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1997 UNGA RESOLUTION & S.R. RECOMME



/* 52nd Session of UNGA:
 Draft Resolution on Burma Posted to BurmaNet by burma1un@xxxxxxxxxxx */

United Nations General Assembly
 A/C.3/52/L.63, 24 November, 1997.
Fifty-second Session, Third Committee
Agenda item 112 (c)
HUMAN RIGHTS QUESTIONS:
HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATIONS AND REPORTS 
OF SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS AND REPRESENTATIVES

Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Czech
Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy,
Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, New Zealand,
Nicaragua, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden,
United Kingdom and United States of America}]

Situation of human rights in Myanmar
The General Assembly,

	Reaffirming} that all member states have an obligation to promote
and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms as stated in the Charter
of the United Nations and elaborated in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the International Covenants of Human Rights and other applicable
human rights instruments,

	Aware that,} in accordance with the Charter, the organization
promotes and encourages respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
for all and that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that the
will of the people shall be the basis of th e authority of government,

	Recalling} its resolution 51/117 of 12 December 1996,
	
	Recalling} also Commission on Human Rights resolution 1992/58 of 3
March 1992, in which the Commission, inter alia, decided to nominate a
special rapporteur to establish direct contacts with the Government and
with the people of Myanmar, including political leaders deprived of their
liberty, their families and their lawyers, with a view to examining the
situation of human rights in Myanmar and following any progress made
towards the transfer of power to a civilian Government and the drafting of
a new constitution, the lifting of restrictions on personal freedoms and
the restoration of human rights in Myanmar,

	Taking note} of Commission on Human Rights resolution 1997/64 of
16 April 1997, in which the Commission decided to extend for one year the
mandate of its Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in
Myanmar,

	Noting with concern} that the Government of Myanmar has not yet
agreed to a visit by the Special Rapporteur,

	Gravely concerned} that the Government of Myanmar still has not
implemented its commitment to take all necessary steps towards democracy
in the light of the results of the election held in 1990,

	Gravely concerned} at the travel and other restrictions placed on
Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders and at continued arrests and
harassment of members and supporters of the National League for Democracy,
trade unionists and students for peacefully exercising their right to
freedom of expression, assembly and association, at forced resignations of
elected representatives and at the long closure of all universities and
colleges following the student demonstrations in December 1996; 

	Recalling} the withdrawal and subsequent exclusion from the
National Convention of members of the National League for Democracy in
late 1995,

	Welcoming} the contact between the Government of Myanmar and
political parties, in particular the National League for Democracy, but
regretting the failure of the Government of Myanmar to engage in a
substantive political dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and other political
leaders, including representatives of ethnic groups,

	Gravely concerned} at the continued violations of human rights in
Myanmar, as reported by the Special Rapporteur, including extrajudicial,
summary or arbitrary executions, killings of civilians, torture, arbitrary
arrest and detention, deaths in custody, absence of due process of law,
including trial of detainees in secrecy without proper legal
representation, severe restrictions on freedoms of opinion, expression,
assembly and association, violations of freedom of movement, forced
relocation, forced labor by children as well as adults, including
portering for the military, abuse of women and children by government
agents, and the imposition of oppressive measures directed in particular
at ethnic and religious minorities,

	Recalling} the observation made by the Special Rapporteur, that
the absence of respect for the rights pertaining to democratic governance
is at the root of all the major violations of human rights in Myanmar,

	Recalling} also the conclusion of ceasefire agreements between the
Government of Myanmar and several ethnic groups,

	Noting} that the human rights situation in Myanmar has resulted in
flows of refugees to neighbouring countries, thus creating problems for
the countries concerned,

1. Expresses its appreciation to the Special Rapporteur of the Commission
on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Myanmar for his
interim report and urges the Government of Myanmar to co-operate fully
with the Special Rapporteur, and to ensure his access to Myanmar, without
preconditions, in order to allow him fully to discharge his mandate; 

2. Also expresses its appreciation to the Secretary-General for his
report; 

3. Deplores the continued violations of human rights in Myanmar; 

4. Notes that Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to
travel to the National League for Democracy's Thaketa township office to
conduct peacefully normal political activities on 21 October 1997, but
subsequently was blocked from attending party meetings of the National
League for Democracy on 5 November 1997 in Tamwe Township and on 13
November 1997 in Hlaing Township, and requests the Government of Myanmar
to permit unrestricted communication with and physical access to Aung San
Suu Kyi and other political leaders by members and supporters of the
National League for Democracy and to protect their physical well-being; 

