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REPORT OF UN SPECIAL ENVOY TO BURMA



The Secretary-General's report on Burma is in the slow and
dreaded PDF on the UN website at:

http://www.un.org/documents/ga/docs/55/a55509.pdf

Below is a Text version.


United Nations A/55/509
General Assembly
Distr.: General
20 October 2000
Original: English

Fifty-fifth session
Agenda item 114 (c)

Human rights questions: human rights
situations and reports of special rapporteurs
and representatives

Situation of human rights in Myanmar

Report of the Secretary-General *

I. Introduction

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 18 of General
Assembly resolution 54/186 of 17 December 1999 on the situation of human
rights in Myanmar, in which the Assembly requested me to continue my
discussions with the Government of Myanmar on the situation of human rights
and the restoration of democracy in Myanmar, to submit additional reports to
the Assembly during its fifty-fourth session on the progress of those
discussions and to report to the Assembly at its fifty-fifth session and
to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-sixth session.

2. As I have indicated in previous reports, I consider the role entrusted to
me by the General Assembly as being one of good offices, as opposed to the
fact-finding mandate assigned to the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on
Human Rights.

3. In implementation of resolution 54/186, in April 2000, I appointed Razali
Ismail, former Permanent Representative of Malaysia to the United Nations,
as my new Special Envoy, replacing Alvaro de Soto. Mr. Razali visited
Myanmar from 29 June to 3 July 2000 to "build confidence" with his
interlocutors. During his visit, Mr. Razali held consultations with
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development
Council, U Win Aung, Minister for Foreign  Affairs, and Brigadier-General
David Abel, Minister in the office of the Chairman of the State Peace and
Development Council. He also held  consultations with leaders
of two political parties, namely, the National League for Democracy (NLD),
including its General-Secretary Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Shan
Nationalities League for Democracy.
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* The footnote requested by the General Assembly in resolution 54/248 was
not included in the
submission.


4. Mr. Razali undertook his second mission to Myanmar from 9 to 12 October
2000. During his second visit, Mr. Razali held consultations with senior
General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council,
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, Secretary-1 of the Council, U Win Aung,
Minister for Foreign  Affairs, Major General Ket Sein, Minister of Health,
and Colonel Tin Hlaing, Minister of Home Affairs. He also held two rounds
of discussions with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at her residence and had a meeting
with U Aung Khan Htyi,  leader of the Pao ethnic group, during his trip to
the Shan State.

5. Mr. Razali's second mission took place during what I look on as a setback
in the atmosphere surrounding the efforts for national  reconciliation. On
24 August, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and a dozen other NLD leaders were stopped
near Dala, a small town on the outskirts of Yangon, when they attempted to
travel to the south to carry out NLD business. After a nine-day standoff,
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders were brought back to the capital
and confined to their homes by the authorities on 2 September. Concerned
about their well-being, I issued  two statements and, taking advantage of
his presence in New York during the  fifty-fifth session of the General
Assembly, met with U Win Aung, on 12  September. During the meeting,
I requested that the authorities immediately remove  restrictions on the
movement and access to the diplomatic corps imposed on Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi and other NLD leaders. I was pleased to note that the  restrictions
were lifted on 14 September, shortly after my meeting with the Minister.

6. However, a week later, on 21 September, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other
NLD leaders attempted to travel again, this time to Mandalay. Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi was brought back from the Yangon train station and again confined to
her home by the authorities. The whereabouts of the other NLD members who
were taken away from the train station was not known. I regret to note that
the  restrictions on the movement and access to the diplomatic corps imposed
on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders have still not lifted.

II. Contents of the discussions

7. My Special Envoy and I have raised, separately, with the Myanmar
authorities the concerns of the General Assembly and the Commission on Human
Rights with the Myanmar authorities and other political figures, as
reflected in their resolutions adopted over the years on the restoration
of democracy and human rights in  Myanmar, a dialogue involving the
Government, political parties -  particularly the NLD - and ethnic groups,
freedom for political parties to  conduct normal political activities,
the release of political prisoners, the visit of the Special  Rapporteur
of the Commission on Human Rights, continued access to prisoners
by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and, last, but by no
means least, on forced labour practices.

