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UN: SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MY
- Subject: UN: SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MY
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 20 Dec 1994 23:04:00
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Date: Tue, 20 Dec 1994 23:04:07 -0800
Subject: UN: SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MYANMAR
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UNITED NATIONS
___________________________________________________________
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Distr:
GENERAL
A/49/716
25 November 1994
ORIGINAL : ENGLISH
94-46724 (E) 281194
___________________________________________________________
Forty-ninth Session
THIRD COMMITTEE
Agenda item 100 (c)
HUMAN RIGHTS QUESTIONS: HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION AND
REPORTS OF SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS AND REPRESENTATIVES
Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar
Report of the Secretary-General
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 15 of the
General Assembly resolution 48/150 of 20 December 1993, entitled
Situation of human rights in Myanmar, in which the Assembly requested
me to assist in the implementation of that resolution and to report to the
Assembly at its forty-ninth session.
2. As the General Assembly is aware, the Commission on Human
Rights has since 1992 nominated a Special Rapporteur whose mandate is to
establish direct contacts with the Government and people of Myanmar,
with a view to examining the situation of human rights in Myanmar,
including political leaders deprived of their liberty, their families and their
lawyers, and to report his findings to the General Assembly and to the
Commission. I have therefore interpreted my role as being not one of fact-
finding, but rather one of good offices in assisting the Government of
Myanmar to respond to the concerns of other Member States as expressed
in Assembly resolution 48/150.
3. On 25 February 1994, I addressed a letter to Lieutenant-General
Khin Nyunt, Secretary-1 of the State Law and Order Restoration Council,
expressing my desire to establish a dialogue with the Government of
Myanmar with the objective of exchanging views on the various issues of
common concern and to consider how the United Nations could assist in
facilitating continued progress towards the resolution of those issues (see
annex I to the present report). The letter was handed in person to
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt by Under-Secretary-General Rafeeuddin
Ahmed, at that time Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in the course of a visit he
paid to Myanmar in the middle of March.
4. In a letter dated 18 March 1994 addressed to me, the Secretary-1
of the State Law and Order Restoration Council took note of my desire to
establish a dialogue with hi Government and promised to communicate
with me on that subject in the near future. Following a demarche I made
with him in late June, Squadron Leader Prasong Soonsiri, the then Minister
for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, informed me in a letter dated 8 August of
the Government of Myanmar's acceptance of my offer. This was
subsequently confirmed in a letter, dated 24 August, addressed by the
Minister for Foreign Affairs of Myanmar to Mr. Rafeeuddin Ahmed, in
which he communicated that he had been appointed to represent Secretary-
1 in the dialogue. (The text of the letters from Secretary-1 and from the
Foreign Minister of Myanmar are reproduced in annex II.)
5. In view of the impending session of the General Assembly, I
suggested that advantage be taken of the Foreign Ministers presence in
New York during the general debate to initiate the dialogue. This was
accepted by the Myanmar authorities and I requested Mr. Marrack
Goulding, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, to represent me at
the meetings, which were held at United Nations Headquarters.
6. At the first meeting, on 3 October, devoted largely to a discussion
of the modalities under which the dialogue would be conducted, it was
agreed that the talks would proceed in New York during Foreign Minister
Ohn Gyaws presence there and would continue, if necessary, in Yangon
prior to the submission of my report to the General Assembly. It was also
agreed that the discussion would cover three broad categories of subjects:
the Governments plans for a return to democracy, including the 1990
election, the National Convention and the situation of Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi and other political leaders; human rights and humanitarian issues; and
the prospects for the reintegrations of the national races in the political life
of the country.
7. These subjects were raised at a meeting I had with the Foreign
Minister on 12 October and were the focus of discussion at two long
substantive meetings between the Minister and Under-Secretary-General
Goulding on 6 and 12 October. At those meetings, which were conducted
in frank and open atmosphere, the Under-Secretary-General put forward
for the consideration of the Myanmar Government a series of ideas which,
if implemented, would indicate a response by the Government to the
concerns of the international community and would thus narrow the
differences that currently exist between Myanmar and other Member
States. The Foreign Minister, for his part, explained the position and
policies of his Government and provided clarifications or additional
information as necessary. He also agreed to convey to his Government the
various ideas suggested by the Under-Secretary-General.
8. It was agreed at the end of the meeting on 12 October that a
further round of talks could be held in Yangon before the submission of the
present report to the General Assembly, if that was the wish of the
Myanmar authorities. On 4 November, the Permanent Representative of
Myanmar to the United Nations conveyed to the Under-Secretary-General
an invitation to visit Yangon for this purpose. As Mr. Goulding was not
available to travel at that time, I requested Under-Secretary-General, now
Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), who had conveyed my original message to the Myanmar
authorities in March, to represent me at the resumed talks in Yangon. These
took place from 21 to 23 November.
