Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 10 Oct 1996

Vol. 469 No. 7

Adjournment Debates. - Human Rights in Burma.

Ms F. Fitzgerald:

Human rights, whether we are speaking about Northern Ireland or far away in Myanmar, are extremely important and cannot be ignored. The deplorable situation in Burma which has been highlighted by Amnesty International must be addressed by all governments. The Irish Government in its position as President of the EU has a unique opportunity to highlight this issue and to ensure that effective pressure is brought to bear on the Government in Burma now known as Myanmar.

The Leader of the Opposition, Aung San Suu Kyi, is an inspiration to people all over the world. There is an extremely oppressive regime in power there and Amnesty International and the John Pilger Report on Channel 4 have highlighted the enormous human rights abuses. Burma is far away but it is critical that the Western world, and particularly Ireland during its EU Presidency, make its views known on this appalling abuse of human rights. It is important to internationalise these issues. Just as international help and involvement has been important in Northern Ireland, it can help those suffering abuse under other regimes.

Burma's name may have changed but oppression remains. The military rulers declared 1996 the year to visit their country but there are many facts that will not be found in government handouts or tourist brochures. Hundreds of thousands of people have been imprisoned and killed. There is martial law and the generals continue to imprison anyone suspected of opposition. One of the world's most famous prisoners of conscience, Aung San Suu Kyi, still faces daily oppression. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and continues to face attacks for opposing the Government and trying to introduce democracy.

Amnesty International are not allowed to enter the country and people are frightened of speaking out. There is evidence that much of the infrastructure is being built by forced labour. Those who are friendly with Aung San Suu Kyi have been arrested and some have died in deplorable conditions in Burmese jails. A young assistant of Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment only because she was a campaign assistant. There are tragic stories about many young citizens in Burma. Two young girls of one of the minority groups were forced to become unpaid porters for the military. They were raped continually while working for the military and, in fact, died on their return home. I hope that during the Irish Presidency we will continue to exert international pressure on the regime and that the EU will speak with one voice on this issue. Tourists must know the real story of this country and the repression behind the infrastructure which they are being shown. I hope the Irish Government in its role will ask for the release of prisoners and demand that the opposition are allowed to operate. Democracy in its most developed form is fragile and flawed, but as the situation exists in Burma it is brutalising for its people and must be challenged continually.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring):

The Government remains very seriously concerned at the continuing deterioration of the situation in Burma. We deplore in particular the practice of torture, summary and arbitrary executions, forced labour, abuse of women, political arrests, forced displacements of the population and restrictions on the fundamental rights of freedom and of speech, movement and assembly, which have been reported there in the recent past.

When I attended the ASEAN Regional Forum in Jakarta on 22-23 July 1996 I sought a meeting with Mr. Ohn Gyaw, the Foreign Minister of the Union of Myanmar. This was the first such meeting between the European Union and Myanmar since 1994. In our encounter, I indicated to Mr. Ohn Gyaw in forthright terms the concerns of the European Union in relation to the deterioration of political and human rights in Myanmar and the unwarranted restriction the fundamental rights of freedom of speech, movement and association. I urged the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to implement without delay the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners in Burma, to enter meaningful dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and to bring about national reconciliation and democratic reform respecting the aspirations of the Burmese people as expressed in the elections of May 1990.

I also sought a full and satisfactory explanation of the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the death of the late Mr. James Leander Nichols who had acted in a consular capacity for Denmark and Finland in Rangoon. I should also add that discussion of Burma dominated the informal dinner for Ministers attending the ASEAN Regional Forum in Jakarta and was addressed at the ASEAN Regional Forum proper, at the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conferences and in bilateral contacts which I had with ministerial colleagues from ASEAN and their full dialogue partners. On 26 September 1996, I led the EU ministerial troika in a further meeting in New York with Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw. I reiterated the concerns of the European Union and indicated that the explanations which have been offered by the Burmese authorities to date are neither full nor satisfactory. I informed him that, given the apparent unwillingness of the Burmese Government to enter any significant discussions on the EU's legitimate preoccupations, the EU had taken a series of steps which it had already announced in Jakarta. It had requested that the UN Special Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and Imprisonment visit Burma, that the UN Special Rapporteur on Burma investigate the circumstances of the death of Mr. Nichols and that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights take action on Burma.

Since then the situation in Burma has deteriorated further, with the recent widescale detentions of supporters of the National League for Democracy (NLD), and the blockading of access to the residence of NLD leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. On 1 October 1996, at a meeting of the General Affairs Council in Luxembourg, which I chaired, the EU issued a declaration expressing its concern at these events. The EU called for the immediate and unconditional release of all those who have been detained and to allow for the resumption of normal activities by the National League of Democracy. Finally, the European Union emphasised the need for genuine dialogue to commence without delay between SLORC and the National League for Democracy as being the only possible credible way forward for national reconciliation in Burma. The council also noted that the EU Commission was completing its inquiry into possible future suspension of the generalised systems of preferences trade benefits for Burma. The Irish EU Presidency has also pursued the question at the highest level in diplomatic contacts most recently during the EU-Japan Summit on 30 September 1996 when the Taoiseach raised the question of Burma with Prime Minister Hashimoto in Tokyo. There are also regular contacts with the American State Department in Washington DC concerning developments in Burma.

The European Union is giving active consideration to further possible restrictions in relation to Burma. The situation is at present being discussed by the Common Foreign and Security Policy's Asia-Oceania Working Group at their meeting in Brussles today and tomorrow.