Thursday, July 06, 2006
Students Against Total
Students Against Total is a pressure group made up of students opposed to Total Oil funding and committing human rights abuses in Burma. We aim to put pressure on Total to withdraw from Burma.
Why Total?
The human rights abuses committed by the Burmese regime are amongst the worst in the world. The regime has violated every human right through means from systematic ethnic cleansing to torture of political prisoners to destruction of all free press. Total Oil is by far the main supplier of funds to the regime and has never even raised any concerns about the human rights abuses they are funding. Furthermore Total are actively involved in human rights abuses themselves -the soldiers they employ to guard their pipeline have raped children and looted homes whilst the pipeline itself has been constructed through slave labor.
What about other oil companies-aren't they all as bad?
Students Against Total do not deny the human rights abuses of other oil companies such as Shell in Nigeria, Texaco in Burma and BP in Tibet and many members are involved in other campaigns as well as campaigns to clean up the oil industry as a whole. The human rights abuses committed by Total are however, still amonst the worst in the world and also an issue that till recently has not received fair attention. A consumer boycott of Total can force Total to leave Burma; leading to a situation where Total can become an ethical choice. Forcing Total to leave Burma will also have a knock-on affect on other oil companies to clear up their own human rights abuses. We also encourage people to look at oil companies on balance- choices such as Jet are certainly more ethical than Total.
How is Students Against Total Structured?
Students Against Total is made up of groups of students at schools, colleges and universities. To start up your own Students Against Total group e-mail us at studentsagainsttotal@hotmail.co.uk
What actions does Students Against Total take?
- Students Agaisnt Total seeks to achieve our goals through the following means:
Raising awareness about Total's human rights abuses through publicity campaigns -such as leaflet distribution - Rallying support on the internet through running the Boycott Total Oil website
Informing drivers about the human rights abuses that filling up at Total will fund by holding demonstrations at Total garages - Taking part in large national protests organized by groups such as Burma Campaign UK and Burmese Democratic Movement Association UK
What are the political or religious affiliations of Students Against Total?
Students Against Total is an independent group. We do however support other pressure groups for human rights in Burma such as BCUK and BDMA, as well as many of our members also supporting other movements for corporate accountability and development such as Baby Milk Action and the Trade Justice Movement.
Students Against Total is not formally associated to any political party but supports Aung Sann Suu Kyi and the National League of Democracy -the Burmese party for democracy. On our protests you can always spot several of our members proudly wearing NLD arm-bands.
Students Against Total support freedom of belief and have members from many different faiths and none.
Join Students Against Total today by sending an e-mail to studentsagainsttotal@hotmail.co.uk
