[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.