MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
12.12.2006
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Gintaras Didžiokas,
on behalf of the UEN Group
on Burma/Myanmar
B6‑0658/06
European Parliament resolution on Burma/Myanmar
The European Parliament,
- -having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma/Myanmar,
- having regard to Council Common Position 2006/318/CFSP of 27 April 2006 renewing restrictive measures against Burma/Myanmar,
- -having regard to the report Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar published by the Secretary General of UN on 10 October 2005,
- -having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
- A.whereas the promises for political reform and national reconciliation by Burma's authoritarian military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), remain totally unmet, and whereas it continues to violate the basic rights and freedoms of Burmese people and excludes various ethnic people from political process,
- B.whereas the National Convention, first convened in 1993 to draft a constitution and which has been suspended many times since then, resumed on 10 October 2006 but still lacks any credibility due to the absence of many representative groups, most notably the National League for Democracy (NLD),
- C.whereas in May 2006 the Burmese government extended for an unlimited period the detention under house arrest of the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 10 of the last 16 years under house arrest,
- D.whereas a number of prominent student leaders were arrested on 27 September 2006,
- E.whereas since December 2005 the Red Cross has been banned from visiting political prisoners in country jails and whereas recently the organisation has been ordered by the government to close five of its field offices, some of which deal with victims of conflict in Burma's border regions,
1. Condemns the Burmese military government's brutal campaign against ethnic groups involving forcible relocations; reports estimate that in 2006 alone, 82,000 people were forced to leave their homes in eastern Burma, bringing the number of internally displaced people within Burma to at least 500,000;
2. Demands the immediate release of and full freedom of movement and expression for Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, other political leaders and all political prisoners held by the SPDC;
3. Refuses to recognise the legitimacy of any constitutional proposals produced by the National Convention so long as it does not include the NLD and other political parties; calls, therefore, on the SPDC to start immediately a meaningful dialogue with the NLD, the winner of the 1990 elections, and ethnic groups to bring about a return to democracy and respect for human rights in Burma;
4. Calls on the SPDC to allow the Red Cross to resume prison visits, suspended since December 2005;
5. Deplores the SPDC's recent closure of five field offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (in Mandalay, Mawlamyine, Hpa-an, Taunggyi and Kyaing Tong), effectively making it impossible for the organisation to carry out its humanitarian work for the most vulnerable, and calls on the SPDC to allow these offices to re-open without delay;
6. Welcomes the International Labour Organization's decision to take its concerns about the SPDC's abhorrent use of forced labour before the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice;
7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the ASEAN and ASEM member states, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD, the SPDC, the UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur for Burma.