Judge Lallah's statement on Burma t

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The following statement by Judge Lallah to the UN General Assembly
was read out on his behalf by Mr Bacre Ndiaye, Director of the New
York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on 26 October 2000.


SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MYANMAR

STATEMENT BY JUDGE RAJSOOMER LALLAH,
SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR OF THE COMMISSION
ON HUMAN RIGHTS

TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
26 OCTOBER 2000

Mr Chairman,

I must apologise for not being present in person. This is due
to some unfortunate administrative misunderstanding.

Since my appointment as Special Rapporteur in mid 1996, this
is the fifth occasion on which I am presenting to the General
Assembly an interim report on the situation on human rights in
Myanmar.  The present report deals with information gathered
up to the end of July this year.  Between that date and the present
time, there have been some developments, the most important of
which I feel bound to comment upon.

Mr Chairman,

The General Secretary of the National League for Democracy,
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was stopped along with some members
of her party while on their way to attend meetings at a party branch
outside Yangon.  After some ten days, they were all forcibly taken
back to Yangon where Daw Aung Suu Kyi was held incommunicado
in her residence for some 12 days.  Other leaders of her party were
either detained or held incommunicado.  The headquarters of the party
were ransacked and locked up.

Mr Chairman,

This was not the first time on which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had
been subjected to a stand off or was prevented from attending
branch meetings outside Yangon.  She has since this last occasion
been prevented from taking the train to attend meetings of her party
outside Yangon.  The policy of the military authorities over the past
several years still continues to privilege the repression of all political
activity over the engagement in a genuine political dialogue, as
evidenced in my past reports.  This policy continues to be
implemented, first, by the enforcement of laws, orders and
administrative action designed to criminalise and sanction the
exercise of normal political activity; secondly by the intimidation,
harassment, detention or imprisonment of the NLD leadership and
membership, and of other opposition groups; thirdly, by the severe
restrictions that govern their movement outside their particular locality
and, fourthly, by the large scale closure of branch offices of the party.
This is a policy which inherently violates the fundamental freedoms
of association, assembly and movement as well as freedom of
expression, all of which have found their consecration in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights as further explicated in the Covenants.

Mr Chairman,

At paragraph 19 of this report I have referred to the arrest, trial and
conviction of Mr James Mawdsley.  I have noted the absence of an
arrest warrant, of legal representation and of time to prepare his
defence, including the inordinately heavy sentence of imprisonment
imposed upon him. A few weeks ago the UN Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention came to the conclusion that Mr Mawdsley was
being arbitrarily detained and called upon the Authorities to remedy
the situation.  This is not surprising as he was again subjected to
a sentence which had already been commuted. Further, what was
held against him was the handing out of pro-democracy leaflets -
an act which is normal in any society and quite in accordance
with international norms governing the exercise of freedom of
xpression. It would appear that Mr. Mawdsley was being held in
solitary confinement and had been beaten up in prison. I am happy
to report that Mr. Mawdsley has now been released and sent back
to his country. I am also happy to report that six elderly prisoners
have been released.

Mr Chairman,

This report and my last report to the Commission on Human Rights
cover the situation of human rights, in so far as it affects not only
he exercise of civil and political rights but also, in a more systematic
way, economic, social and cultural rights.  Needless to say, precisely
because of the negation of political rights, the people have no say in
the economic, social and cultural policies that affect all aspects of
their everyday life in the short term and also for their future survival,
well being and development.

Mr Chairman,

I would like to touch upon two aspects of the lives of people in
Myanmar which continue most adversely to affect their civil as
much as their economic and social rights, namely, the food
situation and forced labour.

Mr Chairman,

Extreme poverty and the absence of food security have been
the result of a policy characteristic of the militaristic approach
adopted by the Authorities.  This policy is implemented by
arge-scale forced relocation in the ethnic areas, accompanied
as it has been, by forced labour, inhuman treatment and other
much graver violations of human rights, depriving the rural
population of their lands and consequently, of their means of
subsistence.  Forced relocation has now been going on for
many years and would appear to be in furtherance of a scorched
earth policy, or what is generally known as the "four cuts" strategy
adopted by the military, that is to say, depriving insurgents or
suspected insurgents of, firstly, food,  secondly, funds and resources,
thirdly, sources of intelligence and information, and, fourthly,
possibilities of recruitment.  All this is exacerbated by the army
forcibly taking, without any payment, any rice, poultry and other
farm animals to feed themselves and burning off the rest of the crops.

Mr Chairman

In those areas where people still do farming, the compulsory sale
to the Authorities of rice is still bedevilled by the very low price and
the quota fixed by the Authorities. The situation of food scarcity has
been the subject of the well documented proceedings of the Tribunal
on Food Security of the non-governmental Asian Commission on
Human Rights which heard many witnesses.  I referred to these
proceedings and the conclusions reached in my last report to the
Commission on Human Rights (paragraph 36 and 37 of E/CN4/2000/38).

Mr Chairman,

At paragraph 43 of my present report, I have referred to the resolution
adopted in June this year by the International Labour Conference in
view of Myanmar's persistent failure to comply with ILO Convention
No 29, as found by the Commission of Enquiry.  This resolution was
scheduled to have effect from 30 November this year, unless the
Governing Body of the ILO was satisfied that sufficient concrete
legislative, executive and administrative measures had, in the
meantime, been taken to give effect to the recommendations of the
Commission of Enquiry and put a stop to the practice of forced labour.
It is my understanding that an ILO mission has been sent to Myanmar
so as to report to the Governing Body, which is scheduled to meet next
month. I greatly hope that the Authorities in Myanmar have made use
of the breathing space afforded to them to put an end to forced labour
in their law and practice.

Mr Chairman,

In conclusion, may I say that it is my unfortunate and regrettable
duty to address this Assembly year after year to report on a
human right situation which shows no improvement and which
discards the repeated resolutions of this Assembly and the
Commission on Human Rights.  It remains my firm conviction that
the situation will experience a fundamental change if the Authorities
begin to privilege a genuine political dialogue over military and
repressive solutions to a problem which is essentially political
and which is so adversely affecting not only the people of the
country but also neighbouring countries in the region. Some of
these countries experience serious and periodic flows of displaced
persons or refugees when they are themselves facing difficult times.

Mr Chairman,

It remains my hope that the Authorities in Myanmar, after the lapse
of a decade since the conduct of the last general elections, begin to
respond in a positive way to the resolutions which have been repeatedly
adopted by the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.

Mr Chairman

Thank you.