Shareholder resolution for Chevron

2008 – Chevron

WHEREAS:

A growing number of companies such as Baker Hughes have divested their operations in Burma due to concerns about the repressive government of Burma’s ongoing human rights abuses;

Unocal settled legal claims out of court prior to its acquisition for their alleged complicity in human rights abuses in Burma, including benefiting from the use of forced labor;


In the summer of 2003, Congress overwhelmingly passed and President George W. Bush signed into law new restrictions banning imports of goods produced in Burma to the U.S.;

Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote in a column in The Wall Street Journal , calling the ruling government of Burma “thugs” and wrote, “We also should further limit commerce with Burma that enriches the junta's generals.”;


Chevron’s Unocal subsidiary provides pipeline operations in Burma and maintains a district office in Rangoon, Burma; and

This subsidiary has been causually linked to human rights abuses and environmentally destructive practices in Burma.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED , that shareholders request that the Board of Directors prepare a report to shareholders, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, evaluating financial risks posed by company operations in a country with a pattern of ongoing and systematic violation of human rights and the financial impact to the company of divesting from these countries.



Supporting Statement



Burma (also called Myanmar) is ruled by a military government that seized power in 1988. The government voided 1990 elections, which were won by the National League for Democracy led by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The government held Suu Kyi under house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and again for 18 months in 2001 and 2002. A year after releasing her, the military government provoked international criticism in May 2003 by attacking and killing a number of Suu Kyi's supporters and reimprisoning her.



Human rights violations in Myanmar are widespread and systematic. They include the use of child soldiers and forced labour. There are laws that criminalize peaceful expression of political dissent. At the end of 2006 most senior opposition figures were imprisoned or administratively detained, among more than 1,160 political prisoners held in deteriorating prison conditions. People are frequently arrested without warrant and held incommunicado; torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment are common, especially during interrogation and while in custody awaiting trial. Judicial proceedings against political detainees fall short of international standards for fair trial: defendants are often denied the right to legal counsel and prosecutors have relied on confessions extracted through torture.


In addition to the new U.S. trade sanctions, the European Union has imposed new trade sanctions and Japan is freezing the considerable foreign aid it grants to Burma. The new U.S. trade sanctions codify an existing U.S. policy to oppose World Bank loans or international technical assistance to Myanmar. In 1997, the U.S. banned U.S. companies from making new investment in Burma.



Given this context, we believe that Chevron’s operations’ in Burma face significant new financial risks and could damage our company’s reputation. A report outlining the company’s assessment of the financial risks of continued operations in Burma and would help shareholders better assess how human rights controversies may affect the company’s future growth and how the Board and management are managing risks associated with this issue.