UN Security Council Members Should Address Burma at APEC Summit

The upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit taking place in Australia provides an important opportunity for participants -- and particularly for China, Russia and the U.S., as members of the UN Security Council -- to press for democratic change and greater openness in Burma, Freedom House said today.

Burma remains one of the most repressive countries on earth. While the U.S. and other Western countries maintain sanctions on Burma, the ruling military junta is sustained in large part through funds from China in exchange for oil and gas. Earlier this year, Burma closely escaped censure by the UN Security Council; a January resolution supported by 9 of the Council’s 15 members was vetoed by China and Russia. The U.S., Russia and China will all be present at the APEC summit this weekend.

Recent public demonstrations for democracy included protests yesterday by Buddhist monks, who were subsequently beaten by police in an effort to disperse the protesters. In response to the demonstrations, Burma’s military government has finally concluded a 14-year-long National Convention charged with drafting guidelines for a new constitution.  The guidelines have already come under criticism: they will preserve the military’s role in government and bar Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won elections in1990, from running in a future election.

“Left to themselves, Burma’s current rulers have no intention of allowing the country to transition to democracy,” said Paula Schriefer, director of advocacy at Freedom House. “As a result, it falls to the international community, and particularly members of the UN Security Council, to apply effective, constructive pressure on Burma’s leaders.”

President Bush has already pressed for political freedom in Burma, and First Lady Laura Bush recently called Secretary-General Ban to ask him to keep the issue of Burma on the agenda of the  Security Council.

As one of Burma’s biggest investors, China has great potential to influence the Burmese regime, yet the Chinese government has avoided speaking out against the regime’s repressive tactics. 

“China claims, in light of the upcoming Olympics in Beijing next year, that it wants to become a responsible member of the international community,” added Ms. Schriefer. “If that is true, it is time for the Chinese government to step up and pressure Burma’s leaders to tolerate peaceful protests and, eventually, legitimate elections.”

Burma is ranked Not Free in the 2007 edition of the organization’s annual survey, Freedom in the World, which covers the events of 2006. The country received a rating of 7 (on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 as the lowest) for political rights and 7 for civil liberties, and was given a downward trend arrow due to the largest offensive against the ethnic Karen population in a decade and the displacement of thousands of Karen as a result of the attacks.

For more information on Burma, visit:

Freedom in the World 2007: Burma
Freedom of the Press 2007: Burma

Freedom House, an independent nongovernmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world, has been monitoring political rights and civil liberties in Burma since 1972.