IV
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 471
To urge the Government of Burma (Myanmar) to release Aung San Suu
Kyi, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 29, 1994
Mr. ACKERMAN (for himself and Mr. LEACH) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
RESOLUTION
To urge the Government of Burma (Myanmar) to release
Aung San Suu Kyi, and for other purposes.
Whereas in 1988, the Burmese regime brutally suppressed
nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations, resulting in
the deaths of several thousand people and the imprison-
ment of several thousand others;
Whereas in 1989, the Burmese regime placed under house ar-
rest Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burma’s found-
ing father and the most prominent figure in the pro-de-
mocracy movement;
Whereas in May 1990, the Burmese people in free and fair
elections awarded over 80 percent of the National Assem-
bly seats to the National League for Democracy;
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Whereas the military regime responded to this expression of
the will of the Burmese people not only by refusing to re-
linquish power, but by further cracking down on opposi-
tion politicians and those who supported democracy and
human rights in Burma;
Whereas the inhumane practices of the regime prompted a
quarter million Rohingya refugees to flee into Ban-
gladesh, where most remain today in refugee camps;
Whereas in 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize for her efforts on behalf of a peaceful transi-
tion to democracy in Burma;
Whereas in 1993, several past winners of the Nobel Peace
Prize, having been denied permission to visit Burma,
traveled to Thailand to call for the release of Aung San
Suu Kyi;
Whereas martial law remains in effect in Burma today, with
hundreds of political prisoners in custody, human rights
frequently violated, and national minorities driven into
exile;
Whereas the Government of Burma has denied international
humanitarian agencies free and confidential access to
prisoners;
Whereas the national convention convened by the Burmese
Government in January 1993 to begin work on a new
constitution does not have the mandate of the Burmese
people, nor appear to be progressing toward putting polit-
ical power in the hands of a freely elected civilian govern-
ment;
Whereas the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
and United Nations General Assembly have adopted con-
sensus resolutions deploring the human rights situation
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in Burma and expressing grave concerns about the lack
of progress toward democracy as well as abuses such as
summary and arbitrary executions, torture, forced labor,
and oppressive measures against women and ethnic and
religious minorities;
Whereas Burma has for many years been the world’s largest
producer of opium and heroin;
Whereas the United States Government in each of the past
5 years has denied the Government of Burma certifi-
cation under chapter 8 of part I of the Foreign Assist-
ance Act of 1961 due to a lack of cooperation on narcot-
ics control efforts;
Whereas credible reports continue to link Burmese Govern-
ment officials and military officers to drug trafficking;
Whereas since 1988 the United States has been in the fore-
front of international efforts to promote democracy and
human rights in Burma;
Whereas in 1992, the House of Representatives adopted
House Resolution 473, which condemned human rights
abuses in Burma and called upon the President to seek
a mandatory international arms embargo against Burma;
Whereas in fiscal year 1993 the Congress earmarked
$1,000,000 to support assistance for Burmese refugees
and students on both sides of the Thai/Burma border;
Whereas United States corporations are under increasing
pressure from stockholders to divest their holdings in
Burma and otherwise to refuse to do business in Burma
so long as the current military regime continues to abuse
the political and human rights of its people;
Whereas the Government of Thailand has invited the Bur-
mese regime to participate in some of the meetings of the
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Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July
1994;
Whereas the Government of Thailand has prohibited senior
officials of the National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma from entering Thailand;
Whereas July 19, 1994, will mark the 5th anniversary of
Aung San Suu Kyi’s imprisonment;
Whereas in March 1994 the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights noted measures taken by the Government
of Burma (including the reopening of universities, the re-
lease of over 2,000 political prisoners, the signing of a
Memorandum of Understanding providing for a United
Nations Commission on Human Rights presence in
Arakan province to monitor the voluntary repatriation
and reintegration of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh,
and the achievement of cease-fire agreements with several
ethnic and religious minority groups in Burma), but at
the same time deplored the continued seriousness of the
human rights situation in Burma; and
Whereas the Government of Burma has for the first time
permitted meetings between foreign visitors and political
prisoners (including Aung San Suu Kyi), but continues
to deny the United Nations special rapporteur access to
Aung San Suu Kyi: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. ACTIONS THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN BY THE
GOVERNMENT OF BURMA.
