H. Res. 1677 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
November 18, 2010. 
Whereas the current military regime, officially known as the 
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), known 
previously as the State Law and Order Restoration Coun-
cil (SLORC), held multi-party elections in 1990; 
Whereas despite the threat and pressure by the military re-
gime to vote for the candidates of the military-backed 
National Unity Party (NUP), the people of Burma voted 
82 percent of parliament seats for the candidates of the 
National League for Democracy (NLD) party, led by for-
merly detained leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and allied 
ethnic political parties; 
Whereas the military regime refused to honor the election re-
sults and arrested and imprisoned both democracy activ-
ists and elected members of parliament; 
Whereas the SPDC over a period of 14 years held a National 
Convention to draft a new constitution in which the proc-
ess was tightly controlled, repressive, and undemocratic; 
Whereas the NLD walked out of the convention in 1995 be-
cause participants were not allowed to table alternative 
proposals or voice disagreement with the military regime; 
Whereas the people of Burma, led by democracy activists and 
Buddhist monks in August and September 2007, took to
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the streets for national reconciliation and the transition 
to democracy; 
Whereas the military regime brutally crushed the peaceful 
protests, killing at least 31 people, leaving nearly 100 
missing, and arresting 700 additional political prisoners 
bringing the number of Burma’s political prisoners to ap-
proximately 2,100; 
Whereas the SPDC has ignored the repeated requests of the 
United Nations and the international community to re-
lease all political prisoners and end attacks against civil-
ians; 
Whereas at the same time, the SPDC assigned a commission 
to draft a constitution on October 18, 2007, with 54 
handpicked participants, in an attempt to ignore past 
election results, to lock in a process that excludes rep-
resentatives of ethnic nationalities and the NLD from po-
litical participation, and to legitimize continued military 
rule; 
Whereas the latest version of the draft constitution seeks to 
codify military rule by reserving 25 percent of parliamen-
tary seats for military appointees, permits the head of 
the military to intervene in national politics, and ensures 
that key government ministries are held by military offi-
cers; 
Whereas amidst the crisis in parts of the country caused by 
Cyclone Nargis, the country’s military junta staged a ref-
erendum to force through a new constitution, drafted 
without input from the opposition; 
Whereas the vote for the referendum did not follow a free 
and fair democratic process;
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Whereas conditions prior to the referendum consisted of re-
pression, a lack of a free media, and a lack of an inde-
pendent referendum commission and courts to supervise 
the vote; 
Whereas the amnesty provision of the constitution removes 
any rights for civil redress for victims of crimes com-
mitted by the military and leaders of the democratic op-
position have refused to accept this constitution; 
Whereas the amnesty provision is a blatant attempt to legiti-
mize the systematic violence in the country for all junta 
inflicted crimes; 
Whereas the ruling military junta in Burma has one of the 
worst human rights records in the world and routinely 
violates the rights of Burmese citizens, including the sys-
tematic use of rape as a weapon of war, extrajudicial 
killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, as well 
as slave and child labor, including child soldiers; 
Whereas the previous detention of Aung San Suu Kyi by the 
Burmese military regime contravenes Article 9 of the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has drawn 
widespread condemnation from around the world; 
Whereas in March 2010, the military regime announced laws 
governing the elections, including the Union Election 
Commission Law, giving their handpicked members com-
plete authority to convene the election, along with final 
decisionmaking power, regarding election postponement, 
rejection, monitoring, forming sub-commissions, forma-
tion of constituencies, compiling list of eligible voters, and 
forming of tribunals to judge election dispute; 
Whereas articles 4 and 10 of the Political Parties Registra-
tion Law bans all monks, nuns, and leaders of other reli-
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gions, government staff, political prisoners and prisoners, 
foreigners, and members of and those related to unlawful 
associations and insurgent groups from forming and par-
ticipating in a political party, further stating that failure 
to expel such individuals from your political party will re-
sult in abolishment of the political party; 
Whereas article 6 of the Political Parties Registration Law 
states that all political parties must pledge to abide and 
protect the military regime’s undemocratic and fraudu-
lent 2008 constitution; 
Whereas the NLD refused to re-register under such unjust 
election laws that would have forced them to expel their 
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and pledge support for the re-
gime’s undemocratic constitution; 
Whereas the military regime’s election commission released 
severely restrictive political party campaign rules banning 
all marches, chanting, and flags and also prohibits any 
speeches or publications that criticize the military regime; 
Whereas the election commission can de-register any political 
party at their discretion; 
Whereas it is impossible under the regime’s 2008 constitution 
and 2010 election laws for the election to be free, fair, 
inclusive, or democratic; and 
Whereas the November 7 election was marked by widespread 
fraud, voter intimidation, cheating, and irregularities re-
ported throughout the country: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) denounces the one-sided, undemocratic, and ille-
gitimate actions of the State Peace and Development
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Council (SPDC) that seek to legitimize military rule 
through a flawed election process; 
(2) denounces the military regime’s dissolution of 
the National League for Democracy and insists that no 
government in Burma can be considered democratic or 
legitimate without the participation of Aung San Suu 
Kyi, the National League for Democracy, and ethnic na-
tionalities and the full restoration of democracy, freedom 
of assembly, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, 
freedom of the press, and internationally recognized 
human rights for all Burmese citizens; 
(3) insists that Burma’s military regime begin an 
immediate transition toward national reconciliation, and 
the full restoration of democracy, freedom of assembly, 
freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of the 
press, and internationally recognized human rights for 
all Burmese citizens; 
(4) demands the immediate and unconditional re-
lease of detained Buddhist monks and all other political 
prisoners and prisoners of conscience; 
(5) calls on the Administration to not support or 
recognize the military regime’s elections as legitimate; 
(6) calls on the Burmese junta to change the cur-
rent flawed constitution by permitting members of the