Independent (London): EU Sanctions

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The Independent (London)
September 4, 2000

LEADING ARTICLE: EU SANCTIONS WOULD HELP TO BRING
DEMOCRACY TO BURMA

"SANCTIONS NOW" is all too often the liberal knee-jerk response to the 
brutal oppressions of
dictatorial regimes. There is, in fact, much to be said for the opposite 
approach of constructive
engagement with governments that abuse human rights. That approach is 
broadly right in relation to
China, where in the long run the best prospect of the spread of liberal 
democratic ideas is by opening
up trade. This newspaper has also argued, against Robin Cook, the Foreign 
Secretary, and his junior
minister Peter Hain, for the lifting of sanctions on Iraq, in the belief 
that they strengthen rather than
weaken Saddam Hussein.

It is not, therefore, simply gesture politics to argue for the imposition 
of sanctions on Burma. This is a
case where forceful economic action holds out the promise of advancing the 
cause of human rights.
Yesterday, the leaders of the European Union used strong words to condemn 
the Burmese
government's intimidation of the pro -democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi - 
who was finally forced
to return to her home by 200 riot police after being trapped in her car for 
nine days as she attempted
to visit her supporters.

But words are not enough, and Mr Cook has been trying to persuade his EU 
colleagues to take up
Ms Suu Kyi's call for sanctions. Burma has been a military dictatorship for 
38 years, and the policy of
constructive engagement has not worked. Ms Suu Kyi won a landslide election 
10 years ago, and yet
continued foreign trade has not persuaded the junta to relinquish power. 
The military chiefs have been
shaken by internal protests, international campaigns and official 
expressions of disapproval, but they
will not yield unless the democracy movement is given more concrete 
external support. So far the only
action the EU has taken has been to refuse to meet Burmese government 
representatives.

This could be the right time to apply pressure, as there is some evidence 
that the regime is divided
within itself, with the junta's leader, Than Shwe, reported to be ill and a 
struggle possibly developing
for the succession.

The EU should impose trade sanctions on Burma now. The British government 
has resisted going it
alone, on the grounds that preventing British companies alone from trading 
in Burma could fall foul of
EU competition law - a position that has left it little to fall back on but 
exhortation. If EU law has that
effect, it should be tested, challenged and reversed: member states must be 
allowed to pursue ethical
foreign policies of their own. Meanwhile, Mr Cook must continue to work 
collectively in the EU and
at the United Nations for the widest possible support in helping Ms Suu Kyi 
to bring democracy to
the people of Burma.