Written by U Ne Oo on 2000-11-01
# LETTER TO PRESIDENT OF 55TH UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY, H.E. MR HARRI HOLKERI
# NOTE ON RESIGNATION
OF UN SPECIAL RTION
OF UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR, JUDGE RAJSOOMER LALLAH.
LETTER TO PRESIDENT OF 55TH UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Dr U Ne Oo
18 Shannon Place
Adelaide SA 5000
Australia
1st November 2000.
H.E. Mr Harri Holkeri
The President, 55th UN Assembly
C/- The Ambassador of Finland to UN
866 United Nations Plaza
Suite 22w, New York N.Y. 10017
United States of America
Facsimile: (+1-2ates of America
Facsimile: (+1-212) 759-6156
Dear President Holkeri:
I am a Burmese exile residing in Australia and I call your attention to the continuing political stalemate as well as the human rights and humanitarian crises in Burma. In this connection, I enclosed my report, "BURMA: Towards Political Solution", for the consideration of this years UN General Assembly. I believe the United Nations, especially the General Assembly, giving close attention to the situation in Burma is crucial to solve the political crisis in Burma and to attain peace and reconciliation in that country. To end the political stalemate in Burma, the UN General Assembly should encourage all parties to the conflict in Burma immediately start dialogue. The UN General Assembly should also authorize the Committee Representing the People�s Parliament to carry out tasks such as the framing of constitution of Burma and rewriting of Village and Towns Acts in Burma.
illage and Towns Acts in Burma.
To remedy the situation of forced labor in Burma, the UN General Assembly should request the Security Council create unhindered access for the international human rights and humanitarian organizations, including Human Rights Special Rapporteur and UNHCR. The unhindered access to the people of Burma for international humanitarian organizations is also essential to alleviate the sufferings of the population.
Although the military junta since last year had allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross to vi Red Cross to visit the prisons, we continue to receive reports of ill-treatment of detainees by prison authorities. There have also been various reports of extra-judicial execution and massacre of ethnic minority villagers by the Burmese troops. The UN General Assembly should request the Commission on Human Rights set up an independent tribunal to investigate those allegations.
The UN General Assembly should also note the problem of illicit drugs in Burma which also threaten stability of neighboring countries. In particular,. In particular, UNGA should request the Security Council to look into allegations of the involvement of junta leaders in the production and trafficking of illicit drugs.
In closing, thank you for your kind attention to these matters.
Yours respectfully and sincerely
(U Ne Oo)
1. H.E. Mrs Yvonne Gittens-Joseph, Chair, UN Third Committee, C/O Representative
of Trinidad and Tobago to UN, 820 Second Avenue, 5th Floor,
New York N.Y. 10017, U.S.A. Facsimile: (+1-212) 682-3580
Posted to Internet 5 November 2000
Posted Sun 5 Nov 2000; 4:00pm
BURMA: RESIGNATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR
It is disturbing to learn that the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, Judge Rajsoomer Lallah, has resigned from his post, citing 'lack of financial and administrative support' towards his work. The timing for his resignation have been terribly bation have been terribly bad: on the eve of drafting the General Assembly Resolution on Burma. Throughout these years, there were no shortage of instances of our democracy and human rights movement being 'bullied' especially at the United Nations General Assembly. The General Assembly should have been putting a finer details that would be needed to further the cause of democracy in Burma -- a task of which the Special Rapporteur Rajsoomer may be the only competent person to do. Otherwise, the UN bureaucrats would only be re-generating previourating previous years' resolution with out having much sense or sensitivity of the current situation in Burma.
Lets hope it is not too late to salvage this situation at the UNGA.
Regards, U Ne Oo.
Subject: U.N. human rights expert on Myanmar resigns
Date: Fri, 03 Nov 2000 20:29:42 +0100
From: David Arnott
U.N. human rights expert on Myanmar resigns
AP, Geneva, 3 November 2000.The United Nations human rights e United Nations human rights expert on Myanmar has resigned, citing lack of assistance from the world body, a spokesman said Friday.
Rajsoomer Lallah had sent a letter of resignation Thursday, said Jose Diaz, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
''I believe he expressed some frustration with the secretarial support
that he was getting and also he seems to have expressed frustration as
well with the little change that he has seen in the country that he
follows,'' Diaz said.
Lallah, the former Chief Jllah, the former Chief Justice of Mauritius, was appointed to the post in June 1996 to replace Japanese Yozo Yokota, who left claiming he did not have the resources to carry out his work.
U.N. rights experts do not receive salaries, but the United Nations pays for expenses and provides help with translation and preparing reports.
In a report to the U.N. General Assembly last month, Lallah said that
the human rights situation in Myanmar continues to deteriorate with the
military government suppressing all opposition political acttion political activity
and engaging in ''inhuman treatment'' of opposition members and ethnic
minorities.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has never allowed Lallah to visit.
(nk-gm)
Subject: Sweden Submits Resolution Condemning Burma Junta To U.N
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 17:50:53 +0900
From: "koko"
Sweden Submits Resolution Condemning Burma Junta To U.N
NEW YORK, Nov 4 (Bernama-Kyodo) - Sweden has submitted to a U.N. human ras submitted to a U.N. human rights committee a draft resolution blasting Burmese junta for its treatment of pro-democracy supporters and other human rights violations, U.N. sources said.
The resolution, submitted Thursday to the Third Committee of the Millennium General Assembly, urges the junta to remove ''all restrictions on Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi's and other National League for Democracy (NLD) members' freedom of movement.''
Suu Kyi, the head of the NLD, is prevented from leaving Rangoon by the military government.
The draernment.
The draft is expected to be approved by the committee next week, the sources said. The committee, which handles social, humanitarian and cultural issues, is headed by Yvonne Gittens-Joseph from Trinidad and Tobago.
The resolution states that the U.N. General Assembly ''deplores the continuing violations of human rights in Burma,'' including extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and the denial of freedom of assembly, association, expression and movement.
It says the assembly ''expresses its grave concers its grave concern at the increasingly systematic policy...to persecute the democratic opposition, NLD members and sympathizers and their families, as well as ethnic opposition parties.''
It also said the junta has failed to cease the widespread and systematic use of forced labor of its own people and to meet the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) recommendations on this issue.
''This failure has compelled the ILO to strictly limit further cooperation with the Burmese government'' the draft said.
