Afghanistan
Before the world woke to the horrors of the Taliban, Trillium Asset Management fought corporate interest in Afghanistan linked with the brutal regime.
In September 1996, following ten years of Soviet occupation and several years of civil conflict, the radical Taliban sect of Afghanistan took control of the country’s capital city Kabul. Originally supported by the U.S. State Department, our government backed off in the face of public outcry against the regime’s brutality toward women and its close relationship with Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network.
The US government’s interest in the Taliban was fueled, in part, by the California-based Unocal Corporation’s commercial interest in laying a pipeline through Afghanistan which would transport natural gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan’s Persian Gulf ports. During this period of the government’s and Unocal’s flirtation with the Taliban, the regime’s treatment of women and ethnic minorities, sponsorship of the opium trade, and terrorist connections were becoming abundantly clear to interested observers, if not the general public. Yet Unocal hosted a Taliban delegation visiting the United States, escorting their guests as they lobbied in Washington, bought sundries and received healthcare, and visited such destinations as NASA, Mount Rushmore, and the Houston home of a Unocal executive.
What We’re Doing About This Issue
We took our concerns to Unocal’s June 1998 annual stockholder meeting in La Brea, California, where we spoke out about the Taliban’s abuses and insisted unequivocally that the Taliban were an unacceptable trading partner. We were joined both inside and outside the meeting by the Feminist Majority, which has been the earliest and most visible advocate for Afghan women in the U.S. since the Taliban took power. Two months later, Unocal suspended the project, and by year’s end, ended it altogether.
For additional information, contact Shelley Alpern
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