Chair,

I am speaking on behalf of the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

I am a Burmese who has been in exile since the 1988 democratic uprising in Burma. Thank you for providing this opportunity to express my view on the situation of human rights in Burma. Since the inception of the Burmese democracy movement, we have upheld dialogue as an integral part of the democratization process and in the protection and promotion of human rights - both as an objective and an instrument. We are therefore cautiously encouraged by the ongoing talks between the State Peace and Development Council, the current government of Burma, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, since October 2000. We fully appreciate the efforts of the UN Special Envoy, UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur and the international community, especially our neighbors, in keeping that process alive.

However, we are disappointed to see that measures conducive to normalizing the political atmosphere to progress the political dialogue have still been either ignored or taken on at a very slow pace. For example, we are concerned that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest. In order for the State Peace and Development Council to convince the Burmese public as well as the international community that they are serious and committed to national reconciliation, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi must be unconditionally released and a formal substantive political dialogue based on an equal basis must be started. Secondly, the State Peace and Development Council released only 30 political prisoners following the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution last year. 1,600 political prisoners including 19 MPs remain in jail. A former University Rector, Dr. Salai Tun Than, aged 74, was arrested last December for staging a one-man protest calling for the speeding up of the national reconciliation process. He was recently sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. Thirdly, we are concerned that unnecessary, stringent restrictions on the freedoms of association, assembly and expression remain, limiting the political activities political parties can conduct.

Even as talks are going on between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the State Peace and Development Council leaders, a situation that is totally incompatible with that atmosphere prevails in the country. We are seriously concerned about the ongoing military operations in the Shan, Karen and Karenni areas. In the course of the ongoing civil war, various forms of human rights violations are continuing unabated. People are being subjected to extortion, seizure of their property and livestock, forced labor, torture, rape, and extrajudicial killings. The systematic forced relocation of villages by the Burmese army in these states has led to a massive displacement of people who have lost the means of earning a living. Starvation, malnutrition, and death from contagious diseases are common among the estimated one million internally displaced persons in the non-Burman ethnic areas.

The systematic violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights by the State Peace and Development Council have a significant adverse effect on the health and welfare of the people of Burma. The UN agencies residing in Burma have warned that the country is "on the brink of a humanitarian crisis" with the high incidence of HIV/AIDS, infant and maternal mortality rate, and malnutrition rate – a UNAIDs report claimed that by the time children reach the age of five, one in three will be ‘moderately to severely malnourished’.

Everywhere in Burma, there is evidence of poverty, ethnic conflict and a growing threat to the environment. Such concerns transcend every region, war zone and ethnic community. A threshold will be passed sometime in the near future if the combination of a growing population, diminishing resource base, and poor government policies which aggravate the existing problems continue. Having passed this point, recovery will be difficult and increasingly expensive. It is the time for all parties involved to begin a substantive political dialogue, build a national consensus and reconciliation, and find a future course of action for national survival and renewal.

Chair:

Time is of the essence for the people of Burma. We need the good Offices of the UN Secretary-General and the UN Commission on Human Rights to help develop the current dialogue between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the State Peace and Development Council into an irreversible process towards a democratic transition.

The UN Commission on Human Rights should strongly encourage the State Peace and Development Council to formalize the current talks into a substantive political dialogue, and demand: the unconditional release of all political prisoners; that political parties be allowed to engage in normal activities without unnecessary and discriminatory stringent restrictions; the end to hostilities in the non-Burman ethnic nationality areas; a nationwide cease-fire to allow the provision of humanitarian assistance; that the use of forced labor stop; that impunity end, and; unjust laws and orders be repealed to foster an atmosphere conducive to national reconciliation.

Thank you.