The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma and in particular its resolution of 11 April 2002(1),

–   having regard to the Council's Common Position 96/635/CFSP on Burma/Myanmar of 28 October 1996(2), as extended by Common Position 2002/831/CFSP of 21 October 2002(3), and to Declaration 6474/03 of 18 February 2003,

–   having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 552/97 of 24 March 1997 temporarily withdrawing access to generalised tariff preferences from the Union of Myanmar(4),

–   having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1081/2000 of 22 May 2000 prohibiting the sale, supply and export to Burma/Myanmar of equipment which might be used for internal repression or terrorism, and freezing the funds of certain persons related to important governmental functions in that country(5),

–   having regard to the report of the EU troika following its visit to Burma of 8-10 September 2002,

A.   whereas Aung San Suu Kyi, who entered into talks with the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in October 2000 to resolve the country's political problems, was released from house arrest in May 2002, but is being increasingly harassed and intimidated by the authorities of Burma, as are those people who wish to see or listen to her,

B.   whereas there are still over 1200 political prisoners in various jails in Burma, who are subject to various forms of mistreatment and torture and have no access to adequate food and healthcare facilities,

C.   whereas recent arrests in the country were clearly politically motivated, in particular those of the Secretary-General of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy and a number of Members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi,

D.   whereas the UN General Assembly in November 2002 strongly urged the SPDC to ensure that the contacts with Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy move without delay into substantive and structured dialogue aimed at democratisation and national reconciliation, and deplored the continued violations of human rights, particularly those directed against persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities and women in Burma, and the denial of religious freedom,

E.   whereas the ILO was able in October 2002 to open a liaison office in Rangoon,

F.   whereas nothing has happened since the UN Special Envoy, Tan Sri Razali Ishmael, was told by the SPDC in July 2002 that talks with Aung San Suu Kyi would begin soon,

G.   whereas the Burmese army is continuing to inflict gross human rights abuses on members of the ethnic nationality civilian population, such as the Arakan, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Shan and Mon peoples, including beatings, rape, destruction of food supplies, forced relocations, forced labour, torture, extrajudicial summary executions and disappearances,

H.   whereas ethnic nationalities' leaders, meeting jointly in Copenhagen in September 2002, again offered to enter into a nationwide ceasefire and negotiate a peaceful political settlement with the NLD and the SPDC through a 'Tripartite Dialogue' based on the principles of the 1947 Panglong Agreement - equality, voluntary participation and democracy,

I.   whereas on 28 January 2003 the EU invited SPDC Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win to attend the EU-ASEAN Ministers' meeting in Brussels,

J.   whereas on 11 February 2003 Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced after a visit to Rangoon that the Burmese Senior General Than Shwe had agreed to Thailand's offer to try to persuade the ethnic nationalities fighting Rangoon to come to the negotiating table,

K.   whereas on 18 February 2003 the EU Presidency stated that repression, political arrests and detention in Burma have increased in spite of the ILO presence, the UN Special Envoy's attempts to facilitate a dialogue, and the visit of Amnesty International,

L.   whereas Burma is currently facing a banking crisis brought about by opaque banking practices and crony capitalism, and whereas there is significant European investment in Burma, particularly in oil and gas,

M.   whereas most new foreign investment in Burma is made through military-backed companies, and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions has called on oil and gas companies 'to cease investment in Burma while the use of forced labour continues',

N.   whereas the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has called for economic sanctions against Burma, and has published a list of companies investing in Burma,

O.   whereas the UNHCR, which is responsible for safeguarding and supporting Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh, has decided to gradually withdraw its activities from Bangladesh, starting June 2003, and eventually close its office there,

P.   reiterating its condemnation of the failure to respect the results of the May 1990 elections and the maintenance of military rule, and regretting that the Committee representing the People's Parliament created in 1998, which represents the Parliament elected in 1990, has still not been allowed to convene,

1.  Urges the SPDC to revive the process of dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi in order to solve the many critical problems Burma is currently facing, including the banking crisis;

2.  Calls upon the SPDC to show its commitment to the political dialogue process by stopping the harassment and intimidation by the Union Solidarity Development Association of Aung San Suu Kyi, the people who want to see or listen to her and the Burmese democracy movement in general;

3.  Urges the SPDC to demonstrate convincingly its intention to bring about national reconciliation by fully supporting the efforts of Prime Minister Thaksin of Thailand to mediate between the SPDC and the ethnic nationalities;

4.  Urges the Royal Thai Government to facilitate the negotiations by allowing the ethnic nationalities' leaders to meet in Thailand to discuss their future and work out a response to the mediation offer made by the Thai Prime Minister;

5.  Urges the SPDC, in particular, to respond to the offer to enter into a nationwide ceasefire and negotiate a political settlement with the ethnic nationality leaders, on the basis of the principles of the 1947 Panglong Agreement;

6.  Urges the SPDC to immediately and unconditionally release Sai Nyunt Lwin, General Secretary of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, who was arrested on 6 February 2003, and to stop the restrictions on freedom of movement and association imposed on other political leaders, of Burmese or ethnic nationality;

7.  Urges the military government to release all remaining political prisoners without preconditions, starting immediately with those who have already completed their sentences;

8.  Urges the SPDC to improve the appalling conditions in prisons and labour camps, and to ensure that prisoners have access to adequate food and healthcare facilities;

9.  Stresses the need to implement strictly the law of October 2000 banning the use of forced labour and to ensure the end of this widespread practice, and urges the SPDC to allow the ILO unrestricted access to areas of the country where the use of forced labour is being reported;

10.  Strongly urges the SPDC to stop the systematic use of rape against ethnic women as a weapon of repression; calls on the Commission to bring these cases before the UN and demand that an independent international inquiry be set up;

11.  Calls on the Commission to ensure that support for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the areas most in need is possible without political interference by the military, and that international NGOs are involved;

12.  Urges the SPDC to put an end forthwith to all human rights violations committed by the Burmese army, the military intelligence services, the police and other security forces, including the widespread practice of torture, forced relocations, forced labour and extrajudicial and summary executions, and to bring those responsible to justice;

13.  Stresses that the military regime in Rangoon needs to understand that the EU does not regard minimal concessions as a sign of real change, and insists that the EU Common Position be strengthened in April 2003 to include a foreign investment ban and other measures;

14.  Calls on the Commission to bring the case of the continued widespread use of forced labour in Burma to the attention of the World Trade Organisation, which in December 1996, in its Singapore Ministerial Declaration, pledged: 'We renew our commitment to the observance of internationally recognised core labour standards. The International Labour Organisation is the competent body to set and deal with these standards';

15.  Calls on the Commission to ensure that there will be no forced repatriation of the Rohingya Muslims to Burma and to urge the SPDC to immediately end all human rights violations in Rakhine State;

16.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the ASEAN member states, the Governments of India, China and Japan, the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi, the SPDC, the ethnic nationality leaders in Burma and the UN Secretary-General.

(1) P5_TA(2002)0186. (2) OJ L 287, 8.11.1996, p. 1. (3) OJ L 285, 23.10.2002, p. 7. (4) OJ L 85, 27.3.1997, p. 8. (5) OJ L 122, 24.5.2000, p. 29.