And the U.S. oil giant Unocal has agreed to compensate Burmese villagers over alleged abuses committed during the construction of a gas pipeline there a decade ago. The company was accused of allowing Burmese troops guarding the project to rape, murder and enslave villagers. The Unocal case was brought under the U.S. Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789. It alleged that the company knew or should have known that the Burmese army committed human rights abuses while providing security for the $1.2-billion pipeline project.