The EU and the US Easing Sanctions on Burma

The United States and the European Union have said that it will follow and reward Burma’s democratic reforms, and they have been bargaining. As the new government led by President Thein Sein enacted in a series of democratic changes such as granting amnesty on some political prisoners and announcing greater press freedom, the United States, Australia, European Union including Norway, Britain have rewarded those reforms by lifting some long-standing sanctions against Burma.

During the 1990’s, the European Union and America imposed sanctions on Burma for its human rights abuses. Sanctions on Burma drove the country closer to its big superpower neighbor, China, and the Burmese government is looking forward to attract more foreign investors as analysts disclose the Burmese government’s growing exhaustion of China taking advantage of its resources. The videos show case the World Bank’s forum on Burma’s progress towards economic reforms discussing the removal of the sanctions and the humanitarian issues that still face the country.

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EU is Urged to Back Burmese Rights Probe

– VOA News

 

Two former United Nations special rapporteurs are urging the European Union to support a commission of inquiry to investigate possible crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma.

The United States and other countries have already backed the establishment of an inquiry, which was proposed in March by Tomas Ojea Quintana, the current special rapporteur for human rights in Burma. Such a probe could lead to prosecution by the International Criminal Court.

Quintana’s predecessors are Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and Yozo Yokota. In a letter dated Tuesday to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, they said the pattern of human rights violations by the Burmese military rulers is “severe, widespread and systematic.”

They added that there is well-documented evidence in Burma of forced labor, rape as a weapon of war, forcible conscription of child soldiers, religious persecution, torture and killings.

Copies of the letter were addressed to the government of Belgium — which holds the rotating presidency of the EU — and to senior EU diplomats.

It was distributed to news organizations on Wednesday by the U.S. Campaign for Burma, an activist group that says it aims to end the military dictatorship in Burma.

Quintana’s proposal was contained in a March 2010 report to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

He wrote that “consistent reports” raise the possibility that some rights violations in Burma “may entail categories of crimes against humanity or war crimes under the terms of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”

He added that U.N. institutions “may consider the possibility to establish a commission of inquiry with a specific fact-finding mandate to address the question of international crimes.”

The pressure for an investigation comes as Burma is moving toward its first parliamentary election in 20 years.

Strict election rules have made it impossible for opposition parties to compete effectively, prompting charges that the election is designed merely to legitimize the ruling military junta’s hold on power.

EU Welcomes Hungary Support for Burma Crimes Inquiry

– VOA News

The European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma has welcomed a statement of support by Hungary for a U.N. Commission of Inquiry into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma.

In a statement Monday, the EPCB said the statement of support from Hungarian Foreign Minister Janor Martonyi comes at a crucial time, as the EU is drafting the next U.N. General Assembly resolution on Burma.

The EPCB said with the public statement of support by another EU member, the EU as a whole must break its silence and include the establishment of such an inquiry in the next U.N. General Assembly resolution on Burma.

The group says Hungary has become the sixth country to publicly call for a U.N. inquiry.

The EPCB consists of some 40 European members of parliament from several countries. Among its main functions, the group encourages “European governments and the European Union to do more to support democratic transition in Burma.”