KHRP/ Corner House/ Environmental Defense / Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

This report constitutes the findings of the fourth international Fact-Finding Mission to assess human rights, social and environmental impacts of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, which BP and other companies (as part of the BTC Consortium) are currently building in order to bring oil from Caspian Sea oilfields to Western markets. Construction of the pipeline commenced in 2002 and is due to be completed by 2005. The mission comprised representatives of Kurdish Human Rights Project, Friends of the Earth, the Corner House and Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland). It undertook field visits in the Ardahan (north-east) and Sivas (central) sections of the pipeline route and conducted interviews in Ankara.

The report should be mandatory reading for those following the serious concerns, particularly relating to human rights abuses, expropriation of land, labour violations, and serious violations in quality control during construction, that have been raised by affected peoples, experts, pipeline workers, non-governmental organisations and the project's own monitoring reports.