III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 20 

Condemning the coup that took place on February 1, 2021, in Burma and 

the Burmese military’s detention of civilian leaders, calling for an immediate and unconditional release of all those detained, promoting accountability and justice for those killed by the Burmese military, and calling 

for those elected to serve in parliament to resume their duties without 

impediment, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 31, 2023 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. MERKLEY, and Ms. COLLINS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the coup that took place on February 1, 2021, 

in Burma and the Burmese military’s detention of civilian leaders, calling for an immediate and unconditional 

release of all those detained, promoting accountability 

and justice for those killed by the Burmese military, 

and calling for those elected to serve in parliament to 

resume their duties without impediment, and for other 

purposes. 

Whereas, on February 1, 2021, the Burmese military and its 

aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) 

conducted a coup against the civilian government hours 

before Parliament was to convene in a new session, reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jan 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR20.IS SR20

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•SRES 20 IS 

sulting in the military junta illegally detaining State 

Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and 

members of Parliament, as well as pro-democracy activists from the 88 Generation and other civil society leaders; 

Whereas, since February 1, 2021, the Burmese military has 

detained more than 13,000 people for exercising their 

rights of freedom of speech and assembly and killed more 

than 2,800 civilians, including children; 

Whereas the Burmese military put the democratically elected 

civilian leadership of Burma, including President Win 

Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, through 

sham trials for fabricated crimes and sentenced them to 

lengthy prison terms in order to remove them from political competition; 

Whereas Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to 33 years in 

prison for multiple spurious charges; 

Whereas the Burmese military has become the world’s second 

largest detainer of journalists, with over 100 journalists 

imprisoned since the coup; 

Whereas the Burmese military’s actions have driven hundreds 

of thousands from their homes and driven thousands to 

flee across Burma’s borders into Thailand, India, and 

Bangladesh; 

Whereas fighting between the Burmese military and several 

ethnic armed groups continues, with government forces 

committing increasingly violent abuses against ethnic 

Karen, Kayah, Kachin, Chin, Rakhine, Shan, and 

Rohingya minority populations; 

Whereas the Burmese military restricted freedom of movement, telecommunications, and the media, limiting access 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•SRES 20 IS 

to information to and from Burma during the COVID– 

19 pandemic, which exacerbated the political crisis initiated by the February 1, 2021 coup; 

Whereas senior generals of the Burmese military have been 

sanctioned by the United States Government for serious 

human rights abuses and for their role in the coup and 

are subject to ongoing investigations into their conduct 

by the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice; 

Whereas, on January 28, 2021, the Union Election Commission rejected allegations by the Burmese military that 

fraud played a significant role in determining the outcome of the November 2020 elections; 

Whereas Burma’s November 2020 elections resulted in the 

National League for Democracy party securing enough 

seats in Parliament to form the next government; 

Whereas Burmese military general Min Aung Hlaing has announced his intentions for Burmese parliamentary elections to be held by August 1, 2023; 

Whereas, without full participation from relevant political 

forces in the country, including civil society groups and 

opposition parties, and without a robust presence of credible international observers, the results of any parliamentary election run by the military regime will not gain 

widespread acceptance, domestically or internationally; 

Whereas, in July 2022, the Burmese military executed four 

male activists accused of aiding insurgents to fight Burma’s army following secret trials; 

Whereas, in response to the Civil Disobedience Movement’s 

opposition protests, the Burmese military has used live 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•SRES 20 IS 

fire, water cannons, and rubber bullets against peace 

protestors; 

Whereas, in December 2021, violent reprisals against peaceful protests resulted in the torture and subsequent deaths 

of over 40 civilians in Sagaing; 

Whereas the Burmese military has a long history of committing atrocities against the people of Burma, including the 

targeting of specific ethnic groups; 

Whereas, as of October 2022, over 943,000 stateless 

Rohingya refugees reside in Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas, 

Bangladesh, the vast majority of whom live in 34 extremely congested camps; 

Whereas, on March 21, 2022, the United States Secretary of 

State formally determined that members of the Burmese 

military committed genocide and crimes against humanity 

against Rohingya in 2016 and 2017; 

Whereas the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 

(ASEAN) and ASEAN member states continue to play 

an important role in addressing the crisis in Burma, including through the provision of humanitarian assistance 

in Burma and by preventing junta leadership from participating in ASEAN meetings, absent progress on the 5 

Point Consensus; 

Whereas United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation 

of Human Rights in Myanmar Thomas H. Andrews and 

Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar 

Noeleen Heyzer continue to provide ongoing reporting 

and analysis of the dire and deteriorating situation for 

the men, women, and children of Burma, inside the country and as refugees, including through presentations to 

the United Nations Human Rights Council and the 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•SRES 20 IS 

United Nations General Assembly, and through reports 

that document the illegitimacy of the Burmese junta and 

urge member states to engage in coordinated sanctions 

and weapon embargos against the junta; 

Whereas the Independent Investigative Mechanism for 

Myanmar continues to collect, consolidate, preserve, and 

analyze evidence of serious international crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 

2011, and helps to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings; and 

Whereas, in December 2022, the United Nations Security 

Council adopted Resolution 2669 on Burma, the first resolution on Burma since the country was admitted as a 

member state in 1948, calling for the immediate end to 

all forms of violence and urging restraint and the release 

of all prisoners: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) supports the people of Burma in their quest 

