The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its previous resolutions of 25 November 2010, 20 May 2010, 11 February 2010, 22 October 2008, 18 June 2008, 22 April 2008, 26 September 2007, 21 June 2007 and 14 December 2006 on Burma/Myanmar,

–   having regard to the Council Decision 2010/232/CFSF, Council Decision 2011/504/CFSP and Council Decision 2011/239/CFSP,

–   having regards to the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma/Myanmar of 12 March 2012,

–   having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas as result of by elections the National League for Democracy won 43 out of the 44 seat contested; whereas opposition leader Auung San Suu Kyi won a parliamentary seat; whereas this result was achieved despite repeated obstructions on the campaign of the NLD, threats, harassment, vote buying and censorship;

B.  whereas for the first time in the country’s history foreign observers and journalists were allowed to witness the poll;

C. whereas these elections represent another step in a reform process which started in 2010 when the military junta hold elections and passed over power, at least technically, to a civilian parliament; whereas the release of political prisoners, the start of the dialogue between the government and the opposition, efforts to obtain long-term peace agreements with many ethnic minority armies on the perimeters of the country, first steps to establish freedom of media represent positive steps towards democratisation of the country;

D. whereas despite these positive developments serious problems still persist: the military’s favoured party still controls three quarters of the parliamentary seats; the constitution still favours this party and allows the armed forces to return to politics at any time; which contradicts normal democratic procedures and the rule of law; the human rights situation;

E.  whereas there are serious human rights concerns that remain to be addressed regarding legislative policies, prisoner releases, poverty and development as well as rights of ethnic minorities;

F.  whereas serious human rights violations are continuing in fighting in Burma’s northern Kachin State and humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of displaced civilians is blocked;

1.  Congratulates the people f Burma/Myanmar on the conduct of the by-elections of 1 April; congratulates Auung San Suu Kyi and the members of the National Leagues for Democracy on their success; calls on the government and parliament of Burma/Myanmar to remove any possible obstacle for the newly elected politicians to start their work in the Parliament;

2.  Calls on the government and parliament of Burma/Myanmar to continue and speed up the transition to genuine democracy and rule of law; reaffirms the essential importance of a genuine process of dialogue and national reconciliation for a transition to democracy;

3.  Calls on the government and parliament of Burma/Myanmar to address the long-standing social, economic and development challenges, particularly in conflict-affected and ethnic minority-dominated border areas;

4.  Urges the Government of Myanmar to release all prisoners of conscience without delay, without conditions and with full restoration of their political rights and to desist from further politically motivated arrests;

5.  Welcomes the creation of the National Human Rights commission; calls upon the Government of Burma/Myanmar to ensure a full, transparent, effective, impartial and independent investigation into all reports of human rights violations, and to bring to justice those responsible in order to end impunity for such crimes;

6.  Expresses its deep concern about the armed conflict in some areas and calls upon the Government of Burma/Myanmar to protect the civilian population in all parts of the country; calls on all sides to strictly respect existing the ceasefire agreements;

7.  Reiterates its deep concern about the continuing discrimination, human rights violations, violence, displacement and economic deprivation affecting numerous ethnic minorities, including, but not limited to, the Rohingya ethnic minority in Northern Rakhine State, and calls upon the Government of Burma/Myanmar to take immediate action to bring about an improvement in their respective situations;

8.  Strongly calls upon the Government of Burma/Myanmar to put an immediate end to the recruitment and use of child soldiers, to intensify measures to ensure the protection of children from armed conflict and to pursue its collaboration with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict;

9.  Calls on the EU to suspend the sanctions against Burma/Myanmar; expresses its intention to closely monitor the development in the country;

10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the government and parliament of Burma/Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD, the governments of the ASEAN and ASEM member states, the ASEM secretariat, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, the UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur for Burma.