Each party recently announced a settlement of both suits. While the terms were not disclosed, EarthRights said Unocal will compensate the plaintiff villagers and pay to help them establish improvement programs in the region.

“Unocal has never condoned, encouraged or participated in human rights violations in any project,” Unocal said in a statement posted on its website. The company also stated that all workers on the pipeline project were voluntarily employed and compensated for their work and that no villages were relocated. On April 4, two weeks after Unocal announced the settlement, ChevronTexaco Corp.—the second-largest American oil company after ExxonMobil—revealed its plans to purchase Unocal for about $16.8 billion.

Some analysts expect ChevronTexaco will sell Unocal’s Burmese assets to avoid drawing calls for divestment, according to Reuters News Service.

ChevronTexaco has drawn criticism from several activist groups for its own actions in the developing world. EarthRights International is suing the company for alleged human-rights violations in Nigeria though the firm denies responsibility.

At Harvard, BAM has also questioned the University’s investment in ChevronTexaco. At the end of 2004, Harvard owned 305,689 shares of the oil conglomerate’s stock, according to SEC filings.

—Staff writer Nicholas M. Ciarelli can be reached at ciarelli@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Daniel J. T. Schuker can be reached at dschuker@fas.harvard.edu.