Burma-- time for change : report of an independent task force sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Falco, Mathea.

Council on Foreign Relations.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democratization--Burma.

Democratization.

Burma--Politics and government--1988-.

Burma.

Politics and government.

National League for Democracy (Burma).

Physical Description:

viii, 62 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Council on Foreign Relations, [2003]

Summary:

A genuine democracy movement lives in Burma, but it continues to be brutally suppressed by the ruling military government. In 1990, the National League for Democracy (NLD) -- led by Aung San Suu Kyi -- won 82 percent of the seats in a multiparty parliamentary election. The regime ignored the elections and the democratically elected representatives never took office. Aung San Suu Kyi, who was imprisoned after violent government-orchestrated attacks on democracy supporters on May 30, 2003, has spent more than half of the past fourteen years under house arrest. Burma remains one of the most tightly controlled dictatorships in the world.

Recognizing that democracy and the NLD cannot survive in Burma without the help of the United States and the international community, the Council-sponsored Independent Task Force on Burma sounds a clarion call for change. In response to the government's recent crackdown on the democratic opposition, the Task Force urges the United Nations to call for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, and to impose sanctions on Burma, including bans both on new in-vestment in Burma and on the importation of goods produced in Burma. The Task Force report also offers specific recommendations for U.S. policy in four areas: humanitarian assistance; promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law; narcotics control policy; and refugees, migrants, and internally displaced persons.

Led by Mathea Falco, president of Drug Strategies and former assistant secretary of state for international narcotics matters, this bipartisan Task Force comprises members with a wide range of experience in international business, law, government, media, academia, public health, and human rights advocacy, among other areas. Its recommendations are intended to inform U.S. government action as well as to increase U.S. cooperation with other countries, especially in Asia, to bring about a long overdue political, economic, and social transformation of Burma.

Contents:

Task Force Report 7

Political Overview 7

Regional Context 10

Economic and Social Conditions 11

Future of the Military 14

Human Rights 15

Key Issues and Recommendations 18

Additional and Dissenting Views 34

Task Force Members 40

Task Force Observers 45

Appendix A United Nations General Assembly Resolution 49

Appendix B European Union Common Position 56.

Notes:

"Mathea Falco, chair."

ISBN:

0876093330

OCLC:

53101084