5. Strongly urges the Government of Myanmar to release immediately and
unconditionally detained political leaders and all political prisoners, to
ensure their physical integrity and to permit them to participate in the
process of national reconciliation; 

6. Urges the Government of Myanmar to pursue its contacts with the
National League for Democracy with a view to engaging, at the earliest
possible date, in a substantive political dialogue with the National
League for Democracy General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi and other
political leaders, including representatives of the ethnic groups, as the
best means of promoting national reconciliation and the full and early
restoration of democracy; 

7. Welcomes the visits to Myanmar in the first half of 1997 by the Envoy
of the Secretary-General and the UN Director of the East Asia and the
Pacific Division for the purpose of discussions with the Government and
with Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders, and further encourages
the Government of Myanmar to broaden its dialogue with the
Secretary-General and to facilitate access by his representative to the
political leaders in Myanmar; 

8. Again urges the Government of Myanmar, in conformity with its
assurances given at various times, to take all necessary steps towards the
restoration of democracy in accordance with the will of the people as
expressed in the democratic elections held in 1990 and to ensure that
political parties and non-governmental organizations can function freely; 

9. Welcomes the holding of the 9th Anniversary Conference of the National
League for Democracy on 27-28 September 1997; 

10. Expresses its concern that most of the representatives duly elected in
1990 are still excluded from participating in the meetings of the National
Convention, created to prepare basic elements for the drafting of a new
constitution, and that one of the objectives of the Convention is to
maintain the participation of the armed forces in a leading role in the
future political life of the State, and notes also with concern that the
composition and working procedures of the National Convention do not
permit the elected representatives of the people freely to express their
views, and concludes that the National Convention does not appear to
constitute the necessary steps towards the restoration of democracy; 

11. Strongly urges the Government of Myanmar to take all appropriate
measures to allow all citizens to participate freely in the political
process, in accordance with the principles of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, and to accelerate the process of transition to democracy, in
particular through the transfer of power to democratically elected
representatives; 

12. Strongly urges the Government of Myanmar to ensure full respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression and
assembly, the right to fair trial and the protection of the rights of
persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities, to put an end to
violations of the right to life and integrity of the human being, to the
practices of torture, abuse of women, forced labour and forced relocations
and to enforced disappearances and summary executions and to fulfill its
obligation to end impunity of perpetrators of human rights violations,
including members of the military, and to investigate and prosecute
alleged violations committed by government agents in all circumstances; 

13. Calls upon the Government of Myanmar to implement fully the
recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur; 

14. Welcomes the accession by the Government of Myanmar on 22 July 1997 to
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women; 

15. Appeals to the Government of Myanmar to consider becoming a party to
the International Covenant on Civil and Rights, the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment; 

16. Strongly urges the Government of Myanmar to fulfil its obligations
with regard to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as set out in
the concluding comments of the Committee on the Rights of the Child; 

17. Strongly urges the Government of Myanmar to fulfil its obligations as
a State party to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), and to the
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention,
1948 (No. 87), of the International Labour Organization, and encourages
the Government of Myanmar to cooperate more closely with the International
Labour Organization, in particular with the Commission of Inquiry
appointed in accordance with Article 26 of the Constitution of the
International Labour Organization; 

18. Stresses the importance for the Government of Myanmar to give
particular attention to improving the conditions in the country's jails
and to allow the competent international humanitarian organizations to
communicate freely and confidentially with prisoners; 

19. Calls upon the Government of Myanmar and other parties to the
hostilities in Myanmar to respect fully to obligations under international
humanitarian law, including article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of
12 August 1949, to halt the use of weapons against the civilian
population, to protect all civilians, including children, women and
persons belonging to ethnic or religious minorities, from violations of
humanitarian law and to avail itself of such services as may be offered by
impartial humanitarian bodies; 

20. Encourages the Government of Myanmar to create the necessary
conditions to ensure an end to the movements of refugees to neighbouring
countries and to create conditions conducive to their voluntary return and
their full reintegration, in conditions of safety and dignity; 

21. Requests the Secretary-General to continue his discussions with the
Government of Myanmar in order to assist in the implementation of the
present resolution and to report to the General Assembly at its
fifty-third session and to the Commission on Human Rights at its
fifty-fourth session; 

22. Decides to continue its consideration of this question at its
fifty-third session. 

********************************************************************
/* RECOMMENDATIONS by the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, Hon.
Rajsoomer Lallah:  Reproduced from SR's interim report to the 52nd Session
of United Nations General Assembly. Our friends in Australia who wish to
receive the entire interim report by Special Rapporteur, please contact
me.  Thanks to David Arnott (darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx) for sending this report
to BurmaNet. -- U Ne Oo */

