IPU COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON BURMA

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IPU COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON BURMA (Jakarta, 21 October 2000)

Beyond the specific question of the human rights of Burmese parliamentarians,
this resolution delivers as deep and forthright a statement of the Burmese 
military
regime's lack of legitimacy as has been made by any international body in 
the past.

Of particular note, the IPU considers that the establishment of the CRPP by 
the
MPs-elect and their drafting of a national  constitution gives effect to 
the principle
established  in Article 21 of the Universal  Declaration of  Human Rights 
that "the will
of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government". In 
contrast, it declares
that this principle is violated by the SLORC/SPDC's National Convention in 
that it "is
designed to prolong  and legitimise military rule against the will of  the 
people as
expressed  in the  1990 elections".  (Operative paragraphs 2&3)


RESOLUTION ON MYANMAR
ADOPTED BY THE 167th SESSION OF THE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY COUNCIL
(Jakarta, 21 October 2000)


CASE N° MYN/01 - Ohn Kyaing
CASE N° MYN/04 - Khin Maung Swe
CASE N°/MYN/09 - Sein Hla Oo
CASE N° MYN/36 - Myint Naing
CASE N° MYN/60 - Zaw Myint Maung
CASE N° MYN/64 - David Hla Myint
CASE N° MYN/68 - Aung Khin Sint
CASE N° MYN/71 - Kyi Myint
CASE N° MYN/84 - Soe Thein
CASE N° MYN/85 - Khun Myint Htun
CASE N° MYN/86 - Aye San
CASE N° MYN/87 - Do Htaung
CASE N° MYN/88 - Chit Htwe
CASE N° MYN/89 - Myo Nyunt
CASE N° MYN/100 - Hla Myint
CASE N° MYN/101 - Saw Oo Reh
CASE N° MYN/102 - Hla Min
CASE N° MYN/104 - Kyaw Khin
CASE N° MYN/105 - Kyin Thein
CASE N° MYN/108 - Min Swe
CASE N° MYN/109 - Than Aung
CASE N° MYN/110 - Tin Min Htut
CASE N° MYN/113 - Aye Than
CASE N° MYN/114 - Ohn Naing
CASE N° MYN/115 - Thein Zan
CASE N° MYN/116 - Nyunt Hlaing
CASE N° MYN/118 - Than Nyein
CASE N° MYN/119 - May Win Myint
CASE N° MYN/120 - San San
CASE N° MYN/122 - Min Soe Lin
CASE N° MYN/123 - Nan Khin Htwe Myint
CASE N° MYN/124 - Ohn Maung
CASE N° MYN/133 - Yaw Hsi
CASE N° MYN/134 - Min Kyi Win
CASE N° MYN/135 - Nai Tun Thein
CASE N° MYN/136 - Saw Mra Aung
CASE N° MYN/137 - Khin Maung Kyi
CASE N° MYN/138 - Toe Po
CASE N° MYN/139 - Soe Myint

CASE N° MYN/10 - Win Hlaing*
CASE N° MYN/13 - Naing Naing*
CASE N° MYN/26 - Hla Tun*
CASE N° MYN/28 - Tin Aung Aung*
CASE N° MYN/41 - Zaw Myint*
CASE N° MYN/42 - Mya Win*
CASE N° MYN/73 - Fazal Ahmed*
CASE N° MYN/103 - Tin Aung*
CASE N° MYN/106 - Kyaw Tin*
CASE N° MYN/107 - San Myint*
CASE N° MYN/111 - Saw Lwin*
CASE N° MYN/112 - Hla Win*
CASE N° MYN/117 - Kyaw Myint*
CASE N° MYN/121 - Tin Oo*
CASE N° MYN/125 - Mahn Kyaw Ni*
CASE N° MYN/126 - Tun Win*
CASE N° MYN/127 - Bo Htway*
CASE N° MYN/128 - Tha Aung*
CASE N° MYN/130 - Tin Win*

