[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 200 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 200
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 3, 2007
Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Condemning the violent suppression of Buddhist monks and other peaceful
demonstrators in Burma and calling for the immediate and unconditional
release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Whereas on August 15, 2007, Burma's ruling military junta, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), cancelled fuel subsidies resulting in the
quintupling of the price of fuel which had an immediate and damaging
impact on the living conditions of the Burmese people and Burma's
already devastated economy;
Whereas on August 19, 2007, in reaction to this crippling measure, prominent
student and democracy leaders peacefully took to the streets in Rangoon
and elsewhere to protest the draconian action of the military junta in
Rangoon; during the subsequent weeks, protests continued in Rangoon, and
spread to other cities and towns throughout Burma, including Mandalay,
Sittwe, Pakokku, Tounggok, Yehangyaung;
Whereas the growing numbers of protestors peacefully demanded democratic reforms
and the release of 1991 Noble Peace Prize Winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
and all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience;
Whereas Buddhist monks actively participated and increasingly led these peaceful
demonstrations, culminating in an estimated 100,000 people marching
through Rangoon on September 24, 2007; in response to this largest
protest since the 1988 demonstrations which were brutally crushed by the
Burmese military by firing on unarmed civilians, the Burmese regime
threatened to ``take action'', indicating the junta's willingness to
significantly increase the level of violence used against the Burmese
people;
Whereas on September 25, 2007, the Burmese junta imposed a 60-day (9pm-5am)
curfew and a ban on gatherings of more than five people and moved
military forces into strategic locations;
Whereas on September 26, 2007, the Burmese military opened fire on protesting
crowds who bravely continued to peacefully demand democratic reforms;
the continuing vicious attacks on Buddhist monks and other peaceful
protesters, who were simply demanding human rights, democracy, and
freedom, led to the reported deaths of 200 people and hundreds of
injured to date; democracy and human rights groups further estimate that
over 2,000 individuals have been arrested, imprisoned, or tortured as
part of this violent crackdown;
Whereas members of the international and Burmese media covering the protests,
including a Japanese photojournalist, have also been killed, injured, or
imprisoned by the Burmese Government;
Whereas the Burmese military junta tried to hide from the world community its
indiscriminate attacks on peaceful protestors by severely restricting
the use of the Internet, phone lines, and radio and television
equipment, making it extremely difficult to gauge the full extent of the
government's crackdown on Buddhist Monks and other peaceful
demonstrators;
Whereas on September 27, 2007, the United Nations Security Council held an
emergency session in response to the brutal crackdown and Special Envoy
Ibrahim Gambari updated the Security Council on the situation in Burma;
as a result of the Security Council meeting, United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon ordered Special Envoy Gambari to visit the region;
on September 30, 2007, Special Envoy Gambari arrived in Burma and was
able to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi;
Whereas the Burmese regime has mobilized all its resources, including armed
soldiers stationed in all strategically important locations throughout
the country, including religious centers, and has made it impossible for
peaceful protesters to gather;
Whereas the rapid growth of spontaneous demonstrations into the largest Burmese
protests in the last two decades should not come as a surprise given the
human rights record of the regime over the past two decades;
Whereas the ruling military junta in Burma has one of the worst human rights
records in the world and routinely violates the rights of Burmese
citizens, including the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war,
extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, as
well as slave and child labor;
Whereas the Burmese regime has destroyed more than 3,000 ethnic villages,
displaced approximately 2,000,000 Burmese people, more than 500,000 of
which are internally displaced, and arrested approximately 1,300
individuals for expressing critical opinions of the government;
Whereas in 1990, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the
military junta in Burma, which renamed itself the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) in 1997, nullified the victory of the
National League for Democracy (NLD);
Whereas NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was not allowed to assume the office of
Prime Minister and was subsequently placed under house arrest;
Whereas Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released in July 1995, yet once again placed
under house arrest in September 2000;
Whereas following a second release, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and several of her
followers were attacked by a government-sponsored mob on May 30, 2003,
and she was then imprisoned at Insein Prison in Yangon;
Whereas on May 16, 2007, more than 50 world leaders sent a letter demanding the
release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a demand repeated by United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 14 United Nations human rights experts,
the European Union, the United States, the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the foreign ministers of three ASEAN member
states, yet on May 27, 2007, her detention was extended; and
Whereas for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights, Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) condemns the despicable crackdown on peaceful
protesters in the strongest possible terms and demands that the
Burmese junta end its violent crackdown on dissent;
(2) demands that the People's Republic of China and other
countries that provide political and economic support to
Burma's military junta end such support until the Burmese
regime's violent campaign against peaceful protest has ceased
and the Burmese Government has fully met the political demands
of the Burmese opposition;
(3) firmly insists that Burma's military regime begin a
meaningful tripartite political dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi, the National League for Democracy, and ethnic
nationalities toward national reconciliation, and the full
restoration of democracy, freedom of assembly, freedom of
movement, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and
internationally recognized human rights for all Burmese
citizens;
(4) demands the immediate and unconditional release of Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi, detained Buddhist monks, and all other
political prisoners and prisoners of conscience;
(5) calls on governments around the world, including the
nations of the European Union and the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) to severely tighten their sanctions
regimes against Burma, including through the imposition of
import bans such as maintained by the United States, with the
goal of denying the Burmese ruling junta with hard currency to
continue its campaign of repression;
(6) calls on the United Nations Security Council to
immediately pass a resolution imposing multilateral sanctions
on Burma's military regime, including a complete arms embargo,
and to take other appropriate action to respond to the growing
threat the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) poses in
Burma;
(7) calls on the United States Government to work with its
global partners to bring to justice those Burmese military and
government leaders who have ordered or participated in any
massacre during or after the protests, or who may be guilty of
crimes against humanity; and
(8) calls on the members of ASEAN to immediately suspend
Burma's membership in such organization as a response to the
violent crackdown on political protesters.
Passed the House of Representatives October 2, 2007.
Attest:
LORRAINE C. MILLER,
Clerk.