UNITED NATIONS
Distr.GENERAL
A/52/484
16 October 1997
ORIGINAL:  ENGLISH
Fifty-second session
Agenda item 112 (c)}
 
HUMAN RIGHTS QUESTIONS:  HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATIONS AND REPORTS
           OF SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS AND REPRESENTATIVES
               Situation of human rights in Myanmar}
 
B.  Recommendations}

152. In the light of the foregoing conclusions, the Special Rapporteur
submits the following recommendations for the consideration of the General
Assembly and of the Government of Myanmar: 
 
    (a) To ensure that the Government of Myanmar genuinely reflects the
will of the people, steps should be taken to allow all citizens to
participate freely in the political process in accordance with the
principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to accelerate
the process of transition to democracy, in particular through the transfer
of power to the democratically elected representatives.  The institutions
of Myanmar should be such as to ensure that the executive authorities are
accountable to the citizenry in a clear and meaningful way and,
furthermore, steps should be taken to restore the independence of the
judiciary and to subject the executive to the rule of law and render
unjust and unjustifiable action justiciable; 
 
    (b) All necessary measures should be taken to accelerate the process
of transition to a democratic order and to involve in a meaningful way the
representatives duly elected in 1990.  Genuine and substantive discussions
should take place without further delay between the present military
regime and the leaders of NLD and with other political leaders who were
duly elected in the democratic elections of 1990, including
representatives of ethnic minorities. Certain steps reportedly taken in
July by SLORC, apparently to initiate such discussions, are a welcome and
positive development, but that development must be intensified.  SLORC
should do all it can to ensure that the character and substance of the
discussions are genuine and are perceived to be so by all the
participants; 
 
    (c) Immediate measures should be taken to put an end to the harassment
of the leaders and the membership of NLD, to ensure that the General
Secretary of NLD is genuinely free and able to exercise her functions
without fear of attack and to ensure that all political parties are able
freely to e xercise their rights; 
 
    (d) All political detainees, including elected political
representatives, students, workers, peasants and others arrested or
detained under martial law after the 1988 and 1990 demonstrations or as a
result of the National Convention should be tried by a properly
constituted and independent civilian court in open judicial proceedings
and in accordance with all the guarantees of fair trial and due process in
conformity with applicable international norms.  If found guilty in such
judicial proceedings, they should be given a just sentence proportionate
to their offence. \EP \newpage \BP Otherwise, they should be released
immediately, and the Government should ensure that there are no acts of
intimidation, threats or reprisals against them or their families and take
appropriate measures to compensate all who have suffered arbitrary arrest
or detention; 
 
    (e) Constitutionality and the rule of law should be re-established,
and SLORC orders and decrees should no longer be the basis of law.  All
laws rendering violations of human rights legitimate should be repealed
immediately, and all laws should be given due publicity.  The principle of
non-retroactivity of penal laws should be respected in all circumstances; 
 
    (f) The Government of Myanmar should give particular attention to
prison conditions and take all necessary steps to allow international
humanitarian organizations to have access thereto and to communicate
freely and confidentially with prisoners; 
 
    (g) Urgent steps should be taken to facilitate and guarantee the
enjoyment of the freedom of opinion, expression and association, in
particular by decriminalizing the expression of opposition views and by
relinquishing government controls over the media and literary and artistic
works; 
 
    (h) Restrictions relating to the entry and exit of citizens into and
out of the country, as well as their movement within the country, should
be abolished; 
 
    (i) All discriminatory policies that interfere with the free and equal
enjoyment of property should cease, and adequate compensation should be
given to those who have been arbitrarily or unjustly deprived of their
property; 
 
    (j) The Government of Myanmar should fulfil its obligations under ILO
Convention No. 87 of 1948 concerning freedom of association and protection
of the right to organize.  In compliance with that Convention, it should
guarantee by law the existence and practice of free trade unions.  In that
respect, the Government of Myanmar is encouraged to cooperate more closely
with ILO through a technical cooperation programme so that the very
serious discrepancies between law and practice, on the one hand, and the
Convention, on the other hand, are eliminated immediately; 
 
    (k) The Government of Myanmar is urged to comply with its obligations
under ILO Convention No. 29 prohibiting the practice of forced labour and
forced portering.  The Government should urgently take measures to repeal
the offending legal provisions under the Village Act and the Towns Act to
prevent the continuation of the practice of forced labour.  The Government
is encouraged to cooperate with the ILO Commission of Inquiry; 
 
