On October 7, the House approved, by voice vote, a resolution (H. Res. 768) calling on the United Nations Security Council to immediately consider and take appropriate action to respond to the growing threat that the ruling State Peace and Development Council in Burma poses to the Southeast Asia region and to the people of Burma. The Senate approved a similar resolution (S. Res. 431) on September 22 (see The Source, 9/24/04). Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA) sponsored the resolution.
According to the resolution, “Security Forces of the ruling State Peace and Development Council in Burma continue to commit extrajudicial killings, rape, engage in torture, forcibly relocate persons, use forced labor, and conscript child soldiers.” The resolution also states that the situation in Burma “poses a threat to regional stability because of the continuous cross-border flow of illegal narcotics, trafficked persons, and the unchecked spread of HIV/AIDS…and because of the destabilizing effects of the flight of over 200,000 refugees to Thailand and Bangladesh in an attempt to escape systematic terrorizing by the Burmese military.” Finally, the resolution notes that the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution expressing grave concern about the ongoing violations of human rights occurring against the people of Burma.
Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ) explained that the resolution “urges the United Nations Security Council to consider and take appropriate action to respond to the growing threat that the Burmese government poses to the Southeast Asia region. Consideration by the Security Council of the situation in Burma is long overdue, and I hope that this important resolution will further encourage Security Council members to move forward with the concrete multilateral strategy to promote democracy and freedom in Burma.”
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) agreed. “It is time for the United Nations Security Council to take action to respond to the growing threat of Southeast Asia and the people of Burma. With the United Kingdom and the United States chairing the United Nations Security Council respectively in October and November, we should use this opportunity to press for action by the Security Council on Burma.”