It is the sense of the House of Representatives that
the Government of Burma should—
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(1) immediately and unconditionally release
Burma’s political prisoners, including Aung San Suu
Kyi;
(2) permit the transfer of political power to an
elected civilian government based upon the results of
the 1990 election;
(3) fully respect the human rights and fun-
damental freedoms that are the birthright of all peo-
ples;
(4) end the practice of forced labor, including
portering for the military;
(5) allow free and confidential access to all pris-
oners, including prisoners of conscience, by inter-
national humanitarian agencies;
(6) implement fully the Memorandum of Under-
standing with United Nations Commission on
Human Rights and create the necessary conditions
to ensure an end to the flows of refugees to neigh-
boring countries and to facilitate the speedy repatri-
ation and full reintegration, under conditions of
safety and dignity, of those who have already fled
Burma;
(7) respect fully the obligations set forth in the
1949 Geneva Conventions, in particular the obliga-
tions in common article III, and make use of such
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relief services as may be offered by impartial hu-
manitarian bodies; and
(8) take effective law enforcement actions
against those individuals within the Burmese Gov-
ernment (including the Burmese military), as well as
those outside the government, who are engaged in
the production and trafficking of illicit narcotics.
SEC. 2. ACTIONS THAT SHOULD BE TAKEN BY THE GOV-
ERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
It is further the sense of the House of Representa-
tives that the President, the Secretary of State, and other
United States Government officials and representatives
should—
(1) urge the Government of Burma to release,
immediately and unconditionally, Aung San Suu Kyi
and other political prisoners;
(2) maintain the current United States ban on
all forms of nonhumanitarian assistance to Burma;
(3) disperse the funds previously appropriated
to support assistance for Burmese refugees and stu-
dents along the Thai/Burma border;
(4) maintain current limitations on the provi-
sion of bilateral narcotics control assistance to the
Government of Burma until that government dem-
onstrates a genuine commitment to combating the
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scourge of illicit narcotics production and traffick-
ing;
(5) continue to oppose loans to Burma in ac-
cordance with chapter 8 of part I of the Foreign As-
sistance Act of 1961;
(6) consider imposing further economic sanc-
tions against Burma, and encourage other members
of the international community to take similar steps;
(7) elevate the issues of democracy and human
rights in Burma in the conduct of United States re-
lations with other members of the international com-
munity, particularly in coordination with Japan,
China, and the members of the Association of South-
east Asian Nations;
(8) maintain United States support for the ap-
pointment by the United Nations Secretary General
of a special envoy to focus on conflict resolution as
the basis of national reconciliation and the restora-
tion of democracy in Burma;
(9) ensure that, during the July 1994 Post-
Ministerial Conference of the Association of South-
east Asian Nations, the Secretary of State calls on
the members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations to support the international consensus on
Burma by urging the Government of Burma to un-
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conditionally release Aung San Suu Kyi and to indi-
cate its willingness to cooperate with a special envoy
appointed by the United Nations Secretary General;
(10) maintain the unilateral United States
arms embargo against Burma, and encourage the
other members of the international community, most
particularly the members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations and the People’s Republic
of China, to prohibit arms sales and transfers to
Burma;
(11) encourage other members of the inter-
national community to halt all nonhumanitarian as-
sistance to Burma or, at a minimum, to condition
any new official assistance on significant progress by
the Government of Burma toward respecting the
human rights and fundamental freedoms of its peo-
ple; and
(12) continue to encourage the United Nations
and its specialized agencies operating in Burma—
(A) to use particular care to ensure that
their activities meet basic human needs, do not
benefit the present military regime in Rangoon,
and promote the enjoyment of internationally
recognized human rights, and