Parliamentarians deceased:
CASE N° MYN/55 - Tin Maung Win
CASE N° MYN/66 - Win Ko
CASE N° MYN/67 - Hla Pe
CASE N° MYN/72 - Saw Win
CASE N° MYN/83 - Kyaw Min
CASE N° MYN/131 - Hla Khin
CASE N° MYN/132 - Aung Min


Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 167th session (Jakarta, 21 October 2000)


The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

         Referring to the outline of the case of the above-mentioned 
elected members of the Pyithu Hluttaw (People's
         Assembly) of the Union of Myanmar, as contained in the report of 
the Committee on the Human Rights of
         Parliamentarians (CL/167/12(c)­R.1), and to the relevant 
resolution adopted at its 166th session (May 2000),

         Taking account of information provided by representatives of the 
sources at the hearing held on the occasion of
         the 104th Conference (October 2000),

         Recalling that on 27 May 1990 a national election called by the 
then State Law and Order Restoration Council
         (SLORC) was held to constitute a new Parliament (Pyithu Hluttaw); 
that, however, the military authorities have
         prevented it from convening, setting up instead a National 
Convention to draft a constitution,

         Recalling that, under severe pressure from the then State Law and 
Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the
         National League for Democracy, which had won 392 of the 485 seats, 
took part in the initial work of the
         National Convention, but withdrew in November 1995, thus severing 
whatever link there might have been
         between the National Convention and the popular will as expressed 
in the 1990 elections,

         Recalling that, since 1990, the SLORC and subsequently the State 
Peace and Development Council (SPDC)
         not only systematically impeded the functioning of the National 
League for Democracy, but eliminated from the
         political process the MPs elected in 1990, first by invalidating 
election results, dismissing them from Parliament
         and banning them from future elections, then by forcing them to 
resign, orchestrating no-confidence motions
         against them and finally by arresting, detaining and sentencing 
them under laws (such as the Emergency Provision
         Act, State Protection Act, Official Secrets Act, Printers and 
Publishers Registration Act, Unlawful Associations
         Act, etc.) considered by the appropriate United Nations human 
rights bodies to be in breach of international civil
         and political rights standards,

         Considering that more than 50 MPs-elect are currently in jail and 
that approximately 200 MPs elect are held in
         what the authorities refer to as ?guesthouses?; that MPs-elect 
continue to be arrested: on 24 March 2000, U
         Aya Tha Aung was arrested and sentenced to 21 years' imprisonment; 
in August and September 2000,
         respectively U Tin Oo, the NLD's Executive Chairman and U Saw 
Naing Naing were arrested following an
         attempt by the NLD Secretary General, Aung San Suu Kyi, and U Tin 
Oo, to attend party meetings outside
         Yangon,

         Considering that conditions of detention in Myanmar are reported 
to be harsh and to include cruel disciplinary
         practices and torture, lack of proper medical care and 
insufficient food, in addition to forced labour; under such
         conditions, Kyaw Min died on 1 July 1999 of hepatitis contracted 
in prison, Tin Maung Win on 18 January
         1991, Khin Maung Gyi on 8 February 1991, Hla Than on 2 August 1996 
and Saw Win on 7 August 1998; also
         considering in this connection that, according to Amnesty 
International, U Soe Thein, who has been detained
         since 1996 under the State Protection Law, may be seriously ill 
with stomach and heart disease,

         Recalling that, in May 1998, the National League for Democracy and 
other parties requested the ruling SPDC
         (State Peace and Development Council) to convene Parliament and, 
their request being disregarded, established
         on 1 September 1998 the Committee Representing the People's 
Parliament (CRPP), temporarily to represent
         Members of Parliament elected in 1990 and prevented by the 
authorities from exercising the mandate conferred
         on them by the people of Myanmar in 1990; it decided on 16 
September 2000 to draft a national Constitution,
         notwithstanding the SPDC law X/96 which punishes anyone drafting a 
constitution without its approval with
         imprisonment of up to 20 years,

