UN General Assembly Resolution Condemns Burma

The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday strongly condemned “the ongoing systematic violations of human rights” in Burma and called on the military regime to undertake a transparent and inclusive review of the 2008 Constitution.

A UN press release said the non-binding resolution expressed deep concern at restrictions on effective and genuine participation of all stakeholders in the country, including the representatives of the National League for Democracy (NLD), in a genuine process of dialogue and national reconciliation. It also noted that the procedures established for the drafting of the Constitution resulted in a de facto exclusion of the opposition from the process.

The 192-member General Assembly adopted the resolution by a vote of 86-23 with 39 abstentions. While the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, South Africa and Switzerland were among the countries in favor of the resolution, China, India, Russia and North Korea, together with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members Malaysia, Laos and Vietnam, voted against it.

Four other Asean countries—Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand—abstained, as did Norway.

The resolution also urged the Burmese regime to immediately and unconditionally release opposition leader and Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and free more than 2,000 other prisoners of conscience.

The Burmese ambassador to the UN, Than Swe, rejected the resolution, calling it highly politicized. He said Burma was on track towards a “smooth transition” to democracy and was actively preparing for multi-party elections next year.

In two visits to Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN human rights special rapporteur for Burma, has urged the military regime to complete four core human rights elements before the elections in 2010. They are the release of all prisoners of conscience; the review and reform of national legislation that is not in compliance with international human rights standards; the reform of the judiciary to assure independence and impartiality; and the reform of the military, which needed to respect international humanitarian law in conflict areas, as well as the rights of civilians.

Since his appointment in May 2008, Quintana has made two visits to Burma, the second one in February.

The special rapporteur receives his mandate from the UN Human Rights Council. A UN source said Quintana is expected to visit Burma twice a year.

Although Thursday's resolution stated that a date has now been established for a follow-up visit by Quintana, he said in a recent interview with a Burmese radio station that the Burmese government had rejected for the second time his request to travel there. The regime had given no reason, apart from saying it was not ready to receive him.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17466