MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

14 novembre 2005

on Burma/Myanmar
tabled by Cecilia Malmström and Frédérique Ries
on behalf of the ALDE Group

NB: This motion for a resolution is available in the original language only.

B6-0592/2005

European Parliament resolution on Burma

The European Parliament,

• -having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma, in particular those of 11 April 2002, 13 March 2003, 5 June 2003, 4 September 2003, 11 March 2004, 16 September 2004 and 18 may 2005;
• -having regard to Council Common Position 96/635/CFSP of 28 October 1996 defined by the Council on the basis of Article J.2 of the Treaty on European Union, on Burma/Myanmar, renewed and extended by Council Common Position 2005/340/CSFP of 25 April 2005;
• -having regard to the recent report published on 20 September 2005: "Threat to peace - a call to the UN Security Council to act in Burma", commissioned by Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa;
• A.whereas Burma remains on one of the most repressive countries in Asia, despite promises for political reform and national reconciliation by its authoritarian military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC);
• B.whereas SPDC restructs the basic rights and freedoms of all Burmese and continues to attack and harass the winner of the 1990 elections, the National League of Democracy, and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest;
• C.whereas the SPDC continues to commit systematic widespread and well documented abuses in ongoing conflicts with ethnic minority rebel groups, including extrajudicial execution, rape, torture, forced relocation of entire villages and forced labour;
• D.whereas the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy, Rizali Ismail has not been allowed back into Burma since march 2004 and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro since November 2003;
• E.whereas since November 2004, ASEAN parliamentarians - from Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand - have been calling on their respective governments not to allow Burma to assume the chair of ASEAN in 2006 (The Asean interparliamentary Myanmar Centers);
• F.whereas the US Government has officially stated that it will not participate in any ASEAN meeting should Burma assumed the chair of ASEAN in 2006;
• G.Welcoming the report: "A threat to peace - A call for the UN Security Council to act in Burma";

1.  Condemns the disregard of the Burma junta for the welfare of the people of Burma;

2.  Believes that the United Nations Security Council should urgently consider the human rights and political situation in Burma in order to address widespread and systematise abuse of human rights by the military goverment;

3.  Calls on the EU Presidency and the EU Member States in the UN Security Council to put Burma on the agenda;

4.  Calls on the Members of the UNSC to pass a resolution which should contain the following points:

• ▪require the Government of Burma to work with the Secretary General's office in implementing a plan for national reconciliation and a restoration of a democratically elected government;
• ▪request the Secretary General to remain vigorously engaged with the dispute resolution process and require that he report back to the Security Council on a regular basis;
• ▪urge the Government of Burma to ensure the immediate, safe, and unhindered access to all parts of the country for the United Nations and international humanitarian organisations to provide humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable groups of the population, including internally displaced persons and
• ▪call for the immediate and unconditional release and full freedom of movement and expression of Aung San Suu Kyi and all prisoners of conscience in Burma.

5.  Condemns the Burmese regime's campaign of ethnic cleansing against several major ethnic groups fighting for autonomy;

6.  Condemns the use of chemical weapons and urges the government of Burma immediately to stop any new attack using chemical arms;

7.  Call on the Government of Burma to undertake all the relevant measures to allow the Joint Government of the Union of Myanmar - International Labour Organisation Plan of Action for the elimination of Forced Labour Practices in Myanmar to come into force;

8.  Insists that the EU's Common Policy on Burma to strengthened immediately by:

• ▪officially stating that the EU will not participate in the ASEAN Regional Forum, the ASEAN Post Ministerial Meeting and other ASEAN meetings and events should Burma become the chair of ASEAN in 2006 without meeting any of the minimum conditions;
• ▪calling on travel agencies and independent tour operators in the EU to stop promoting and selling tourist visit to Burma;

9.  Calls for a high-ranking EU envoy to be appointed to work towards securing the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, and developing a comprehensive EU strategy on Burma;

10.  Commends the efforts of the ASEAN parliamentarians to exercise their influence with their respective governments so as to bring about change for the better in Burma; and urges the ASEAN states to reconsider the assumption that Burma should chair ASEAN in 2006;

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, 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.