    (l) The Government of Myanmar should take immediate steps to put an
end to the enforced displacement of persons and to create appropriate
conditions to prevent the flow of refugees to neighbouring States.  In the
event that the relocation of villagers becomes necessary in circumstances
that are in conformity with international norms, proper consultations
should take place with the villagers, including the payment of appropriate
compensation, reviewable by independent courts, and measures to ensure
that adequate food, housing, medical care and social amenities, including
arrangements for the education of children, are provided; 
 
    (m) The Government of Myanmar should refrain from actions that
contribute to insecurity affecting the population, such as the use of
military forces and bombardments against civilian targets along its border
with Thailand; 
 
    (n) In order to promote the repatriation of the Muslims and other
minorities of Myanmar, the Government should create the necessary
conditions of respect for their human rights.  The Government should
ensure, in law and in practice, their safe return and resettlement in
their villages of origin.  To that end, it should also promote their
complete civil, political, social, economic and cultural participation in
Myanmar without restriction or discrimination due to status; \EP \newpage

    (o) The laws relating to citizenship should be revised in order to
ensure that they have no unfavourable incidence on the exercise of civil
and political rights and to be consistent with generally accepted norms. 
Such laws should be substantially revised so as to remove all
discriminatory features based on religion, ethnicity or inequality and to
remove any adverse impact on the right of children to have a nationality. 
Further, measures should be adopted by the Administration to ensure that
citizenship can be obtained without burdensome and unrealistic
administrative procedures and requirements.  Those laws should also be
brought into conformity with the principles embodied in the 1961
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.  Consideration should also
be given by Myanmar to ratify that Convention as well as the 1951
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its Additional Protocol
of 1967.  The 1982 citizenship law should be revised or amended to abolish
its overly burdensome requirements for citizenship.  The provision of the
law regarding categories of second-class citizens should not be applied in
a manner that has a discriminatory effect on racial or ethnic minorities,
particularly the Rakhine Muslims.  It should be brought in line with the
principles embodied in the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness; 
 
    (p) The Government of Myanmar should take steps to bring the acts of
soldiers, including both privates and officers, in line with accepted
international human rights and humanitarian standards so as to prevent
arbitrary killings, rapes and confiscation of property, or forcing persons
into acts of labour, portering, relocation or otherwise treating persons
without respect for their dignity as human beings.  When local villagers
are hired for porterage and other work, it should be done with their
consent and adequate wages should be paid.  The nature of the work should
be reasonable and in accordance with established international labour
standards.  When the relocation of villagers is considered necessary for
military operations \CP or for development projects in the public
interest, proper consultation with the villagers should take place and
appropriate compensation should be paid.  The amount of the compensation
should be reviewable by independent courts; 
 
    (q) Military and law enforcement personnel, including prison guards,
should be thoroughly informed and trained regarding their responsibilities
in accordance with international human rights norms and humanitarian law. 
Such standards should be incorporated into Myanmar law, including the new
constitution; 
 
    (r) Given the magnitude of the abuses documented, the Government
should subject all officials committing human rights violations to strict
disciplinary control and punishment and put an end to the culture of
impunity that prevails at present in the public and military sectors; 
 
    (s) The Government of Myanmar is urged to fulfil in good faith the
obligations it assumed under Articles 55 and 56 of the Charter of the
United Nations to take joint and separate action in cooperation with the
Organization for the achievement of universal respect for, and observance
of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as
to race, sex, language or religion.  The Special Rapporteur notes that the
Government of Myanmar should encourage the adoption, as one of the basic
constitutional principles, of the provisions of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, a copy of which should be made widely available in the
main languages spoken in Myanmar; 
 
    (t) The Government of Myanmar should further consider accession to the
international covenants on human rights, the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the two
additional protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and, in the
meantime, to ensure the application of the principles proclaimed in those
international instruments in order to evidence a firm commitment towards
the promotion and protection of human rights without discrimination of any
kind outlawed under those norms; \EP \newpage \BP

    (u) Myanmar law should be brought in line with accepted international
standards regarding protection of physical integrity rights, including the
right to life, the protection against "disappearance", the prohibition of
torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the provision of humane
conditions for all persons under detention and the insurance of basic
judicial guarantees. 
  
Notes: (a) Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-first Session,
Supplement No. 40 (A/51/40), General Comment No. 25 (57), para. 365 and
annex V. 
****