Jul 17, 2003

Myanmar sanction bill ready for signing


The US Senate gave final approval to legislation imposing sanctions on Myanmar's ruling military junta,
The US Senate gave final approval to legislation imposing sanctions on Myanmar's ruling military junta, the bill will be sent to US President George W. Bush, who said he was eager to sign it.

The Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, passed in the Senate Wednesday by a vote of 94-1, authorizes Bush to aid Myanmar's democracy activists, to impose trade restrictions, freeze the regime's financial assets in the US banks and impose a visa ban on regime members seeking to enter the United States.

A White House statement said Bush looked forward to signing the bill.

"This legislation sends a clear message to the Burmese regime that their continued detention of Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and their assaults on freedom cannot stand," said Scott McClellan.

The legislation seeks to punish the ruling junta for its recent crackdown on pro-democracy groups and its detention on May 30 of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The author of the bill, Senator Mitch McConnell, applauded the US Congress for the legislation's speedy passage and said he hoped it would trigger the start of the dictatorship's demise.

"Democracy and the rule of law will prevail in Burma," said the Kentucky Republican. "We must never tire in the pursuit of justice in the long-suffering Burma until Suu Kyi is free and the struggle for freedom is won."

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won 1990 elections in a landslide victory but was never been allowed to rule.

Myanmar is facing increased pressure to release the Nobel peace laureate that was taken into "protective custody" after clashes broke out during a political tour of northern Myanmar in May, when hundreds of pro-junta militants attacked her supporters. Dissidents say dozens were killed in the violence.

Myanmar's ruling generals have extended their crackdown on leaders of the NLD. Myanmar's junta has accused the democracy activists of inciting the clashes, saying Aung San Suu Kyi had been temporarily detained for her own safety. She has been moved from Yangon's notoriously tough Insein prison to an undisclosed location.

Shortly after the Senate vote, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan emerged from a meeting with Myanmar deputy foreign minister U Khin Maung Win to urge the speedy release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I have given him a message for General Than Shwe, basically telling him I would expect them to release Aung San Suu Kyi as soon as possible and that they are responsible for the protection and safety of Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her party," Annan told reporters. The Senate vote came one day after the US House of Representatives voted 418-2 to approve the measures.

The regime in Yangon condemned that vote, calling the move to tighten economic sanctions "weapons of mass destruction" that would create havoc. A regime spokesman said in a statement titled "Sanctions Used as Weapons of Mass Destruction" that the measures would deprive people of job opportunities and hurt health care and education in the impoverished nation.

"Sanctions, in short, are imposed on target countries by the rich and powerful nations mainly with the intention to create havoc and bring hardship on the mass population," he said. Last week the junta sent Bush a petition signed by 350,000 textile workers appealing against the ban, which the Myanmar Times say would threaten annual exports worth 356 million dollars, mostly in the textile sector.

Both Canada and the European Union have imposed tighter sanctions on Myanmar, while the country's largest donor Japan has suspended new economic aid.

An official with the Washington-based Free Burma coalition called the Senate vote "a huge step in the right direction and that direction is regime change in Burma." But he said the regime would only rethink its policies if nations around the world join the sanctions." A change in Burma is going to happen if there's multilateral pressure in place," said Jeremy Woodrun, director of the group. "The next move is to press hard for the United Nations Security Council to take up the issue on Burma."