9. Mr. Ahmed continued the exchange of views with the Foreign
Minister of Myanmar on the main issues covered in the two substantive
meetings in New York. In addition, during his stay at Yangon, he held talks
with Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, Secretary-1 of the State Law and
Order Restoration Council, and met with Chief Justice U Aung Toe,
Chairman of the National Convention Convening Work Committee, and
with Deputy Attorney-General U Khin Maung Aye.
10. While welcoming the two meetings which had recently taken
place between the Government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, my
representative reiterated the request already made in New York for a
meeting with her. The Myanmar authorities indicated that they intended to
pursue their dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and that certain
understandings had been reached with her in this connection. In those
circumstances, they did not consider it advisable to accede to the United
Nations request for a meeting with her.
11. In the course of the meetings held in New York and Yangon, the
Government reiterated its intention to proceed towards a multi-party
democracy, at the earliest possible date consistent with a systematic and
step-by-step approach. The Government also indicated that a memorandum
of understanding with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
was under active consideration and that a favourable decision was
expected in due course. The Government was not at present, however, in a
position to accept any of the specific ideas offered by the United Nations
side during the talks.
12. While this first phase of the dialogue with the Government of
Myanmar has not so far produced the results hoped of it, I welcome the fact
that it has begun. I also welcome the Governments agreement to continue it
in the months ahead and I purpose to proceed accordingly.
ANNEX I
Letter dated 25 February 1994 from the Secretary-General
addressed to Secretary-1 of the State Law and Order
Restoration Council
I have read with great interest the reports of the recent visit to Yangon by
United States Congressman Bill Richardson and his meeting with Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi, the first of which took place in the presence of the Resident
Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mr
Jehan Raheem.
I welcome the decision of Your Excellencys Government to permit these
meetings. This decision and other measures taken recently by your
Government, including the release of a number of political prisoners and
the agreement with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) for a UNCHR presence on the Myanmar side of the
Bangladesh border, are positive steps. I hope that they can be followed by
others in the direction of achieving national reconciliation and restoring
the democratic process in Myanmar.
Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw, in his statement to the General Assembly at
its forty-eighth session, reaffirmed your Governments consistent policy of
cooperating with the United Nations in every field, including human rights.
In this connection, I have requested Under-Secretary-General Rafeeuddin
Ahmed, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), to hand this letter to Your Excellency and to
convey personality to the Prime Minister and to you my desire to establish a
dialogue with your Government. The main objective of such dialogue
would be to exchange views on the various issues of common concern and
to consider how the United Nations can assist in facilitating continued
progress towards the resolution of these issues. I sincerely hope that Your
Excellencys Government is agreeable to this quiet approach, and you will
feel free to discuss with Mr. Ahmed the modalities of how such a dialogue
might be more fruitfully carried out.
(Signed) Boutros Boutros-Ghali
ANNEX II
A. Letter dated 18 March 1994 from the Secretary-1 of the
State Law and Order Restoration Council addressed to
the Secretary-General
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 25
February 1994 through the hands of the Under-Secretary-General Mr.
Rafeeuddin Ahmed, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific, during his call on 16 March 1994 and
to express my sincere thanks for the constructive remarks in regard to the
measures taken by the Government of the Union of Myanmar in recent
months.
I am greatly encouraged to learn that Your Excellency has been keenly
interested in the developments in Myanmar, particularly the process of
national reconciliation and the steps taken to obtain a firm Constitution
through the National Convention and I assure you of our national
endeavour to carry out successfully the historical responsibility.
I have also noted with deep respect the desire you conveyed, through the
Executive Secretary, to establish dialogue with the Government of the
Union of Myanmar to exchange views on the various issues with a view to
considering how the United Nations can assist in facilitating continued
progress towards the resolution of these issues. I hope to communicate with
Your Excellency on this subject in the near future though I did not have
time to discuss this with Executive Secretary Ahmed Rafeeuddin during his
stay in Myanmar.
(Signed) Khin Nyunt
B. Letter dated 24 August 1994 from the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Myanmar, addressed to the Executive Secretary
of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific
With reference to the letter of the Secretary-General of the United
Nations dated 25 February 1994 which you have delivered to Lieutenant-
General Khin Nyunt, Secretary-1 of the State Law and Order Restoration
Council, in regard to establishing a dialogue between the United Nations
and the Government of the Union of Myanmar to exchange views on
various issues of common concern, I have the honour to inform you that I
shall be representing Secretary-1 to initiate the dialogue at a mutually
agreeable date.
I wish therefore to seek your advice on the modalities of how such
dialogue could be more fruitfully carried out.
The initial response to the proposal of the Secretary General to open a
dialogue has been transmitted through the Minister for Foreign Affairs of
Thailand on 21 July 1994 in Bangkok while you were away in New York on
official duty.
(Signed) Ohn Gyaw