8. In our separate discussions with the authorities, my Special Envoy and I
pointed out that the recent events in Yangon underscored the need for
national reconciliation in Myanmar. During his second mission, my Special
Envoy therefore focused his efforts on finding a way to initiate the process
of dialogue  that would lead to national reconciliation. The Special Envoy
reasoned that Myanmar should benefit from being a member of the Association
of South-East  Asian Nations (ASEAN) and that now was the time for the two
sides to begin  talks. He called on senior General Than Shwe, Lieutenant-
General Khin Nyunt and other government leaders to consider taking the
initiative in opening dialogues with  opposition leaders, including
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. At the same time, the  Special Envoy also urged Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi to engage in a dialogue with  the authorities and to
respond in good faith if they took positive steps towards national
reconciliation.

9. The authorities repeated that their Government was a transitional
government, compelled to take the reigns of power in 1988 to prevent the
country from disintegrating, and that they would be ready to hand over power
once unity, stability and a degree of economic development took hold. Noting
that NLD showed no sign of sincerity and mutual respect, the authorities
said that one way of demonstrating sincerity was by showing a desire to
"work constructively" instead of attacking everything the Government did.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, for her part, expressed  her continued readiness to
engage in a dialogue with the Government at any  time. My Special Envoy
met with a representative of one ethnic group who  expressed a desire to
see a political dialogue take place between NLD and the military authorities.
In my Special Envoy's view, the first step in the resumption of a political
dialogue towards national reconciliation should be to ease the sense of
mutual distrust between the military leadership and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He
pointed out that, while the United Nations was willing to assist their
efforts, national reconciliation was an issue that they themselves had to
manage.

10. My Special Envoy stressed the need for the authorities to deal seriously
with the requirements of the International Labour Organization (ILO)
regarding the practice of forced labour. The authorities assured him that
the Government had done its best to comply with the requirements of ILO on
that subject and that it was prepared to discuss specific measures with the
ILO technical mission during its visit to Yangon from 20 October. He also
conveyed to the authorities the widespread
concern of the international community over the situation in Myanmar,
especially the imprisonment of people who are perceived from the outside as
being no more than political activists. Such actions, in his view, could not
but impact negatively on the Government's goal of returning the country to
democracy. While appreciating the release of three elderly people from
prison during the summer, my Special Envoy also requested that the
authorities do more. The Government indicated to my Special Envoy that it
would review more cases of prisoners for possible release, while assuring
him of its continued cooperation with ICRC concerning visits to prisons and
other places of detention, according to its standard procedures. I was
pleased to note that, as a result of the Special Envoy's efforts, another
five elderly people were released from prison on 17 October.

11. In his meetings with the authorities and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, my
Special Envoy also discussed the possibility of a greater United Nations
humanitarian assistance, especially in the health sector to deal with the
ever-increasing issues of HIV/AIDS, malaria and lack of immunization.
The Government mentioned  maternal and child welfare as an area in which
international assistance is  also required.

12. The issue of the visit of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on
Human Rights was raised, but there was no response from the authorities as
to when such a visit could take place.


III. Observations

13. I welcome the fact that my Special Envoy was able to hold a discussion
with the senior General Than Shwe and to meet twice with Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi during his second mission to Myanmar. I also welcome the announcement by
the authorities that universities and colleges in Myanmar have been reopened
for the first time in three years. While I am unable to report concrete
progress on other  issues that the international community has raised time
and again in  successive General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights
resolutions, it  is my strong hope that the discussions that my Special
Envoy had with the  top leadership of Myanmar and with Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi will give rise to a  new momentum for a resumption of the process of
dialogue between the two  sides in the coming months. I stand ready to
continue to do my utmost to  assist the process of national reconciliation
in Myanmar, in particular with the assistance of countries in the region.

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