3 for democracy, sustainable peace, and genuine ethnic 

4 and religious reconciliation, and the realization of 

5 internationally recognized human rights for all, in6 cluding for ethnic and religious groups whose human 

7 rights have been violated repeatedly and who have 

8 been disenfranchised historically; 

9 (2) calls on the Burmese military to— 

10 (A) immediately and unconditionally re11 lease all political prisoners detained as a result 

12 of the coup on February 1, 2021; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•SRES 20 IS 

1 (B) immediately restore all forms of com2 munication, including access to the internet 

3 without surveillance; 

4 (C) immediately end the use of violence 

5 and allow for a legal process for accountability 

6 and justice for those unlawfully detained, in7 jured, and killed by the Burmese military; 

8 (D) remove all impediments to free travel 

9 that have been imposed as a result of the coup; 

10 (E) return to power all members of the ci11 vilian government elected in the November 8, 

12 2020, elections and allow them to fulfill their 

13 mandate without impediment; 

14 (F) allow for freedom of expression, includ15 ing the right to protest, peaceful assembly, 

16 press freedom, and freedom of movement; and 

17 (G) allow unfettered reporting from local, 

18 national, and international media; 

19 (3) calls on social media companies to suspend 

20 the accounts of the Union Solidarity and Develop21 ment Party and the Burmese military that have 

22 used their platforms to spread disinformation, fear, 

23 and threats of violence; 

24 (4) supports the use of all diplomatic, economic, 

25 and development tools to ensure that vulnerable 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•SRES 20 IS 

1 groups, including ethnic and religious groups, as well 

2 as all children, youth, and teachers in educational 

3 settings are safe, and schools and universities are 

4 not targeted for attacks or use by the Burmese mili5 tary; 

6 (5) expresses grave concern for the safety and 

7 security of the more than 1,000,000 internally dis8 placed persons (referred to in this resolution as 

9 ‘‘IDPs’’) and refugees who have been displaced by 

10 the Burmese military and now face challenging con11 ditions in camps; 

12 (6) expresses grave concern for the 17,600,000 

13 people of Burma who are in need of humanitarian 

14 aid, including the 1,500,000 IDPs in Burma, of 

15 which some 165,000 remain in the southeast, adding 

16 to those already displaced in Rakhine, Chin, Shan, 

17 and Kachin states; 

18 (7) appreciates the generosity of Burma’s 

19 neighboring countries, including Thailand, India, 

20 and Bangladesh, and encourages them to meaning21 fully assist refugees who have fled and continue to 

22 flee the Burmese military, including through the de23 livery of cross-border humanitarian assistance and 

24 with recognition of the protracted nature of the con25 flict; and 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•SRES 20 IS 

1 (8) calls on the President, the Secretary of 

2 State, and the Secretary of Defense to fully imple3 ment section 7008 of the Department of State, For4 eign Operations, and Related Programs Appropria5 tions Act, 2021 (division K of Public Law 116–260), 

6 the BURMA Act of 2022 (subtitle E of title LV of 

7 division E of Public Law 117–263), and any similar 

8 or successor law governing United States foreign as9 sistance following a coup, and to immediately— 

10 (A) impose targeted restrictions aimed at 

11 the Burmese military, military-owned or con12 trolled enterprises, and those responsible for the 

13 February 1, 2021, coup; 

14 (B) work with the international commu15 nity, including at the United Nations Security 

16 Council, with United States allies in the region, 

17 and with the Association of Southeast Asian 

18 Nations, to condemn the coup, delegitimize the 

19 junta and any military-run elections announced 

20 by the junta, and take steps to ensure that 

21 international economic engagement in Burma 

22 does not contribute to human rights abuses or 

23 benefit individuals connected to the coup; 

24 (C) support conditionality on diplomatic, 

25 economic, and security relations with Burma, 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
9 

•SRES 20 IS 

1 including using the voice and vote of the United 

2 States at multilateral development institutions, 

3 until all those detained in the February 1, 

4 2021, coup are released and there has been a 

5 full restoration of the civilian-controlled par6 liament reflecting the November 8, 2020, elec7 tion results; 

8 (D) utilize the United States Government’s 

9 position on the United Nations Security Council 

10 to bring about greater international cooperation 

11 in the pursuit of justice and accountability in 

12 Burma; 

13 (E) empower and provide assistance to the 

14 National Unity Government of the Republic of 

15 the Union of Myanmar, the National Unity 

16 Consultative Council, the Civil Disobedience 

17 Movement in Myanmar, and other entities pro18 moting democracy in Burma through nonviolent 

19 efforts, including channeling aid through local 

20 civil society organizations along the Thai and 

21 Indian borders that are not controlled by the 

22 junta, while simultaneously denying legitimacy 

23 and resources to the junta; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
10 

•SRES 20 IS 

1 (F) promote national reconciliation among 

2 the diverse ethnic and religious groups in 

3 Burma; 

4 (G) counter support to the junta by the 

5 People’s Republic of China and the Russian 

6 Federation and other supporters of the military 

7 regime; and 

8 (H) secure the restoration of democracy, 

9 the establishment of an inclusive and represent10 ative civilian government and a reformed mili11 tary reflecting the diversity of Burma and 

12 under civilian control, and the enactment of 

13 constitutional, political, and economic reform in 

14 Burma. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB