The lack of action by members of the UNSC, ASEAN and the Junta
By Naw Cha Mu
Activists were deeply disappointed by the
failure of the United Nations Security
Council (UNSC) to adopt the draft resolution on Burma on January 12th this year. The resolution was vetoed by two permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – Russia and China - and one non–permanent member, South Africa.
The UNSC has the power to determine when a threat to international peace exists and recommend what action should be taken to bring about a resolution to the situation. Article 39 of the UN charter, states that “the Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression and shall make recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken in accordance with articles 41 and 42, to maintain or restore international peace and security”. As the UN was created by the governments’ of the world to stop wars between countries, not to stop conflict within a country – in the case of Burma where the government wages war against its own people - it makes it more difficult for the UNSC to adopt a resolution.
The United States and European Union member states of the UNSC said Burma‘s human rights, refugee flows, drugs flows and HIV/AIDS spreads a risk to regional peace and security. These issues have an impact beyond Burma’s borders – they also affect neighbouring countries.
.. Burma‘s human rights, refugee flows, drugs flows and HIV/AIDS spreads a risk to regional peace and security. These issues have an impact beyond Burma’s borders – they also affect neighbouring countries
By looking at Burma carefully, it is clear that the military regime oppresses it own people through human rights abuses (such as torture, rape, unlawful killings, force labour, child soldiers), drug trafficking, the spread of HIV/AIDS, attacking the civilian population that has led to an increased number of Internally Displaced People (half a million in eastern Burma alone) and increasing refugee flow to neighbouring countries (nearly 700,000 people within the Asian region). The overall situation in Burma has severely deteriorated and it continues to worsen - posing a serious risk to peace and security in the region. It is also clear that the junta is unwilling to address these issues. A UNSC resolution, which is binding for all members of the UN, can force them.
One reason the resolution in January failed to pass was because of China and Russia’s economic interest in Burma. China signed a contract with the Burmese junta in Nay Pyi Taw (the new capital of Burma) to explore and extract gas four days after they vetoed the UNSC resolution according to Xinhua News Agency. Russia sold weapons and a nuclear reactor to the military junta, and China has invested in Burma’s dam projects as well as their gas fields. One must question whose best interest China and Russia were looking out for when they vetoed the UNSC resolution because it certainly was not the people’s.
After vetoing the resolution Russia and China claimed the reason that they vetoed was that the current domestic situation in Burma does not constitute a threat to international or regional peace and security. They both claimed that Burma’s problems between the military junta and the ethnic groups are the internal affairs of Burma and should be handled by Burma’s regime and the people themselves through consultation.
But what is the next step? Some activists believe it is necessary to make China feel more responsible for the lack of progress in Burma and for them to play a greater role in Burma’s transition to a democracy. Others feel that increased efforts to lobby ASEAN to impose sanction (which the UNSC can do) against Burma are needed.
We can clearly see that the current sanction against Burma from the US and EU are not very effective - even with the US and EU sanction on Burma, the Burmese military doesn’t care, because China and India continue to support them. As Burma is a country with plentiful natural resources including natural gas, mineral deposits, precious metals and gems, high quality tropical hardwoods and marine fisheries countries want to invest and exploit these resources. And the generals are happy to let them. China, India and ASEAN are aware of the economic potential in Burma and they turn a blind eye to the massive human right violations.
The regime depends on foreign investment and foreign trade for a substantial part of its income and it is essential to cut those lifelines. By cutting this lifeline the regime will have to face the difficulty to strengthen their military troops. Effective sanctions are very important tools to bring the regime to the negotiating table and that means getting ASEAN, China and India imposed sanction on Burma.
Activists are all aware of the importance of change in Burma, and welcome the UNSC concern about the deteriorating situation in Burma, including the massive violations of human right. According to Win Min an exile Burmese researcher specialising on the UNSC, since Burma was put on the UNSC agenda the junta released some ‘88 generation student leaders, which while not a democratic change is still significant. We as activists encourage the UNSC and ASEAN to work together, in structured cooperation, to help bring positive change to Burma. Otherwise there will be a continued threat to the stability of the region, which remains fragile, and beyond.
However, the Burmese military junta must also be a part of the solution. The junta should work with different groups to restore a genuine democratic system to the country and respect all human rights. They also need to listen to the calls from the people of Burma. The people of Burma no longer want to remain locked in a nightmare of dire poverty, disease and oppression by the military regime. They want change and the people of Burma know that the dictatorship will not last forever.
Activists strongly urge the UNSC to pass a resolution on Burma in order to make genuine change in Burma, to restore democracy and for the release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. It is not a matter of winning or losing a vote on the UNSC. It is a matter of changing the situation in Burma for millions of men, women and children. We continue to look to UN Security Council and wait for them to help reduce the people of Burma’s suffering.
To go to the other articles published in the September 2007 BI Newsletter click on the links below:
.. Burma‘s human rights, refugee flows, drugs flows and HIV/AIDS spreads a risk to regional peace and security. These issues have an impact beyond Burma’s borders – they also affect neighbouring countries
