=o= The attached is excerpted from an article that was posted to
misc.activism.progressive, within an IGLHRC Emergency Response
Newsletter. It focuses on the appalling human rights situation
in "civilized" Burma, but it fails to mention some of the worst
goings-on in Burma, i.e., the clearcutting of Burma's rainforest
and the murder of the indigenous peoples living in the rainforest.
=o= I'm assuming these weren't mentioned because they aren't
directly connected to PepsiCo's business. But I offer this
information for those who want information about the situation
in Burma and who would like to do something about it.
=o= There is an international boycott of goods exported from
Burma, and that entails boycotting tropical wood products from
Thailand (who is buying most of the rainforest timber from
Burma).
<_Jym_>
================================================================
[From ACTION-ALERT Mailing List]
[Also Posted to ACTIV-L and misc.activism.progressive (by Somebody Else)]
BURMA: BOYCOTT PEPSI
Burma groups, human rights organizations, and
environmental organizations are calling for a boycott of PepsiCo
over the impact of that company's investments in Burma.
The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the
ruling military regime in Burma, has received condemnations from
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the Asian
Institute for Democracy, Amnesty International, Asia Watch, and
the European Community, among others. Torture, murder, rape and
other abuses by the SLORC military are widespread. Ethnic
minorities are frequently subjected to forced labor. The
military regime strictly controls all media. Persecution of
religious and ethnic minorities is becoming worse as the
government forces groups such as the Muslim Rohingyas to flee
the country after suffering murder, rape, looting and
destruction of mosques by the SLORC military. AIDS is reportedly
being used as a weapon of war. Soldiers who are detected with
HIV are given no treatment but simply told to go back to their
villages and have sex with the tribe women.
Many women who have either fled the country or been
taken from Burma, have been forced into prostitution by Thai
nationals. When these women are 'liberated' by Thai officials
they are sent back to Burma where they face an uncertain and
potentially deadly future, especially those who are
HIV-positive. A statement made by Asia Watch, an international
human rights organization based in New York, reveals that some
Burmese women "who were assumed to have AIDS" were removed from
the brothels of Rangong and have since "disappeared".
On November 22, 1991, PepsiCo entered into a joint
venture with a Burmese company to produce Pepsi Cola. While
the $1 million dollar investment is considered small by U.S.
standards, and will not lead to huge profits for Pepsi in the
near future, PepsiCo is nonetheless economically propping up the
military regime as well as providing a dangerous air of
legitimacy to SLORC. Foreign investors such as Petro-Canada and
Shell Oil have already pulled out of Burma in protest over human
rights violations. In a letter from Pepsi's Director of
Government Affairs, the director states that "a business has to
deal in the long term and take a broad perspective." The letter
adds that by investing in Burma, PepsiCo can "bring people and
their nations closer together and ultimately toward world
peace."
Please write PepsiCo and include the following points:
o By investing in the long term, PepsiCo turns a blind eye
to the military atrocities their investment economically
supports in Burma.
o Insinuating PepsiCo's investment has anything to do with
world peace is insulting to the hundreds of thousands of
Burmese who have suffered or been murdered at the hands of
the SLORC military.
o I will Boycott PepsiCo products [and PepsiCo's Pizza Hut
and Taco Bell franchises --Jym] until the company has fully
divested from Burma and its military regime.
Appeal to: Mr. Chris Sinclair President, Pepsi Cola International
Routes 100 & 35 Somers NY 10589-2202 USA