“Publicly available information indicates that these companies have had business relations with Libya, and thus the Gaddafi regime which exercised full control over the economy,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow. “They should immediately stop further payments of any kind to the present authorities in Tripoli, and support the establishment of a fund to be administered by the UN or other body until such time as a democratic government which respects human rights is established.”

“First and foremost, the ICEM is concerned for the security of oil and gas workers, both Libyan staff and expatriate workers,” said ICEM General Secretary Manfred Warda. “We call on transnational companies to not only ensure their safety, but to refrain from any further direct payments to the Gaddafi regime.”

The ITUC and its Global Unions partners are also examining the dealing of companies from other sectors with the Gaddafi regime, and will maintain international pressure on governments and the private sector to act in full support of the positions taken by the UN concerning Libya and to avoid any complicity in further human rights violations. The letter to the 28 companies also calls on them to join with others in calling for the establishment of a fund where payments for oil exports, royalties and taxes owed to Libya can be deposited until a transition to a democratic government that protects the human rights of its citizens can be made.

*The following are the companies to which the ITUC and ICEM have written, based on publicly-available information on business links to Libya: ENI, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Occidental Petroleum, Gazprom, RWE, Petrobras, Statoil, Total, Chevron, Dow Chemical, Impreglio, Haliburton, Fluor, Vinci, ConocoPhilips, Marathon Oil, Amerada Hess, Wintershall onlding, OMV, Inpex, Polish Oil and Gas, Suncor, Repsol YPF, Tatneft and China National Petroleum Corporation.