Human rights:

Human rights violations:

In a press release of December 16, 2005 the US State Department says UN involvement in Myanmar is essential. The US listed illicit narcotics, human rights abuses and political repression as serious problems that the UN needs to address.

In a landmark legal case, some human rights groups have sued the Unocal corporation, previously known as Union Oil of California and now part of the Chevron Corporation. They charge that since the early 1990s, Unocal has joined hands with dictators in Myanmar to turn thousands of citizens there into virtual slaves under brutality. Unocal, before being purchased, stated that they had no knowledge or connection to these alleged actions although it continued working in Myanmar. This was a landmark case as this might be the first time that anybody has sued an American corporation in a U.S. court on the grounds that the company violated human rights in another country.