Article
UN's Quintana Soft on Myanmar, Praises Regime's Rohinga Ruling, in Total Denial
[W]hen Inner City Press asked the UN's expert on business and human rights, John Ruggie, about Total's investment in Myanmar, Ruggie said he deferred to [country expert, Tomas Ojea] Quintana...But Quintana on Thursday appeared to some to defend the regime of Than Shwe. When Inner City Press asked about the Rohinga [minority]...Quintana praised a Burmese court decision that Rohinga can marry each other...When Inner City Press asked about Total's and others investment with the Than Shwe government in the gas and oil sector -- payments from which are said to make up the 41% of the regime's budget which goes to military spending, Quintana referred the question back to Ruggie -- who...had said he has nothing to say on company-specific questions.