WASHINGTON, April 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Energy giant Chevron is under fire for its decision to continue to support the Myanmar military, which has killed more than 700 people, including at least 47 children. On Friday, half a dozen demonstrations took place in cities around the US organized by the International Campaign for the Rohingya, SumOfUs, and many other groups -- in San Francisco, LA, Houston, Denver, New York and Washington DC.

Outside Chevron’s offices in DC, Chevron’s new DC lobbyist Craig Hall was depicted on a piñata which protesters took turns batting. A mobile billboard was parked outside Chevron’s office for several hours on Friday, shaming the company for their continued support of the brutal military regime.

Simon Billenness, Executive Director of the International Campaign for the Rohingya said: “As the largest US investor in Myanmar, Chevron has for many years not just bankrolled the Myanmar military, but also served as the junta chief lobbyist and defenders in Washington DC.”

Groups are urging Chevron, French energy giant Total, South Korea’s POSCO, and all other oil and gas companies operating in Myanmar to suspend payments made to the state-owned oil and gas company -- and instead place those payments in an escrow account where they will be released once democracy is restored. More than 94,000 people have signed petitions by campaigning groupsSumOfUsand theInternational Campaign for the Rohingya. ...

Factbox: Oil majors in Myanmar in spotlight after UN call for sanctions

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(Reuters) - Major global oil companies, working in Myanmar, are in the spotlight after the UN’s human rights investigator called last week for coordinated international sanctions on the country’s state energy firm, MOGE.