European Parliament resolution on the situation in Burma
Date: 2006-12-14
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Myanmar/Burma, dictatorship, human rights, international sanctions, repression

C 317 E/902

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

23.12.2006

Thursday, 14 December 2006

P6_TA(2006)0607

Burma

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Burma

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the report of UN Special Rapporteur Pinheiro on the situation of human rights in

Myanmar, of 21 September 2006,

— having regard to the UN Security Council's decision of 15 September 2006 to place Myanmar on its
formal agenda, the visit to Burma of UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Gambari from
9 to 12 November 2006 and his subsequent briefing of the Security Council,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on Burma, in particular that of 17 November 2005 (1),

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 817/2006 of 29 May 2006 renewing the restrictive

measures in respect of Burma/Myanmar (2),

— having regard to the Chairman's Statement of the Sixth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held in Helsinki on

10-11 September 2006,

— having regard to Rule 115(5) of the Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) continues to subject the people of Burma to
appalling human rights abuses, such as forced labour, persecution of dissidents, conscription of child
soldiers and forced relocation,

B. whereas the National Convention, first convened in 1993 to draft a constitution and which has been
suspended many times since then, resumed on 10 October 2006, but stills lacks any credibility due to
the absence of democratically elected representatives, most notably the National League for Democracy
(NLD), as well as ethnic groups,

C. whereas the NLD leader, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Sakharov Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has
spent 10 out of the last 16 years under house arrest, an illegal measure which the military junta extends
every year,

D. whereas Burma's neighbours need to take a more robust stance against the abuses of the military regime
in that country, and demand that Burma improves its human rights record and embraces democracy,

E. whereas more than 30 % of children under five suffer from malnutrition, mortality rates for malaria and
tuberculosis remain very high, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has spread across the general population and
nearly half of school-age children never enrol,

F. Whereas the Government of Burma recently ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) to close its five field offices in the country, effectively making it impossible for the organisation to
carry out most of its assistance and protection work benefiting civilians who live in difficult conditions
in border areas,

G. whereas, according to the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report for 2006, Burma is the
world's second largest producer of illicit opium, accounting for more than ninety per cent of South East
Asian heroin,

1. Condemns the SPDC for its relentless suppression of the Burmese people over 40 years and its total
failure to make any significant move towards democracy;

(1) OJ C 280 E, 18.11.2006, p. 473.
(2) OJ L 148, 2.6.2006, p. 1.

23.12.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 317 E/903

Thursday, 14 December 2006

2. Refuses to recognise the legitimacy of any constitutional proposals produced by the National
Convention so long as it does not
include the NLD and other political parties; urges the National
Convention to present a road map to democracy that genuinely reflects the wishes of the Burmese people
instead of consolidating the military's stranglehold on power;

3. Demands the immediate and unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners
— estimated to number over 1 100 — held by the SPDC;

4. Deplores the Government of Burma's recent closure of
five ICRC field offices (in Mandalay,
Mawlamyine, Hpa-an, Taunggyi and Kyaing Tong), effectively making it impossible for the organisation to
carry out its humanitarian work, and other measures designed to intimidate non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) for humanitarian relief; calls on the Government of Burma to allow these organisations to operate
without interference or restrictions;

5.
Strongly condemns the regime's brutal crackdown on several large ethnic groups, including the Karen
of Eastern Burma, which has led to large-scale suffering and internal displacement, with some 82 000 people
forced to leave their homes in Eastern Burma in 2006, bringing the number of internally displaced people
within Burma to at least 500 000;

6. Welcomes the 2006 fact-finding mission to Burma by the Malaysian Foreign Minister, Syed Hamid
Albar, as a result of the position taken last year by the eleventh summit of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), and trusts that it will result in tougher measures by ASEAN nations against the
military junta in Burma;

7. Welcomes the International Labour Organization's decision to take its concerns about the SPDC's
abhorrent use of forced labour before the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice, and
hopes that this tougher course of action will prompt the SPDC to end this practice;

8. Recognises that the EU's targeted sanctions have not focused on economic areas that earn the regime
significant revenues and, as a result, have so far failed to achieve the desired impact on those directly respon-
sible for the suffering of the Burmese people; calls on the Council to ensure that all Member States rigor-
ously apply existing restrictive measures;

9. Calls on the Council to expand the scope of the sanctions and to enlarge the list of those targeted, so
that it includes all SPDC ministers, deputies, members, supporters and workers, in addition to their family
members, and businessmen and other prominent individuals associated with the regime;

10. Urges China, India and other countries that continue to supply weaponry and other support to the
military junta to cease to do so and to join the international community in its efforts to bring about change
for the better in Burma;

11. Welcomes the decision by South Korean prosecutors to indict 14 people, working for seven South
Korean companies, for allegedly providing technology and equipment to help the Burmese regime build a
weapons factory in Pyay, central Burma;

12. Welcomes the UN's recent opening of the first of seven legal assistance centres, located at Ban Mae
Nai Soi camp in north-western Thailand, for Burmese refugees living in neighbouring Thailand, and expects
additional robust UN measures against the SPDC to be forthcoming;

Insists that all aid destined for Burma must be delivered through genuine NGOs and must reach the

13.
people for whom it is intended, with the least possible involvement of the SPDC;

14. Calls on the UN Security Council to pass a binding resolution requiring the restoration of democracy
in Burma and the release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi;

15.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of
the Member States, the governments of the ASEAN nations, the National League for Democracy, the State
Peace and Development Council and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.