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European Press Release on Burma 11
- Subject: European Press Release on Burma 11
- From: nin@xxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 05:20:00
Subject: European Press Release on Burma 11 Oct. 96
PRESIDENCY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION PRESS RELEASE
DOCUMENT DATE: OCTOBER 11, 1996
The Government remains very seriously concerned at the continuing
deterioration of the situation in Burma. We deplore in particular the
practice of torture, summary and arbitrary executions, forced labour, abuse
of women, political arrests, forced displacements of the population and
restrictions on the fundamental rights of freedom, of speech, movement and
assembly, which have been reported in the recent past.
When I attended the ASEAN Regional Forum in Jakarta on 22/23 July 1996,
I sought a meeting with Mr Ohn Gyaw, the Foreign Minister of the Union of
Myanmar. This was the first such meeting between the European Union and
Myanmar since 1994. In the course of our encounter, I indicated to Mr Ohn
Gyaw in forthright terms the concerns of the European Union in relation to
the deterioration of the political and human rights' situation in Myanmar
and the unwarranted restrictions placed on the fundamental rights of freedom
of speech, movement and association.
I urged the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to
implement, without delay, the immediate and unconditional release of all
political prisoners in Burma and to enter into meaningful dialogue with Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi and to bring about national reconciliation and democratic
reform respecting the aspirations of the Burmese people as expressed in the
elections of May 1990.
I also sought a full and satisfactory explanation of the circumstances
leading up to and surrounding the death of the late Mr James Leander Nichols
who had acted in a consular capacity for Demnark and Finland in Rangoon. I
should also add that discussion of Burma dominated the informal dinner for
Ministers attending the ASEAN Regional Forum in Jakarta and was addressed at
the ASEAN Regional Forum proper and at the ASEAN Post Ministerial
Conferences and in bilateral contacts which I had with Ministerial
colleagues from ASEAN and their Full Dialogue Partners.
On 26 September 1996, I led the EU Ministerial troika in a further
meeting in New York with Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw. I reiterated the
concerns of the European Union and indicated that the explanations which
have been offered by the Burmese authorities to date are neither full nor
satisfactory.
I informed him that, given the apparent unwillingness of the Burmese
Government to enter into any significant discussions on the EU's legitimate
preoccupations, the EU had taken a series of steps which it had already
announced in Jakarta. It had requested that:
+ The UN Special Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and Imprisonment
visit Burma;
+ The UN Special Rapporteur on Burma investigate the circumstances of
the death of Mr Nichols;
+ The UN High commissioner for Human Rights take action on Burma;
Since then the situation in Burma has deteriorated further, with the
recent widescale detentions of supporters of the National League for
Democracy (NLD), and the blockading of access to the residence of NLD
leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. On 1 October 1996, at a meeting of the
General Affairs Council in Luxembourg, which I chaired, the European Union
issued a Declaration expressing its concern at these events. The European
Union called for the immediate and unconditional release of all of those who
have been detained and to allow for the resumption of normal activities by
the National League for Democracy. Finally, the European Union emphasised
the need for a genuine dialogue to commence without delay between SLORC and
the National League for Democracy as being the only possible credible way
forward for national reconciliation in Burma.
The Council also noted that the EU Commission was completing its enquiry
into possible future suspension of the Generalised Systems of Preferences
trade benefits for Burma.
The Irish EU Presidency has also pursued the question at the highest
level in diplomatic contacts most recently during the EU/Japan Summit on 30
September 1996 when the Taoiseach raised the question of Burma with Prime
Minister Hashimoto in Tokyo. There are also regular contacts with the
American State Department in Washington DC concerning developments in Burma.
The European Union is giving active consideration to further possible
restrictions in relation to Burma. The situation is at present being
discussed by the Common Foreign and Security Policy's Asia/Oceania Working
Group at their meeting in Brussels today and tomorrow.
END OF DOCUMENT