12. Welcomes the fact that the EU has granted Côte d’Ivoire aid amounting to CFAF 200 million to
help it meet the medical needsofpeople woundedafter the lastpresidential elections;
13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Secretary-General of the UN, the Secretary-
General ofthe OAU, Ecowas, the Co-Presidentsofthe ACP-EU Joint Assembly, the Council, the Commis-
sionandthe Government ofCôte d’Ivoire.
9. Human rights: Burma/Myanmar
B5-0850, 0853, 0857, 0861 and 0864/2000
European Parliament resolution on the situation in Burma
The European Parliament,
6dash having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma, in particular its resolutions of 16 September
1999(1), 18May 2000(2)and7 September 2000(3),
6dash havingregardtotherecentdeclarationsoftheEUPresidencyonBurma(25August2000,2September
2000and6October 2000),
6dash having regard tothedecision bytheEUForeign Ministersduring their meeting on9and10October
2000inLuxembourgtoextendthecommonpositiononBurmaforafurthersixmonthsbecausethe
political situation there has not improved, and welcoming the decision by Switzerland and Liechten-
stein to conform to the EU common position by freezing the assets of senior leaders of the ruling
SPDCjunta,
6dash havingregardtothereportoftheUNSpecialRapporteurforHumanRightsinBurma,MrRajsoomer
Lallah, which was released on 16 October and noted that the human rights situation in Burma israpidly deteriorating, anddismayedthathe feltcompelledtoresign,
6dash havingregardtotheopinionissuedbytheUNWorkingGrouponArbitraryDetentionon10October
on the case of James Mawdsley, which declared his imprisonment to be arbitrary under internationallaw,
A. welcomingthenewsofJamesMawdsley’sreleasefromBurmaon20October,butdismayedatreports
thathe was subjected tobeating in Keng Tung prison during the lastmonthofhisdetention,
B. welcoming the news that six elderly political prisoners have now been released following a request
madebyUNSpecialEnvoyRazaliIsmailduringhisvisittoBurmainOctober,butdismayedthattheir
releasewasmadeconditionalupontheir signingastatementaccepting thattheywouldbetakenback
into prison if they continued their pro-democracy activities, and further dismayed at reports that SoeThein,ajournalistandNLDmemberwhohasbeendetainedwithouttrialsinceMay1996,iscritically
ill followinga secondheart attack,
C. whereas theleaderoftheNationalLeague forDemocracy(NLD),AungSanSuuKyi, andothersenior
partymembersremain underdefactohousearrestimposedafterthey were prevented fromtravelling
toMandalayon21September,whiledeputychairmanTinOoremainsindetentionatamilitarybase
north ofRangoon,
D. whereas the elected parliament of Burma, which is now represented by the Committee Representing
the People’sParliament (CRPP),has stillnotbeen permitted toconvene,
E. whereasreliablesourcesestimatethattherearecurrentlyupto3000politicalprisonersinBurmaand
that many of these prisoners are subjected to hard labour and torture and are being denied medical
attention,
(1) OJ C 54,25.2.2000,p.111.
(2) ‘Texts Adopted’,Item21.
(3) ‘Texts Adopted’,Item15.8.8.2001 EN C223/335 Official Journal ofthe European Communities
Thursday 16 November 2000
F. whereas thepolicyofforcedrelocationin ShanStatecontinues,aswellastheforcedlabourpractices
in the junta’scurrent offensiveagainst the Karen people,
G. notingthattheBurmesejuntahasexpresseditsintentiontoannihilatetheNLDbytheendoftheyear
2000,anddiscerning a pattern thatthe recent actionstakenagainst the NLD6dashincluding an attempt
to evict the NLD headquarters from its current location 6dash may be a systematic campaign to accom-
plishsuch a goal,
H. noting that 1892 elected representatives around the world (including 70 MEPs) have now signed the
Declaration of Solidarity drafted by the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma,thereby expressing their solidarity with the democratically elected members of the parliament in
Burma,
I. whereas Aung San Suu Kyi has clearly stated that ‘constructive engagement’ by ASEAN Members in
relationtoRangoonhasnotworked,theCouncilhasstillnotrespondedtoher request toimplementeconomic sanctions and has nottaken any significant economic measures against the SPDC,and two
committees of the US Senate and House of Representatives have introduced import sanctions bills
against Burma,
J. noting that the EU Foreign Ministers have agreed to meet with their ASEAN counterparts (including
Burma) in Laosin December 2000,
1. ReiteratesitscallofSeptember2000totheCouncilandCommissiontoimplementsanctionsagainst
Burma andtomakethe December EU-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting strictly conditionalupon:
6dash the Burmese junta releasing all political prisoners without conditions and allowing freedom of move-
mentfor Aung SanSuu Kyi andher party members, and
6dash the Burmese juntaentering intoa meaningful dialogue withthe election-winning NLDandthe ethnic
nationalities;
callsfor the European Union, the United States,Japan andother governments ofthe region to drawup a
clear international plan, which could be based upon the consensusagreed at the meeting about Burma in
Seoul in March 2000,topersuade the Burmese military junta tobegin such a dialogue;
2. Stronglycondemnsthejunta’sforciblerelocationofover300000villagersintheCentralShanState
and its continuing policy to force villagers to carry weapons and supplies for the military, and to act as
human mine-sweepers in itsoffensiveagainst the Karen people;
3. Is deeply concerned about the spread of HIV/AIDS, the rising production of amphetamines, and the
fact that Burma is nowthe w orld’s second largest producer of opium and its derivative, heroin, after
Afghanistan, which is having a destabilising impact on society both in Burma and the surrounding coun-
tries;
4. Noteswith concern that ASEAN rejected the call by the UN Secretary General for ASEAN 6dash Troika
mediationtodefusetherisingpoliticaltensioninBurmaandcreateanatmosphereconducivetoconstruc-tive political dialogue, andasksthe Council tovoice its supportfor the Secretary General’s proposal;
5. Strongly urges the SPDC to implement fully concrete legislative, executive and administrative mea-
sures to end the practice offorced labour in Burma, in conformitywith the relevant recommendationsof
the ILO CommitteeofEnquiry;
6. Regrets the SPDC decision to postpone a visit by the EU Troika mission, which was intended to
encourage dialogue between the leaders ofthe SPDC,Aung San Suu Kyi andother NLD leaders, andcalls
onthe Council torenewits effortstow ardsimplementing this visit;
7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, ASEAN, the NLD
andAung SanSuu Kyi andthe Government ofBurma.C223/336 EN8.8.2001 Official Journal ofthe European Communities
Thursday 16 November 2000