117 HRES 896 IH: Condemning the Burmese military for perpetrating gross violations of human rights as part of its brutal campaign to suppress the democratic aspirations of the people of Burma, a year after the coup d’état on February 1, 2021.
U.S. House of Representatives
2022-02-01
text/xml
EN
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IV
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 896
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 1, 2022
Ms. Eshoo (for herself, Mr. Levin of Michigan, Mr. Chabot, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Bera, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Rice of South Carolina, Ms. Schakowsky, Mrs. Napolitano, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Meng, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Ms. Manning, Ms. Titus, Mr. Meijer, and Mr. Jackson) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
RESOLUTION
Condemning the Burmese military for perpetrating gross violations of human rights as part of its brutal campaign to suppress the democratic aspirations of the people of Burma, a year after the coup d’état on February 1, 2021.
Whereas after a decade of promising democratic reforms in Burma, the Burmese military (hereinafter referred to as the “Tatmadaw”) launched a coup against the civilian government on February 1, 2021, preventing a democratically elected Parliament from being seated;
Whereas the Tatmadaw seized control of the Government, declared a national state of emergency, and unlawfully detained many democratically elected officials, including State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and dozens of Members of Parliament affiliated with the National League for Democracy (NLD);
Whereas Burma’s elections in November 2020 resulted in the NLD securing enough seats in Parliament to form the next government, notwithstanding the disenfranchisement of more than 1,500,000 voters, mostly from ethnic minority communities in the Kachin, Karen, Mon, Rakhine, Shan, and Chin states;
Whereas, on February 1, 2021, President Biden issued a statement condemning the coup as a “direct assault on [Burma’s] transition to democracy and the rule of law” and called on the international community to come together to press the Tatmadaw to relinquish power;
Whereas the House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 134 on March 19, 2021, condemning the coup and calling for the restoration of civilian government and the release of detained officials;
Whereas the people of Burma, insistent that their country continue along the path toward democracy, courageously organized a civil disobedience movement and took to the streets to demand that the Tatmadaw relinquish power;
Whereas, on April 16, 2021, democratically elected Members of Parliament, who had been denied the opportunity to serve by the Tatmadaw, formed a National Unity Government that asserts it is the legitimate Government of Burma;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has used lethal force, including extrajudicial executions, to violently suppress the prodemocracy movement, killing more than 1,400 unarmed people since the coup began last year;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has relied heavily on mass arrests to stifle dissent and has detained more than 10,700 protesters, activists, and journalists since February 2021;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has used brutal and inhumane methods to intimidate, degrade, and torture detainees;
Whereas Tatmadaw soldiers have perpetrated rape and other forms of sexual violence with impunity;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has employed digital authoritarian tools and tactics to silence opposition, including internet shutdowns, online censorship, and high-tech surveillance;
Whereas the Tatmadaw has eroded the independence of the Burmese judiciary and conducted sham trials to convict political prisoners including State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint;
Whereas the Tatmadaw continues to perpetrate a horrific ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya Muslim population in Burma’s Rakhine State and has also committed atrocities against other ethnic minority communities in the Kachin, Karen, Mon, Rakhine, Shan, and Chin States, that the United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar has indicated amount to crimes against humanity;
Whereas the House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 1091 on December 13, 2018, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the atrocities committed against the Rohingya by the Tatmadaw constitute genocide;
Whereas the turmoil caused by the coup and the Tatmadaw’s violence and mismanagement of the economy have resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis that, according to a recent United Nations report, is projected to drive nearly half the Burmese population into poverty this year;
Whereas the deteriorating security situation in Burma following the coup has resulted in the internal displacement of nearly 300,000 people and prompted thousands more to flee the country as refugees;
Whereas the Biden administration has frozen more than $1,000,000,000 in Burmese Government funds held in the United States and coordinated with the European Union, Canada, and the United Kingdom to impose targeted sanctions against individuals and entities responsible for the coup, including Min Aung Hlaing, the commander in chief of the Tatmadaw;
Whereas numerous civil society and human rights groups have recommended additional sanctions targeting the largest sources of the Tatmadaw’s foreign currency revenue such as the state-controlled natural gas, mining, and timber entities, including the highly lucrative Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise; and
Whereas the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, which was established by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the Tatmadaw’s crimes against humanity and compile evidence for future prosecutions, is crucial to ensuring accountability for atrocities and bringing justice to the people of Burma: Now, therefore, be it
That the House of Representatives—
(1)
condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the military coup that took place in Burma on February 1, 2021;
(2)
denounces the Tatmadaw for perpetrating gross violations of human rights as part of its brutal campaign to suppress the democratic aspirations of the people of Burma;
(3)
stands in solidarity with the courageous people of Burma as they struggle to wrest political power from the hands of their authoritarian military;
(4)
calls on the Tatmadaw to—
(A)
cease all violence against prodemocracy activists and reach a cease-fire with ethnic armed organizations;
(B)
release all political prisoners;
(C)
engage in constructive dialogue with all parties to negotiate a pathway toward a government that reflects the will of the Burmese people;
(D)
grant humanitarian actors unhindered access to all relevant areas of Burma to help alleviate the immense suffering that has resulted from this past year’s violence and the COVID–19 pandemic; and
(E)
respect the human rights and civil liberties of all people of Burma, including ethnic minorities who currently face state-sponsored persecution; and
(5)
calls on the President, and the relevant Federal agencies, to take immediate action to—
(A)
work with international partners and multilateral institutions, including the United Nations Security Council, to enact new targeted sanctions on individuals and entities affiliated with the Tatmadaw, including an international arms embargo and a prohibition on the sale of aviation fuel to the Burmese military;
(B)
coordinate with like-minded partners and allies to restrict the Tatmadaw’s ability to finance its military operations by imposing new sanctions on Tatmadaw-linked individuals as well as Tatmadaw-controlled entities, including state-owned enterprises;
(C)
issue public warnings to businesses and individuals outlining the legal liability of doing business with the Tatmadaw, including potential liability associated with the Tatmadaw’s crimes against humanity;
(D)
enhance enforcement of existing sanctions prohibiting the importation of precious and semiprecious gemstones, jade, and amber from Burma to the United States;
(E)
provide robust humanitarian assistance in Burma, Bangladesh, Thailand, and the surrounding region and ensure that targeted sanctions allow all necessary exemptions to permit the delivery of humanitarian assistance to civilians in need;
(F)
ensure that United States-based social media companies, including Facebook, not allow their platforms to be used as vehicles for disinformation campaigns or advocating violence against the Burmese people;
(G)
make a genocide determination with regards to the persecution of the Rohingya;
(H)
direct the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States to bring about greater international cooperation to pursue justice and accountability in Burma; and
(I)
support inclusive international accountability efforts, including the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, with a particular emphasis on Burma’s civil society organizations, to investigate and hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable.