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ARTICLE: A Start to Help Set Burmes



Subject: ARTICLE: A Start to Help Set Burmese on the Road to Human Rights

Source: International Herald Tribune August 23, 1999

A Start to Help Set Burmese on the Road to Human Rights

By Alexander Downer (the Australian foreign minister)

CANBERRA - The question of Burma has vexed the international community
for the entire 11 years since the current military-backed government
assumed power in Rangoon. Australia believes that now is the time to
engage the regime in a serious dialogue on the protection and
promotion of human rights in Burma.

Such a dialogue is one way of improving the lot of ordinary Burmese.
It is also a means of drawing the regime into a discussion on issues
that have caused great concern outside Burma. To do nothing is to fail
to confront the problem.

Simply shouting from the sidelines has apparently achieved nothing. It
is one thing to criticize the Burmese government - and we have done a
great deal of that - but we are also looking at other initiatives to
help alleviate the plight of the people in Burma.

That is why two months agoI suggested to the then Burmese foreign
minister, U Ohn Gyaw, that Rangoon consider setting up an independent
national human rights institution, as Indonesia did some years ago
under the regime of President Suharto. I believed that such an
approach would provide a way through which Burma could work to
guarantee human rights within its own jurisdiction.

I pursued my proposal with the present foreign minister, U Win Aung,
when I met him in Singapore late last month at the annual
post-ministerial conference of the Association of South East Asian
Nations. It was in this context that Australia's human rights
comissioner, Chris Sidoti, visited Burma this month to discuss with
officials there the possible role of an independent human rights
institution.

Prior to Mr. Sidoti's visit, two middle-ranking Burmese officials
visited Australia in mid-July for an introduction to the Australian
approach to national human rights institutions, and for broad
discussions on human rights.

Australia's experience has been that work toward the establishment of
national human rights organizations by governments seeking to respond
to the concerns of the international community can make a positive
impact over the longer term.

The fact that the Burmese government can see the point of such a body,
although it has yet to make up its mind about howit would work, is a
good step forward.

I have no illusions. This is a first step in what will be an
incremental process. But we want to do what we can to encourage an
improvement in human rights in Burma.

Ultimately, setting up a national human rights institution will need a
firm commitment from the Burmese themselves.I am well aware that the
development of a genuinely independent body, if indeed that is
possible, would take a considerable length of time. It would also have
to be established according to internationally accepted standards.

To be blunt, if the Burmese were to construct a bricks and mortar
institution next week, it would not be credible. Our immediate
objective is to engage the key figures in a process of dialogue to
better promote and protect human rights.

I know that there are those who do not accept that it is possible to
talk to the regime about human rights issues. The opposition National
League for Democracy led by Nobel Peace laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
has said that our proposal is ''misguided.'' But human rights are a
matter of international concern, and as their protection is the
responsibility of the national government, we have to deal with the
government. We have kept the league informed about developments
concerning the proposal, and will continue to do so.

The Australian government's policy on Burma remains focused on the key
goals of advancing the cause of democracy and promoting greater
respect for human rights. I have consistently called on the Burmese
government to enter into substantive discussions as soon as possible
with the league and ethnic minorities, leading to genuine political
reform.

We owe it to the Burmese people to find creative ways to encourage
reform and reconciliation in their country.


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