On Sunday, June 26, pro-UN demonstrators will gather in San Francisco, California outside the closing luncheon celebrating the 60th anniversary of the UN. The demonstrators will be protesting the participation of Chevron, the lead sponsor of the event, because of its abysmal human rights and environmental record in several countries, including Ecuador, Nigeria and Burma, among others. David O’Reilly, Chevron’s CEO, is the honorary chair of the UN60 events and the keynote speaker at the closing luncheon.
WHERE: FAIRMONT HOTEL, 950 MASON STREET, SAN FRANCISCO
WHEN: SUNDAY, JUNE 26TH, 12:00PM
Chevron’s sponsorship undermines the reputation of the UN and serves to confuse the public regarding Chevron’s human rights and environmental record. This arrangement does a great dishonor to the memory of Eleanor Roosevelt and the other visionary founders of the UN who met in San Francisco 60 years ago.
CHEVRON’S REAL RECORD ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT:
* In May 1998, when community leaders were protesting peacefully at Chevron’s Parabe oil platform in Nigeria, Chevron flew in soldiers from the notorious Nigerian military. The soldiers fired on the protestors, killing two and injuring others.
http://earthrights.org/chevron/index.shtml
* In January 1999, Nigerian soldiers in Chevron-leased helicopters and boats attacked two villages, killing several people and burning both villages to the ground. Even though Chevron paid the soldiers who conducted the attacks on the villages and on the Parabe platform, Chevron argues that it should not be held liable for either of these events. http://earthrights.org/chevron/index.shtml
* In Ecuador, Chevron bears responsibility for one of the most severe environmental contaminations ever documented. Prior to its merger, Chevron’s subsidiary Texaco deforested millions of hectares of the Ecuadorian Amazon, and contaminated rivers, streams, and farms,
which resulted in the destruction of local indigenous communities and the poisoning of thousand of people. Texaco consistently sought to avoid responsibility and since the merger, Chevron has continued that ignoble tradition. http://chevrontoxico.com/
* Chevron is set to acquire Unocal Corporation and in turn a stake in Burma’s infamous Yadana gas pipeline. Unocal is associated with forced labor, rape and murder; acts committed by the Burmese military on behalf of the oil company.
http://earthrights.org/news/Chev_Unocal_Merger.shtml
http://www.earthrights.org/news/press_unocal_settle.shtml
* Chevron, in alliance with ExxonMobil and other major oil companies, has sponsored bad science and funded lobbyists whose sole aim is to obstruct international efforts and real solutions to globalwarming. http://www.environmentaldefense.org/article.cfm?contentid=3804&CFID=2108
4385&CFTOKEN=29888831
* Emissions from Chevron-produced oil and gas account for nearly 2% of all carbon dioxide worldwide. http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/carbon/kocinx.asp
