SAN FRANCISCO, California - March 27 - A shareholder resolution introduced by the human rights group Global Exchange for the upcoming shareholder meeting in mid-May was rejected by Halliburton and the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the resolution, Global Exchange asked the Halliburton board of directors to prepare a report on the policies and procedures that the company has implemented to reduce or eliminate investigations into the company's work and violations of its government contracts.

Just days after Global Exchange learned of the rejection of its proposed shareholder resolution, two new government investigations into Halliburton's work in Iraq were announced: the Pentagon's official watchdog group will investigate allegations by Halliburton water experts that the company had exposed US troops to contaminated water in Iraq, and the US attorney's office charged a former employee with receiving kickbacks in return for a subcontract to run a military dining facility.

Global Exchange is concerned about the myriad investigations into Halliburton's work during the last several years by such government agencies as the US Justice Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Department of Defense, and the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Some of these investigations have resulted in indictments and fines for the company and its employees.

Halliburton, and subsequently the SEC, rejected the Global Exchange shareholder resolution on the grounds that these matters involved "ordinary business operations" outside the bounds of shareholder scrutiny. "It is ironic and quite disturbing that Halliburton considers investigations into issues like bribery and fraud to be 'ordinary business operations,'" said Global Exchange Treasurer John Harrington. "The owners of the company -- its shareholders -- should certainly be allowed to put a resolution on the ballot to request that the company inform them that it won't violate its own code of conduct, much less federal law."

Halliburton has been in the public spotlight since 2003 because of its high-level connections with the Bush administration -- Vice President Dick Cheney was Halliburton's former CEO -- and its lucrative contracts in Iraq. Additionally, the company has come under investigation for a variety of alleged activities, including bribery, bid-rigging, overcharging and fraud. The company's annual shareholders meeting will be held on May 17 in Duncan, Oklahoma. Recent shareholders meetings held in Houston, Texas saw large anti-war-profiteering protests and civil disobedience.

Global Exchange is a San Francisco-based human rights group dedicated to promoting social, economic, political and environmental justice around the world. Since its founding in 1988, Global Exchange has pressured corporations like Nike, the Gap, Starbucks, Ford and Procter and Gamble to eliminate sweatshops, carry "Fair Trade" certified goods, and end practices that are harmful to the environment. Global Exchange has protested outside Halliburton shareholders meetings in the past, and has co-authored a report exposing on the company's violations, but the group also purchased Halliburton shares in 2004 and intends to work for reform from within the company. Global Exchange representatives will attend this year's shareholder meeting to bring its concerns directly to the company's top management.

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