106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 328

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress in recognition

of the 10th anniversary of the free and fair elections in Burma and the urgent need to improvethe democratic and human rights of the people ofBurma.

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 328

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas in 1988 thousands of Burmese citizens called for a

democratic change in Burma and participated in peaceful

demonstrations to achieve this result;

Whereas these demonstrations were brutally repressed by the

Burmese military, resulting in the loss of hundreds of

lives;
2

•HCON 328 EH

Whereas despite continued repression, the Burmese people

turned out in record numbers to vote in elections deemed

free and fair by international observers;

Whereas on May 27, 1990, the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi won more

than 60 percent of the popular vote and 80 percent of

the parliamentary seats in the elections;

Whereas the Burmese military rejected the results of the elections, placed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and hundreds of

members of the NLD under arrest, pressured members

of the NLD to resign, and severely restricted freedom of

assembly, speech, and the press;

Whereas 48,000,000 people in Burma continue to suffer

gross violations of human rights, including the right to

democracy, and economic deprivation under a military regime known as the State Peace and Development Council

(SPDC);

Whereas on September 16, 1998, the members of the NLD

and other political parties who won the 1990 elections

joined together to form the Committee Representing the

People’s Parliament (CRPP) as an interim mechanism to

address human rights, economic and other conditions,

and provide representation of the political views and voice

of Members of Parliament elected to but denied office in

1990;

Whereas the United Nations General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights have condemned in nine consecutive resolutions the persecution of religious and ethnic

minorities and the political opposition, and SPDC’s

record of forced labor, exploitation, and sexual violence

against women;
3

•HCON 328 EH

Whereas the United States and the European Union Council

of Foreign Ministers have similarly condemned conditions

in Burma and officially imposed travel restrictions and

other sanctions against the SPDC;

Whereas in May 1999, the International Labor Organization

(ILO) condemned the SPDC for inflicting forced labor on

the people and has banned the SPDC from participating

in any ILO meetings;

Whereas the 1999 Department of State Country Reports on

Human Rights Practices for Burma estimates more than

1,300 people continue to suffer inhumane detention conditions as political prisoners in Burma;

Whereas the Department of State International Narcotics

Control Strategy Report for 2000 determines that Burma

is the second largest world-wide source of illicit opium

and heroin and that there are continuing, reliable reports

that Burmese officials are ‘‘involved in the drug business

or are paid to allow the drug business to be conducted

by others’’, conditions which pose a direct threat to

United States national security interests;

Whereas Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been denied the basic

rights to freedom of movement and assemble with members of the NLD by Burmese security authorities who, on

August 24, 2000, forcibly blocked her and her party from

traveling to NLD township offices near Rangoon;

Whereas after having been halted for nine days at a roadblock, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her party were forcibly returned to Rangoon by Burmese security authorities;

Whereas since their forcible return to Rangoon Daw Aung

San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders have been held in-
4

•HCON 328 EH

communicado in their residences and diplomats and others have been denied access to them;

Whereas the refusal to allow Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to leave

her compound or to allow others access to her has created grave concern for her safety and welfare;

Whereas the NLD party offices have been ransacked and documents seized by Burmese authorities and access to the

party headquarters has been denied to NLD members;

Whereas the Burmese authorities have continued to refuse to

engage in a substantive dialogue with the NLD and other

elements of the democratic opposition; and

Whereas despite these massive violations of human rights and

civil liberties and chronic economic deprivation, Daw

Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the NLD have continued to call for a peaceful political dialogue with the

SPDC to achieve a democratic transition: Now, therefore,

be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—

3 (1) United States policy should strongly sup4 port the restoration of democracy in Burma, includ5 ing implementation of the results of the free and fair

6 elections of 1990;

7 (2) United States policy should continue to call

8 upon the military regime in Burma known as the

9 State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)—
5

•HCON 328 EH

1 (A) to guarantee freedom of assembly,

2 freedom of movement, freedom of speech, and

3 freedom of the press for all Burmese citizens;

4 (B) to immediately accept a political dia5 logue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Na6 tional League for Democracy (NLD), and eth7 nic leaders to advance peace and reconciliation

8 in Burma;

9 (C) to immediately and unconditionally re10 lease all detained Members elected to the 1990

11 parliament and other political prisoners; and

12 (D) to promptly and fully uphold the terms

13 and conditions of all human rights and related

14 resolutions passed by the United Nations Gen15 eral Assembly, the Commission on Human

16 Rights, the International Labor Organization,

17 and the European Union; and

18 (3) United States policy should sustain current

19 economic and political sanctions against Burma as

20 the appropriate means—

21 (A) to secure the restoration of democracy,

22 human rights, and civil liberties in Burma; and
6

•HCON 328 EH

1 (B) to support United States national se2 curity counternarcotics interests.

Passed the House of Representatives October 10,

2000.

Attest:

Clerk.