thai Government and the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military regime ruling Burma, are poised to begin major construction on a series of large hydro-powered dams in the Salween River basin. Joint feasibility studies began in the Fall of 2004, prompting representatives from several different Burmese ethnic groups to urge Thailand to reconsider. Their concerns emphasized the environmental costs of these dams and the fact that electricity produced from them would be exported abroad instead of supplying local populations who endure serious energy shortages. Their pleas appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

Summary:
This report recounts testimonials of the hardship villagers are facing in the areas along the Thai-Burmese border. Their stories demonstrate both the far-reaching impacts of ongoing forced labor by the military regime in the area, and the need for concerted international action to address the oppression with which the people of Burma live each day.

Summary:
The report details the Bush Administration's assault on international law, domestic law, and international treaties. We believe that respect for international law is an American value and is good for U.S. security. We believe that contempt for international law inevitably spills over — and already has spilled over — into domestic law, thus undermining the rule of law, one of the U.S.’s great achievements.

Summary:
The information presented in this article highlights some of the key challenges confronting groups interested in mitigating the negative impacts of mining in Burma. Most campaigns to change destructive mining practices typically focus either on protecting the natural environment or the labor rights of workers. In both cases, gender is usually subsumed within one or both of these two broader categories. EarthRights International (ERI), through its fact-finding research into the mining industry inside Burma, is attempting to change this approach.

Summary:
Another Yadana, sadly, is in the making. In January 2004, with the approval of the Burmese government, a consortium of South Korean and Indian companies announced plans to develop a massive natural gas field in the Gulf of Bengal, off the coast of western Burma. This new project, known as Shwe, which means 'gold' in Burmese, is still in its early planning stages. In ERI's view, an alarming number of similarities already exist between the Yadana Pipeline and the proposed Shwe Pipeline. If nothing is done, it appears likely that history will repeat itself.

Summary:
This report summarizes the history, jurisprudence and politics of the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) in order to explain how this relatively obscure law became a lightning rod in the world of business and human rights, and the target of an attack by business and the Bush Administration, culminating in the US Supreme Court's June 2004 decision in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain.

Summary:
In the two years since Total Denial Continues was published, the evidence of the oil companies’ complicity in human rights abuses—abuses that, regrettably, continue — has only increased. At the same time, the oil companies have stepped up their public relations efforts, denying any wrong-doing while refusing to take responsibility for their actions. Moreover in addition to on-going human rights abuses, recent evidence has also confirmed the environmental degradation associated with the pipelines.

Summary:
This report by ERI and the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) illustrates how trade in timber, gems, and gold is financing violent conflict, including widespread and gross human rights violations and environmental destruction, in Burma. Although trade in these “conflict goods” accounts for a small percentage of the total global trade, it severely compromises human security and undermines socio-economic development, not only in Burma, but throughout the region.

Summary:
In July 2003, researchers at the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network (SEEN) discovered a previously unreported May 22nd Executive Order regarding legal immunity for oil activities in Iraq. Executive Order 13303, “Protecting the Development Fund for Iraq and Certain Other Property in Which Iraq Has an Interest,” set off alarm bells among groups concerned with corporate accountability and undue influence of the oil industry on foreign policy, including toward Iraq. This memo, which is more comprehensive than previous analyses of EO13303, confirms that the Order is extraordinarily broad and possibly illegal.

Summary:
During the winter of 2002-2003, ERI conducted extensive interviews with ten village heads from a region in rural eastern Burma. The interviews summarized herein disclosed the ongoing highly systematic and violent nature of the labor abuses. Contrary to the military regime's Order No.1/99 which banned such practices, ERI's fieldwork since that date has indicated little change in the lives of rural, non-Burman ethnic minority populations.

Summary:
According to Burma’s ruling military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Burma’s army "safeguards national solidarity and peace." According to women from Burma’s ethnic minority groups, particularly those living in the ethnic States along Burma’s eastern borders, the army does the opposite. Rather than look to the army for protection, ethnic women flee in fear at the sight of a soldier. This report summarizes accounts of the sexual violence committed by Burma’s armed forces against women of the Karen, Karenni, Mon, Shan, and Tavoyan communities.

Summary:
In an effort to help increase understanding about this subject, EarthRights International (ERI) interviewed many people from Burma living in Thailand to find out their thoughts about domestic violence. The report finds that most people in this community had little knowledge about domestic violence and gender-based human rights problems. Many people also did not realize how much the military government of Burma discriminates against women and treats women badly. It concludes that this regular discrimination against women by the government helps people to accept domestic violence in the home and in the community as a normal thing.

Summary:
This report, through various case studies, demonstrates the urgency of providing critical information about a company’s operations. In an effort to protect the environment and the lives and human rights of local communities and workers, International Right to Know (IRTK) is a coalition advocating for U.S. companies and those traded on U.S. stock exchanges (and their foreign subsidiaries and major contractors) to disclose information on their overseas operations.

Summary:
This four-page brochure explains earth rights as a legal and moral concept that points to the importance of linking human well-being with the protection of the environment. Ecological protection is a crucial component of satisfying people's economic and social rights. At the same time, without the traditional civil and political rights guaranteed under the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is extremely difficult for local communities and their advocates to participate in and challenge decisions that will negatively affect their environment and community interests.