         Considering that over 2,000 MPs from 89 parliaments around the 
world have signed the ?Declaration of
         Support and Solidarity with the Democratically Elected 
Parliamentarians of Burma?,

         Bearing in mind the consistent appeals made by the United Nations 
General Assembly and the United Nations
         Commission on Human Rights in their resolutions on the human 
rights situation in Myanmar to the authorities of
         Myanmar, urging them to ?take urgent and meaningful measures to 
ensure the establishment of democracy
         in accordance with the will of the people as expressed in the 
democratic elections held in 1990 and, to
         this end, to engage immediately and unconditionally in a 
substantive dialogue with the leaders of
         political parties and the ethnic minorities ... to accelerate the 
process of transition to democracy, in
         particular through the transfer of power to democratically elected 
representatives and to release
         immediately and unconditionally those detained for political 
reasons?,

           1.Regrets that the authorities have replied neither to its 
requests for information nor to the repeated wish of
              the Inter-Parliamentary Union to send a mission to Myanmar, 
thereby disregarding the various
              opportunities offered to enter into a dialogue towards a 
settlement of the situation of the MPs-elect
              concerned;
           2.Reaffirms its indignation that the authorities of the Union of 
Myanmar continue to ignore the outcome of
              the election of 27 May 1990; reiterates in this respect that 
the National Convention convened by the
              authorities in 1993 is designed to prolong and legitimise 
military rule against the will of the people as
              expressed in the 1990 elections, and reaffirms that the 
refusal of the authorities to convene the Parliament
              elected in 1990 constitutes a violation of the principle 
established in Article 21 of the Universal
              Declaration of Human Rights that ?the will of the people 
shall be the basis of the authority of
              government?;
           3.Considers consequently that in setting up the ?Committee 
Representing the People's Parliament? and in
              drafting a national constitution, the MPs-elect are merely 
giving effect to this principle;
           4.Is outraged at the continuing harassment, arrests and 
sentencing of MPs-elect, and strongly urges the
              authorities to release immediately and unconditionally all 
detained MPs-elect, including U Aye Tha Aung,
              U Saw Naing Naing and U Soe Thein, to respect the freedom of 
their movement and right to assembly
              and to put an immediate end to all practices aimed at 
preventing the MPs-elect from engaging in their
              legitimate political activity;
           5.Calls again on its member parliaments to press for the respect 
of democratic principles in Myanmar and
              to show their solidarity with their elected colleagues from 
the Pyithu Hluttaw by whatever means they
              deem appropriate, in particular by supporting the ?Committee 
Representing the People's Parliament?, by
              forming parliamentary caucuses to promote awareness of the 
situation of their colleagues in Myanmar
              among fellow MPs and to make appropriate Myanmar-related 
policy recommendations to their
              governments; invites member Parliaments to inform it of any 
steps they may take to that end;
           6.Applauds the members of Parliament who have signed the 
?Declaration of Support and Solidarity with
              the Democratically Elected Parliamentarians of Burma?;
           7.Requests the Secretary General once again to ask the 
authorities of Myanmar for information concerning
              the situation of each one of the parliamentarians-elect named 
in this resolution;
           8.Urges the Myanmar authorities to pay heed to the call of the 
Inter-Parliamentary Union for an immediate
              end to all breaches of the human rights of the MPs-elect, 
which, apart from being wholly unacceptable,
              tarnish the country's international image;
           9.Reaffirms that the Inter-Parliamentary Union is ready to send 
a mission to Myanmar to conduct a
              dialogue both with the authorities of that country and with 
the parliamentarians-elect for the sake of
              progress towards a satisfactory settlement of this case;
          10.Requests the Secretary General again to convey this resolution 
to the authorities of Myanmar together
              with the invitation of the Committee to send a 
representative, for the purpose of dialogue, to its next
              session (January 2001);
          11.Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians 
to continue examining this case and
              report to it at its next session (April 2001).

__________________________

* MPs who have allegedly been released upon serving their sentence.

The resolution can also be found on the IPU website at: 
http://www.ipu.org/hr-e/167/Myn01.htm