MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
4.9.2007
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Frithjof Schmidt, Raül Romeva i Rueda
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
on Burma (Myanmar)
B6‑0347/2007
European Parliament resolution on Burma (Myanmar)
The European Parliament,
- -having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma, notably the ones of 14 December 2006 and 21 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, calling for an early release of all political prisoners and for an end to the military campaign against civilians in conflict areas,
- -having regard to the EU Presidency declaration of 28 August calling for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leaders of the opposition and political prisoners and to engage with all the different components of the society of the country,
- -having regard to the conclusions of the 8th ASEM Foreign Ministers meeting hold in Hamburg on 28-29 May 2007 calling for the "early lifting of restrictions placed on political parties" and "deploring the lack of tangible progress in the declared transition towards a civilian and democratic government",
- having regard to the statement of UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon of 18 July 2007 urging the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to ensure that "subsequent steps in Myanmar's political roadmap are as inclusive, participatory and transparent as possible with a view to allowing all the relevant parties to Myanmar's national reconciliation process to fully contribute to defining their county's future",
- having regard to the letter to the UN Secretary-General, signed by 92 Burmese MPs-Elect of 1 August 2007, which include a proposal for National Reconciliation and democratization in Burma,
- having regard to the statement of Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urging the Burmese Government to immediately release the recently arrested demonstrators and to engage in dialogue with them,
- having regard to the allegations of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro that detainees have been severely beaten and tortured,
- -having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas over one hundred human rights activists and peaceful protesters have been arrested in Burma, since demonstrations started on 19 August in Rangoon and some other cities, including the leader of the 88 Generation Student movement, Nin Ko Naing,
B. whereas protests broke out after the government had announced drastic price increases for gas and fuel of up to 500% which let to huge increases in basic commodity prices causing further unprecedented hardship to a majority of Burma's poverty stricken population,
C. considering that according to the local UN representation, almost 90 % of the people live around or below the poverty line of 1 dollar per day,
D. whereas the authorities have exercised heavy intimidation on the demonstrators with support of government sponsored paramilitary groups by beating scores of protesters and conducting midnight searches of homes of prominent activists, confiscating computers and telephones,
E. whereas according to reports of human rights groups, the government has started recruiting Muslim civilians to intimidate demonstrators with the aim to stir up religious tension with the predominant Buddhist population of Burma and in order to distract public attention from serious political issues,
F. whereas the National Convention, which first convened in 1993 to draw up guidelines for a new constitution finalised its work on 3 September but lacks credibility because delegates were hand-picked by the Government and many representative groups, most notably the NLD, are absent,
G. having regard to warning from the Asian Development Bank and environmentalists about the rapid degradation of Burma's environment due to pollution of ground water and rivers, the uncontrolled plundering of forests and fish stocks as well as the indiscriminate gold and gem mining for export under the control of the army,
1. Expresses its grave concern about the adverse effect which the extraordinary price increase for basic commodities might have on Burma's population and that the Burmese government is apparently incapable to bring the countries extraordinary natural resources in oil, gas, coal and timber to such gain that the country moves out of the status of one of the very poorest countries in the world;
2. Condemns the violent crack down of the authorities on peaceful demonstrators and the renewed confrontations between pro-democracy activists and government organised thugs and paramilitary groups;
3. Calls for the immediate release of all those who have been merely detained for the exercise of their right of expression and insists that nobody should be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment, all detainees should have the right to a fair trial, legal assistance access to their families and to medical treatment;
4. Urges the governments of Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands and United Kingdom to make a concerted effort to convene an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council on Burma in order to send a Special Mission of Inquiry to investigate human rights violations in Burma;
5. Reiterates its condemnation of the SPDC for its failure to make any significant move towards democracy, despite having ruled for over forty years and calls for an end to repression of the political opposition, the release of the hundreds of political prisoners and to terminate the repression of ethnic minorities;
5. Regrets that the finalized national convention was concluded without taking account of the recommendations made by the UN Secretary-general to transform it into an inclusive and democratic constitution making process and thus, does not give much hope for national reconciliation and restoration of democracy in Burma;
6. Strongly urges the military regime to invite all parties concerned for a substantive political dialogue and find a common framework for a constitution, based on which all parties concerned can jointly participate in a democratic transition and nation building process;
7. Calls on the Government to create an independent environmental agency in Burma to monitor pollution risks and to increase awareness and know how on the environmental degradation threatening the country's very future;
8. Calls on all parties involved in the planned construction of the Hat Gyi Dam which is supposed to start in November, notably the Burmese Department of Electric Power, to take into due account the human and environmental costs of the project such as the estimated dislocation of up to 10 million people of 13 ethnic groups and to reconsider the construction plans;
4. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, the governments of the ASEAN nations, the National League for Democracy, the State Peace and Development Council, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD, , the UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.