Summary:
Despite the State Peace and Development Council’s Order No. 1/99 (March 1999), and the Supplementary Order to Order No. 1/99 (October 2000), forced labor in Burma continues. This report presents evidence from 77 village testimonials of the persistent and widespread practice of forced labor and other human rights abuses including extra-judicial executions, torture and rape. Without legal recourse and continued international pressure for change, these people have no choice but to flee.

Summary:
This brochure details how the consumption of Burmese goods, such as teak, supports one of the most repressive and violent regimes in the world by providing it with invaluable revenue streams that strengthen its stronghold on political power. The purchasers of Burmese teak also aid in the destruction of Southeast Asia's last frontier forests. It presents readers with various conscientious options such as identifying and avoiding teak, contacting major teak importers/retailers and their legislators, as well as organizing protests.

Summary:
This brochure explains how three Western oil companies, in partnership with the Burmese military regime, have built natural gas pipelines in southern Burma (Myanmar), leading to countless human rights abuses against the local population. Unocal (U.S.), Premier Oil (U.K.), and TotalFinaElf (France/Belgium) have used the brutal Burmese military as a security force for their pipeline projects, ignoring the evidence that the soldiers would commit severe abuses in the course of their security duties.

Summary:
An introduction to the flawed partnership called the 'Global Compact' between the UN and corporations, regarding voluntary corporate social responsibility. By making partnership the dominant approach to the relationship between the UN and corporations, the UN has essentially signaled that it will not attempt to hold corporations accountable in a legal framework, bur rather will seek to persuade them to follow UN principles on a voluntary, unmonitored basis.

Summary:
In the Shan State of Burma, home to indigenous groups and diverse forests, the Burmese military and a Thai energy company are developing the Tasang Dam, slated to be the tallest in Southeast Asia. Given the Burmese regime’s predilection for violence and disregard for human rights and environmental standards, the Tasang Dam, if built, would provoke forced labor, forced relocations, environmental destruction, and suppression of dissent. The Tasang Dam project would not only be destructive but one that would also only benefit the Burmese generals and a few private companies.

Summary:
Burma's Order No. 1/99 (March 1999), and its Supplementary Order (October 2000), outlawed forced labor throughout the country. Despite these orders, forced labor continues. The villagers of Shan State and Tenasserim Division tell of their experiences in the accounts herein. Life under military rule still means a life where the rule of law is absent. Without legal recourse and increased international pressure for change, these people have no choice but to flee.

Summary:
On the even of the World Conference Against Racism in South Africa, ERI released this report, which documents a widespread pattern of brutal discrimination against ethnic minorities in Burma. ERI staff interviewed mainly Karen and Shan victims of government-sponsored discrimination, including forced labor, rape, destruction of identities and suppression of language.

Summary:
An ERI report delivered to the International Labor Organization and the Department of Trade Union Rights about the forced labor situation in Burma. The report includes 17 interviews conducted with villagers from Shan State and Tenasserim Division between December 2000 and Spring 2001, showing that troops of the State Peace and Development Council still use forced labor and collect labor and portering fees.

Summary:
This report is a supplement to another report, More of the Same: Forced Labor Continues in Burma, which documented the continued use of forced labor by the Burmese military despite the government's assertions that forced labor had ended. This report demonstrates that civilians continue to be conscripted for forced labor by military units providing security to two natural gas pipelines in southern Burma, the Yadana and Yetagun pipelines.

Summary:
"For better or for worse, we have blood on our hands." - Sukumbhand Paribatra, Deputy Foreign Minister of Thailand. Since the early 1990's, a terrible drama has been unfolding in Burma. Three western oil companies - Total, Premier, and Unocal - entered into partnerships with the brutal Burmese military regime to build the Yadana and Yetagun natural gas pipelines. In nearly four years since the release of ERI report, Total Denial, violence and forced labor in the pipeline region have continued unabated. This report builds on the evidence and brings to light several new facets.

Summary:
Before Dick Cheney was selected as George W. Bush's running mate, ERI had decided to look into oil services giant Halliburton, where Cheney was CEO, due to Halliburton's prominent role in a corporate coalition called USA-Engage. This offshoot of the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) has become an obstacle to democracy movements in the US and in Burma, countries where ERI works actively.

Summary:
Since 1988, when the Burmese military regime opened up the country to foreign investment after a generation of isolation, the country has seen no improvement on a whole range of indicators - such as education, health, and poverty - that investment should improve. Instead, it has doubled the size of the country's army and major arms purchases that furthered repression, and been concentrated in extractive industries (logging, gems and natural gas) resulting in the selling off of Burma's natural resources at alarming rates.

Summary:
This report seeks to make visible the structural origins of the rape of ethnic Burmese women, with particular attention paid to the institution that nurtures the rapists, the Burmese army. The report is based on primary research consisting of original interviews with defectors from the Burmese army, and villagers who lived in close proximity to the army, often because their villages were occupied by the army.

Summary:
This is an issue paper presented to the Centre for Human Rights, United Nations Office in Geneva, in response to the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights' note verbale of 26 June 1996 inviting nongovernmental organizations to comment on the issues raised in the final report submitted to the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities by its Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Ms. Fatma Zohra Ksentini.

Summary:
Examines and assesses the impacts of a major transnational investment scheme in Burma on human rights, the environment and internal Burmese political processes. Produced by EarthRights International (ERI) and the Southeast Asian Information Network (SAIN), it is the first evidentiary report of its kind to have been released from within Burma.