MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

4.9.2007

with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Gintaras Didžiokas, Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka, Mieczysław Edmund Janowski, Ryszard Czarnecki, Wojciech Roszkowski
on behalf of the UEN Group
on human rights in Burma/Myanmar

B6‑0343/2007

European Parliament resolution on human rights in Burma/Myanmar

The European Parliament,

• -having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma/Myanmar, in particular that of 19 of June 2007,
• -having regard to the objectives of Council Common position 2007/248/CSFP of 23 April 2007 on renewing restrictive measures against Burma/Myanmar,
• -having regard to the letter to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, signed by 92 Burmese MPs-Elect, of 1 August 2007, which includes a proposal for National Reconciliation and democratization in Burma,
• -having regard to the statement by the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Jakob Kellenberger, of 28 June 2007,
• -having regard to the Statement of the UN Secretary General on Burma/Myanmar of 23 August 2007,
• -having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
• A.whereas on 15 of August 2007 the Government of Burma increased the costs of all vehicle fuels by up to five times the previous level without prior announcement,
• B.whereas the fuel price increase triggered the largest non-violent demonstrations in Burma in five years, during which more than 100 human rights protesters were arrested,
• C.whereas these arrests violate fundamental right of assembly, association and expression, and are arbitrary and unlawful under international law,
• D.whereas 30% of Burma's population, an estimated 15 million people, are subsisting below the poverty line and the spill-over effect on prices of other basic items will be very difficult to bear for many,
• E.whereas the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) continues to subject the people of Burma to appalling human rights abuses, such as forced labour, persecution of dissidents, conscription of child soldiers, and forced relocation,
• F.whereas on 25 May 2007 the Burmese military government extended, once again arbitrarily and for yet another year, the house arrest of the opposition leader and the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 11 of the last 17 years in detention,
• G.whereas the National Convention, first convened in 1993 to draft a constitution and which has been suspended many times since then, is in the final phase of the drafting process, but lacks any credibility due to the absence of democratically elected representatives, most notably the National League for Democracy (NLD),
• H.whereas the Government of Burma recently ordered the ICRC to close a number of its field offices in the country, effectively making it impossible for the organisation to carry out its humanitarian work benefiting the most vulnerable,

1.  Condemns the SPDS' recent wave of arrests of more than 100 peaceful protesters and human rights activists who took to the streets following the unannounced and sharp increases in fuel prices; demands the immediate and unconditional release of all those who have been arrested since the protests began on 19 August 2007;

2.  Strongly condemns the SPDC's use of civilian mobs such as the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and the Swan Ahr Shin (SAS) to arrest, attack, intimidate and threaten protestors and activists, and calls for the immediate disbanding of these and similar groups;

3.  Condemns SPDC's unlawful methods of political and ethnic repression of the Burmese people and its persistent persecution and imprisonment of pro-democracy activists;

4.  Deplores the fact that, despite the condition of the country, regional and international criticism and forty-five years of rule, the SPDC has failed to make any substantial progress towards democracy;

5.  Demands the immediate release of and full freedom of movement and expression for Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders and all political prisoners, estimated at 1200 by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar;

6.  Refuses to recognise the legitimacy of any constitutional proposals produced by the National Convention, consisting only of SPDS' appointed delegates; calls on the Government of Burma to form a new Constitution drafting committee, which would include representatives of the NLD, the winner of the 1990 elections, and other political parties and groups;

7.  Deplores the SPDC's closure of the International Committee of the Red Cross field offices and refusal to enter into any kind of dialogue which brought the committee's operations to a complete standstill; calls on the SPDC to allow these offices to re-open without delay;

8.  Welcomes the renewal of EU targeted sanctions, recognises that they have failed to achieve the desired impact on those directly responsible for the suffering of the Burmese people, and therefore calls on the Council to analyse the weaknesses in the present sanctions system, and to introduce such measures as may be necessary in order to guarantee a greater degree of effectiveness;

9.  Urges the governments of the UK, France, Belgium, Italy, and Slovakia, that are all members of the Security Council, to make a concerted effort to introduce, and obtain unanimous backing for, a binding resolution in regard to Burma, including the release of Aung San Suu Kyi;

10.  Urges China, India and Russia to use their considerable economic and political leverage with the Burmese regime in order to bring about substantial improvements in the country and, in any case, to cease the supply of weaponry and other strategic resources;

11.  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 UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur for Burma.