UNITED NATIONS General Assembly

UNITED NATIONS
General Assembly

Distr. Limited
19 November 2001
[N.B. this is the date of tabling. The official date of the resolution will be the date of its adoption in plenary]
Original: English

Fifty-sixth session
Third Committee
Agenda item 119 (c)
Human rights questions: human rights situations and
reports of special rapporteurs and representatives

Australia, Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Republic of Korea, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America: draft resolution

Additional Co-sponsors: Andorra, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania, Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovenia

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 on Human Rights' and other applicable human rights instruments,

Aware that, in accordance with the Charter, the United Nations 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 the authority of government, and therefore expressing its grave concern that the Government of Myanmar has still not implemented its commitment to take all necessary steps towards democracy in the light of the results of the elections held in 1990,

Recalling its resolution 55/112 of 4 December 2000 and Commission on Human Rights resolution 1992/58 of 3 March 1992,3 in which the Commission, inter alia, decided to nominate a special rapporteur with a given mandate, and taking note of Commission resolution 2001/15 of 18 April 2001,4 in which the Commission decided to extend for one year the mandate of its Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar,

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

Still gravely concerned about the human rights situation in Myanmar, especially the suppression of the exercise of political rights and freedom of thought, expression, association and movement in Myanmar, and about restrictions placed on Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the National League for Democracy, inter alia, on their freedom to function and to communicate with the outside world,

Gravely concerned that the legal system is effectively used as an instrument of oppression, inter alia, through the intimidation and detention of lawyers,

Recognizing that the systematic violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights by the Government of Myanmar have had a significant adverse effect on the health and welfare of the people of Myanmar,

Welcoming the three visits to Myanmar by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General during the past year, and the visits by the Special Rapporteur, as well as the high-level team of the International Labour Organization, and the cooperation extended to them by the Government of Myanmar,

Cautiously encouraged by signs of progress in the ongoing political process in Myanmar, as reported by the Special Rapporteur, especially the release of political prisoners and the relaxation of some of the constraints governing the operation of legal political parties, but still concerned at the slow speed of the process,

I. 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~ as well as his oral presentation;

2. Welcomes the assistance extended to the Special Rapporteur by he Government of Myanmar during his exploratory visit in April 2001 and his First fact-finding mission in October 2001, which enabled him to establish direct contacts with the Government and all other relevant sectors of society, and calls upon the Government to continue to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur, to allow him to conduct further field missions, without preconditions, and to implement fully his recommendations;

3. Also welcomes the report of the Secretary-General6 on the visits to the country of his Special Envoy for Myanmar, strongly endorses his efforts to help facilitate the national reconciliation process among all interested parties in Myanmar, and encourages the Government of Myanmar to establish a constructive and regular dialogue with the Secretary-General in order to make better use of his good offices;

4. Deplores the continued violations of human rights in Myanmar, including extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, enforced disappearances, rape, torture, inhuman treatment, forced labour, including the use of children, forced relocation and denial of freedom of assembly, association, expression, religion and movement;

5. Welcomes the initiation of confidence-building contacts between the Government and Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, and hopes that such talks will be extended at an appropriate time to include, among others, representatives of ethnic minorities, thereby facilitating broad-based and inclusive national reconciliation and the restoration of democracy;

6. Expresses its concern over the slow progress in the talks between the Government of Myanmar and Aung San Suu Kyi, and urges that the increasing development and progress of the confidence-building measures ensure the irreversibility of the process towards democracy;

7. Recognizes the steps taken by the Government of Myanmar to allow some political functions to be resumed by the opposition, including the reopening of some branch offices of political parties and the cessation of the negative media campaign, but expresses deep concern at the unnecessary and discriminatory stringent restrictions that continue to hamper the exercise of political parties with regard to reedom of assembly, association, expression, information and movement, as noted by the Special Rapporteur, as well as at the use by the Government of intimidatory methods such as arbitrary detention and abuse of the legal system, and calls for an early restoration of political rights and freedoms;

8. Notes the dissemination of human rights standards for public officials through a series of human rights workshops and encourages the Government of Myanmar to widen participation in these workshops to ensure that this information, and its practical implementation, can benefit all citizens of Myanmar;

9. Also notes the establishment by the Government of Myanmar of a national human rights committee and encourages it to bring this committee into conformity with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights annexed to General Assembly resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993 (the Paris Principles);

10. Welcomes the release from detention of a number of democratic political activists and strongly urges the Government of Myanmar to release all remaining detained political leaders and all political prisoners, including journalists, to ensure their physical integrity and to permit them to participate in the process of national reconciliation;

11. Notes with satisfaction the continued cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross, allowing the Committee to communicate with and visit detainees in accordance with its modalities of work, and hopes that the programme will be pursued further;

12. Welcomes the reopening of most university courses, but remains concerned that enjoyment of the right to education continues to be limited, often for political reasons, by the reduction in the length of the academic year, the division of the student population and its dispersal to distant campuses and the inadequate allocation of resources;

