[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Australia - Burma



1.	Australia Labour Party' Policy on Burma (ALP Platform 1998 - Chapter 14)

Resolutions

Burma/Myanmar 

Labor condemns continuing gross violations of human rights in Burma,
including the draconian suppression of political freedoms, arbitrary
detention, torture, rape, disappearances, extrajudicial killings,
oppression of ethnic and religious minorities, and use of forced labour. 

Labor further condemns the continued refusal of the State Peace and
Development Council - formerly the State Law and Order Restoration Council
- to accept the political verdict of the people of Burma freely expressed
at the democratic elections of 1990. 

Labor deplores Burma's status as the world's leading producer of opium and
heroin, and expresses grave concern at reports of complicity in this trade
by Burma's military rulers. 

Labor commends Nobel laureate and leader of the National League for
Democracy, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for her courage and determination to bring
freedom and democracy to Burma. 

Labor calls on the State Peace and Development Council to cease its
repressive attempts to suppress political freedom in Burma, and to release
all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally. 

Labor considers the only long-term solution to the situation in Burma is a
negotiated settlement firmly based on full respect for human rights, and
calls on the State Peace and Development Council to open a genuine
political dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, representatives of the
National League for Democracy, and ethnic minorities. 

Labor further calls on the State Peace and Development Council to fully and
unconditionally cooperate with the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights Special Rapporteur on Burma, and to cooperate unreservedly with the
international community in efforts to suppress trafficking in narcotics. 

Labor calls on the Australian Government to do all that it can, including
through the United Nations, to maximise international pressure on the
Burmese military regime and, in the absence of any significant improvement
in human rights conditions and real progress toward the establishment of
democratic freedoms to: 

- actively discourage Australian trade with Burma, including closure of the
Austrade office in Rangoon, discourage Australian companies from doing
business in Burma, and ban new Australian investment in Burma; 

- actively discourage Australian citizens from visiting Burma for business
and tourism; 

- suspend the issue of visas for visits to Australia by Burmese officials
and other persons associated with the military regime; and 

- put the State Peace and Development Council on notice that diplomatic
relations will be downgraded in the event of further deterioration of the
human rights situation in Burma.

---------------------------------------------------------------------


2.	Liberal Party of Australia's Policy on Burma (Election98/policy/foreign
- 15 September 1998)

4) Human Rights *
4.1 Importance of Human Rights *
4.2 Strategies to Improve International Human Rights *

Burma

The Coalition has worked in unison with other like-minded nations to bring
pressure to bear on the Burmese regime to improve human rights and move
towards genuine dialogue and democratic reform. The Coalition has proposed
the establishment of a national human rights commission for Burma to help
bring about fundamental institutional change.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Myo Aye

PO Box 4010
Auburn South
VIC 3122 Australia

Email: maye@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Web Page: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/4474
Tel/Fax: 61+3+ 98132613