The European Union should press Burma’s President Thein Sein to allow the U.N. to set up a human rights office in the country and full humanitarian access to areas where the population remains at risk from sectarian and military violence, activists and rights groups said Tuesday.
The EU came under pressure as Thein Sein made his first European visit since he took over the helm from a brutal military junta two years ago and began implementing reforms in the once pariah state.
Htay Kywe, a leader of Burma’s 88 Generation student democracy group, told RFA’s Burmese Service that he spoke with leaders from more than 20 countries at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, urging them to push Thein Sein to allow the U.N. to set up a human rights office in Burma.
“I want my country to follow the rule of law and enjoy standard human rights,” said Htay Kywe, who is attending the Feb. 25 - March 22 council meeting along with representatives from other Burmese rights groups.
“While it is said that Burma’s policy is to embrace reform, there are many weaknesses in the implementation process. So, we discussed with international leaders the need to collaborate with the global community—especially the U.N.—on human rights issues,” he said.
The government of Thein Sein, who is visiting Brussels to push for a lifting of sanctions against Burma, has refused observer groups access to conflict areas and has yet to allow the U.N. a permanent foothold in the country.
Htay Kywe said he also discussed with EU leaders the situations in Burma’s Kachin state, where tens of thousands of people have fled fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burmese military, and in Rakhine state, where 180 were killed in sectarian violence last year.
The issue over the country’s remaining political prisoners and ongoing land disputes were also discussed.
He said officials agreed that these issues continue to require the Human Rights Council’s attention and that the Burmese government should accept a U.N. human rights office in the country to assist in resolving them.
“If we had an office in Burma there could be human rights training for government officials and the U.N. could facilitate and collaborate with Burma’s government in bringing the country’s human rights standards to an international level,” he said.
“If we could show that Burma is collaborating globally, we could draw more international investment to the country. Both our business and diplomacy standards would be raised if a U.N. human rights office was allowed to open in Burma.”
Htay Kywe said Burma should move towards cleaning up its human rights record, which had prompted international sanctions during the era of Gen. Than Shwe’s military junta.
“I told the European leaders that it is not sufficient [for us] to tell the international community, ‘There are no human rights violation in Burma’,” he said.
“We must collaborate with the international community on human rights for our country’s future.”
Call for pressure
The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that European leaders should urge Thein Sein “to honor his pledges to permit an office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights” and allow “full and unimpeded access of humanitarian organizations” to areas where civilians are in need.
“EU leaders should treat the reform efforts to date in Burma as just the start of a process, not the end,” said Lotte Leicht, EU director at HRW.
“They should of course encourage President Thein Sein’s reforms but also press him to address the hard reality of serious ongoing human rights violations in Burma.”
HRW said EU leaders should recognize that recent positive changes in Burma are largely due to international pressure and the desire of the country’s leadership to emerge from economic and political isolation after decades of military misrule.
It urged the EU not to ignore ongoing abuses by Burmese security forces, including attacks on civilians in ethnic conflict areas and crackdowns on peaceful protesters.
“EU leaders should urge Thein Sein to allow unimpeded humanitarian assistance to Kachin and [Rakhine] States and other areas where the population is at risk,” HRW said, referring to reports of security forces blocking, harassing, and failing to protect aid convoys to conflict zones, despite specific promises by the president to permit greater assistance.
The rights group noted that Thein Sein had pledged to U.S. President Barack Obama in November that he would allow the U.N rights office to be set up in the country. A recent European Parliament resolution urged the Burmese government to accelerate its commitment on the issue.
HRW urged EU leaders to commit to sponsoring a Burma resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council calling for such an office and extending the mandate for a U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burma if no agreement is reached to do so voluntarily.
“Thein Sein no doubt has his talking points polished and is primed to be applauded for his reforms. But any realistic analysis of the current situation on the ground in Burma would conclude much more needs to be done to entrench reforms,” Leicht said.
“The EU is not genuinely assisting Burma’s transition—and, more importantly, its people—if it settles for feel-good platitudes. Only constructive and firm pressure will ensure durable protections for civilians, and basic human rights for all.”
Thein Sein has already visited Norway, Finland, and Austria during his trip, and will fly to Italy before returning home on March 8.
Reported by Win Naing for RFA’s Burmese Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.