No Business with Governments Complicit in Genocide - Burma
2018 – Chevron Corp.
WHEREAS: Chevron, in partnership with Total and Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), holds equity in one of the largest investment projects in Burma (Myanmar): the Yadana gas field and pipeline that generates billions of dollars for the Burmese government.
In Burma, foreign participation in the energy sector takes place through joint ventures with the state-owned MOGE. U.S. lawmakers have stated that “MOGE's operations lack transparency, that it remains overly influenced by the Burmese military, and that the large amounts of foreign investment flowing into MOGE are not sufficiently accountable to the Burmese people or its parliament."
In March 2015, Chevron entered into an additional production sharing contract with MOGE to explore in the Rakhine Basin.
Rakhine state is home to the Rohingya people, an ethnic minority that has been subject to a government-sanctioned campaign of repression and violence. Although they have lived in Burma for generations, the Rohingya are denied citizenship and voting rights, freedom of religion, and other basic rights. In 2012, Burmese security forces moved more than 120,000 Rohingya from their homes into detention camps where access is restricted to basic services, such as food, healthcare, and education.
In August 2017, a new military crackdown caused an estimated 620,000 Rohingya, half of children, to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. In November 2017, following a visit to the region and an analysis of the facts, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described the Burmese army’s offensive against the Rohingya as "ethnic cleansing" and called for a "credible, independent investigation" of the military’s reported human rights abuses. Tillerson also signaled possible U.S. sanctions against Burma’s army.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has reported that the Rohingya are “at grave risk of additional mass atrocities and even genocide.” In November 2017, Amnesty International issued a report detailing how Rohingya in Myanmar are subject to a "vicious system of state-sponsored, institutionalized discrimination that amounts to apartheid," meeting the international legal definition of a crime against humanity.
The International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP) monitors countries worldwide for instances of serious crimes under international law including genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. ICRtoP lists several countries, cited by the United Nations and civil society organizations, in which Chevron is currently producing oil and gas: Burma (Myanmar), Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria.
BE IT RESOLVED: The shareholders request the Board to publish a report six months following the 2018 annual general meeting, omitting proprietary information and prepared at reasonable cost, evaluating the feasibility of adopting a policy of not doing business with governments that are complicit in genocide and/or crimes against humanity as defined by the U.S. Department of State or the appropriate international body.
Supporting Statement: As shareholders, we believe that our company has the duty to avoid the moral, legal, financial, reputational, and operational risks posed by doing business with governments complicit in genocide or crimes against humanity. It is incumbent that our board adopt policies that protect shareholder value from these risks.