13. Strongly urges the Government of Myanmar to take urgent and concrete measures to ensure the establishment of democracy in accordance with the will of the people as expressed in the democratic elections held in 1990 and, to this end, to extend the talks initiated with Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary of the National League for Democracy, to encompass a genuine and substantive dialogue with all the leaders of political parties and of ethnic minorities, with the aim of achieving national reconciliation and the restoration of democracy, and to ensure that political parties and non-governmental organizations can function freely, and, in this context, notes the existence of the committee representing the People's Parliament;

14. Recalls the resolution adopted by the International Labour Conference at its eighty-eighth session, held from 30 May to 15 June 2000, recommending that international organizations reconsider any cooperation with Myanmar and that Governments, employers and workers take appropriate measures to,ensure that the Government of Myanmar could not take advantage of such relations to perpetuate or extend the system of forced or compulsory labour referred to by the Commission of Inquiry established to examine the observance by Myanmar of International Labour Organization Convention No. 29 concerning forced or compulsory labour, of 1930;

15. Welcomes the recent visit to Myanmar undertaken by the high-level team of the International Labour Organization, with the objective of assessing the practical implications and impact of measures taken by the Government to eradicate the practice of forced labour and the cooperation that was extended to it by the Government of Myanmar;

16. Note with regret of the conclusion of the high-level team that there has been only moderately positive evolution in the situation, since there has been only uneven efforts at disseminating the orders, since the orders are not observed by the military at the local level and since, despite widespread instances of forced labour, there have been no criminal prosecutions, and that much more will have to be done to adequately address the situation, including movement towards national reconciliation;

17. Strongly urges the Government of Myanmar to implement, in close cooperation with the International Labour Organization, concrete legislative, executive and administrative measures to eradicate the practice of forced labour, in conformity with the relevant recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry, and, in this context, endorses the recommendations of the high-level team, including the establishment of a long-term representation of the International Labour Organization in Myanmar and the creation of an ombudsman, and encourages the government of Myanmar to pursue the dialogue with the Director General of the International Labor Organization to this end;

18. Deplores the continued violations of human rights, in particular those directed against persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities, summary executions, rape, torture, forced labour, forced portering, forced relocations, use of anti-personnel landmines, destruction of crops and fields and dispossession of land and property, which deprives those persons of all means of subsistence and results in large-scale displacement of persons and flows of refugees to neighbouring countries, with negative effects for those countries, and an increasing number of internally displaced persons;

19. Urges the Government of Myanmar to end the systematic enforced displacement of persons and other causes of refugee flows to neighbouring countries and to create conditions conducive to their voluntary return and full reintegration in conditions of safety and dignity and to allow the safe and unhindered access of humanitarian personnel to assist in the return and reintegration process;

20. Deplores the continued violations of the human rights of women, especially women who are internally displaced or belong to ethnic minorities or the political opposition, in particular forced labour, trafficking, sexual violence and exploitation, including rape;

21. Strongly urges the Government of Myanmar to implement fully the recommendations made by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in particular the request to prosecute and punish those who violate the human rights of women, and to carry out human rights education and gender-sensitization training, in particular for military personnel;

22. Deplores the recruitment of children as soldiers, in particular children belonging to ethnic minorities, and strongly urges the Government of Myanmar and all other parties to the hostilities in Myanmar to end the use of children as soldiers;

23. Notes that the Government of Myanmar is starting to address the growing incidence of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) infection, while recognizing that much still needs to be done, particularly in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention, and urges the Government of Myanmar to fully recognize the severity of the situation and the need to take necessary action against the disease, in cooperation with all relevant political and ethnic groups, and through the development of the United Nations joint plan of action on HIV/AIDS, to be delivered through non-governmental organizations or international agencies with a view to reaching the communities most affected and most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection;

24. Urges the Government of Myanmar to promote and protect the human rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and guard against the marginalization and discrimination that they may experience and to ensure that the health-care system receives sufficient funding to enable health workers to provide the highest possible standard of health care;

25. Expresses its grave concern at the high rates of malnutrition among pre-school-aged children, which constitute serious violations of their rights to adequate food and the highest attainable standard of health and may have serious repercussions for the health and development of the affected children;

26. Strongly urges the Government of Myanmar to ensure full respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including economic and social rights, and to fulfill its obligation to restore the independence of the judiciary and due process and to end the impunity of and bring to justice any perpetrators of human rights violations, including members of the military, and to investigate and prosecute alleged violations committed by government agents in all circumstances;

27. Requests the Secretary-General to continue his discussions on the situation of human rights and the restoration of democracy with the Government of Myanmar, to submit additional reports to the General Assembly during its fifty-sixth session on the progress of those discussions, and to report to the Assembly at its fifty-seventh session and to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-eight session on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution;

28. Decides to continue its consideration of this question at its fifty-seventh session.

[Approved without a vote, 30 November 2001]