MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
19.6.2007
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Gintaras Didžiokas, Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka, Marcin Libicki, Mieczysław Edmund Janowski
on behalf of the UEN Group
on the situation of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma/Myanmar
B6‑0255/2007
European Parliament resolution on the situation of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma/Myanmar
The European Parliament,
- -having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma/Myanmar, in particular that of 14 of December 2006,
- -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 conclusions of the 8th ASEM Foreign Ministers meeting held in Hamburg on 28 and 29 May 2007,
- -having regard to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro A/HRC/4/14 of 12 February 2007,
- -having regard to the Statement of the UN Secretary General on Burma/Myanmar of 25 May 2007,
- -having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
- A.whereas the promises for political reform and national reconciliation by Burma's authoritarian military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), remain totally unmet and whereas it continues to violate the basic rights and freedoms of Burmese people,
- B.whereas the National Convention, first convened in 1993 to draft a constitution and which has been suspended many times since then, resumed on 10 October 2006 but still lacks any credibility due to the absence of many representative groups, most notably the National League for Democracy (NLD),
- C.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,
1. Demands the immediate release of and full freedom of movement and expression for Ms Aung San Suu Kyi;
2. Demands the immediate release of other political leaders and all political prisoners, estimated at 1200 by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Sérgio Pinheiro;
3. Condemns SPDC's unlawful methods of political and ethnic repression;
4. Regrets that EU's efforts to engage in a dialogue with Burma during the last ASEM summit by allowing the Burmese Foreign Minister to participate have failed to bring any results and improvements in human rights in the country;
5. Recognises that the EU's targeted sanctions have not focused on economic areas that earn the regime significant revenues and, as a result, have so far failed to achieve the desired impact on those directly responsible for the suffering of the Burmese people; calls on the Council to ensure that all Member States rigorously apply existing restrictive measures;
6. Calls on the Council to expand the scope of the sanctions and to enlarge the list of those targeted, so that it includes all SPDC ministers, deputies, members, supporters and workers, in addition to their family members, and businessmen and other prominent individuals associated with the regime;
7. Is disappointed by the decision of China and Russia to veto a draft Security Council's resolution on Burma, calling for national reconciliation and democratisation in Burma, presented by the United States on 12 January 2007;
8. Calls on the international community to take all necessary measures, including economic pressure, in order to promote the effective protection of the rights of the Burmese people and the strengthening of the rule of law;
9. 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.