MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

17.6.2008

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 Geoffrey Van Orden, Urszula Gacek, Filip Kaczmarek, Mario Mauro, Colm Burke, Bernd Posselt, Eija-Riitta Korhola, Laima Liucija Andrikienė, Tunne Kelam
on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
on Burma : continued detention of political prisoners

B6‑0320/2008

European Parliament resolution on Burma : continued detention of political prisoners

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma,

–  having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD) has spent thirteen of the last eighteen years as a political prisoner under house arrest, and whereas an additional 1,900 individuals have been imprisoned in atrocious conditions merely for expressing the wish to bring democracy to Burma,

B.  whereas on 27 May the Burmese military junta ordered the extension for a sixth consecutive year of the detention under house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and whereas the regime continues to resist international pressure for the release of political prisoners unjustly held in Burmese gaols,

C.  whereas on 11 June official newspapers of the Burmese military junta, including the regime mouthpiece, the New Light of Myanmar, called for the public flogging of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and whereas the military junta has refused to distance itself from this disgraceful suggestion,

D.   whereas the UN human rights expert for Burma has demanded that the ruling junta investigate reports that its soldiers shot dead a number of prison inmates during last month's cyclone, and whereas the regime has refused to sanction any such investigation,

E.  whereas, sofar from heeding the call from the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the release of prisoners, on 10 June the Burmese regime actually arrested a further 16 individuals, victims of Cyclone Nargis, for the crime of presenting themselves at the offices of the United Nations Development Programme and asking for humanitarian assistance,

1.  Condemns the continued detention under house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and of the 1,900 additional individuals imprisoned for their political beliefs, and insists upon their immediate release,

2.  Denounces the prospect of the flogging of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a crime against humanity,

3.  Calls for a judicial investigation under UN auspices of reports that the Burmese army murdered political prisoners in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis,

4.  Deplores the ongoing imprisonment by the Burmese authorities of the victims of Cyclone Nargis who attempt to seek aid from international aid organisations in Burma,

5.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the EU Special Envoy for Burma, the Burmese State Peace and Development Council, the governments of the ASEAN and ASEM member states, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, Daw 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.