MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
21.4.2008
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Dariusz Maciej Grabowski, Adam Bielan, Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka and Ryszard Czarnecki
on behalf of the UEN Group
on the situation in Burma
B6‑0191/2008
European Parliament resolution on the situation in Burma
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma, in particular that of 14 December 2006 and 19 June 2007,
– having regard to the Council conclusions of 19 November 2007 adopting strengthened and additional restrictive measures against Burma,
– having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 194/2008 of 25 February 2008 renewing and strengthening the restrictive measures in respect of Burma and repealing Regulation (EC) No 817/2006,
– having regard to the letter of 1 August 2007 to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, signed by 92 Burmese MPs-Elect, which includes a proposal for national reconciliation and democratisation in Burma,
– having regard to the statement by the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Jakob Kellenberger, of 28 June 2007,
– having regard to the UN Secretary-General's statement on Burma/Myanmar of 23 August 2007,
– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) continues to subject the people of Burma to appalling human rights abuses, such as forced labour, persecution of dissidents, conscription of child soldiers and forced relocation,
B. whereas the arrests in Burma violate fundamental rights of assembly, association and expression, and are arbitrary and unlawful under international law,
C. whereas 30% of Burma's population, an estimated 15 million people, are subsisting below the poverty line and the spill-over effect on prices of other basic items will be very difficult to bear for many,
D. whereas the violent crushing of protests led by Buddhist monks and democracy activists in Burma in late 2007 has shaken the political status quo and the international community has been mobilised to an unprecedented extent,
E. 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 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 11 of the last 17 years in detention,
F. whereas the National Convention, first convened in 1993 to draft a constitution and suspended many times since then, is in the final phase of the drafting process, but lacks any credibility due to the absence of democratically elected representatives, most notably the National League for Democracy (NLD),
G. whereas the Government of Burma recently ordered the ICRC to close a number of its field offices in the country, effectively making it impossible for the organisation to carry out its humanitarian work benefiting the most vulnerable,
1. Strongly condemns the SPDC's use of civilian mobs such as the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and the Swan Ahr Shin (SAS) to arrest, attack, intimidate and threaten protestors and activists, and calls for the immediate disbanding of these and similar groups;
2. Condemns the SPDC's unlawful methods of political and ethnic repression of the Burmese people and its persistent persecution and imprisonment of pro-democracy activists;
3. Condemns the SPDC's recent wave of arrests of peaceful protesters and human rights activists who took to the streets following the unannounced and sharp increases in fuel prices; demands the immediate and unconditional release of all those who have been arrested since the protests began on 19 August 2007;
4. Deplores the fact that, despite the condition of the country, regional and international criticism and 45 years of rule, the SPDC has failed to make any substantial progress towards democracy;
5. Deplores the fact that the constitutional referendum process is devoid of any democratic legitimacy, as Burmese citizens lack all basic democratic rights that would allow them to hold an open debate on the constitutional text, amend it and subsequently freely express themselves through a referendum;
6. Condemns the rejection by the Burmese Government of the proposals made by the UN Special Envoy, Mr Ibrahim Gambari, to allow an open and inclusive campaign in the run-up to the constitutional referendum;
7. Refuses to recognise the legitimacy of any constitutional proposals produced by the National Convention, consisting only of SPDC-appointed delegates; calls on the Government of Burma to form a new constitution drafting committee, which would include representatives of the NLD, the winner of the 1990 elections, and other political parties and groups;
8. Deplores the SPDC's closure of the International Committee of the Red Cross field offices and refusal to enter into any kind of dialogue, which have brought the Committee's operations to a complete standstill; calls on the SPDC to allow these offices to re-open without delay;
9. Welcomes the renewal of EU targeted sanctions, recognises that they have failed to achieve the desired impact on those directly responsible for the suffering of the Burmese people, and calls on the Council, therefore, to analyse the weaknesses in the present sanctions system and to introduce such measures as may be necessary in order to guarantee a greater degree of effectiveness;
10. Urges China, India and Russia to use their considerable economic and political leverage with the Burmese regime in order to bring about substantial improvements in the country and, in any case, to stop the supply of weaponry and other strategic resources;
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, 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.