11 Restrictive measures against the regime
in Myanmar/Burma
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| Council Decision amending Decision 2013/184/CFSP concerning restrictive measures against Myanmar/Burma
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| Legal base | Art 215 TFEU; QMV
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| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 30 April 2014
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| Previous Committee Reports | HC 83-xl (2013-14), chapter 6 (2 April 2014); also see (34870) —: HC 83-xiv (2013-14), chapter 21 (11 September 2013), HC 83-iv (2013-14), chapter 24 (5 June 2013) and HC 83-i (2013-14), chapter 9 (8 May 2013); also see (33852) —: HC 86-ii (2012-13), chapter 20 (16 May 2012)
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| Discussion in Council | 14 April 2014 Foreign Affairs Council
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared (decision reported 2 April 2014)
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Background
11.1 The extant Council Decision was adopted by the 22 April 2013
Foreign Affairs Council (FAC). It implemented the decision to
end the sanctions that the EU had imposed against the military
government of over several years, save for the arms embargo. That
decision reflected the considerable strides that had taken place
towards reform in Burma: significant releases of political prisoners;
credible by-elections; initial ceasefire agreements with the majority
of ethnic groups; Aung San Suu Kyi now a Member of Parliament
and active leader of the opposition; significantly enhanced freedom
of expression.
11.2 Nonetheless, a year ago, the Minister for Europe
(Mr David Lidington) also pointed out that the FAC Conclusions
highlighted EU concerns about the challenges that remained, including:
the need to release unconditionally the remaining political prisoners;
finding a sustainable solution to the conflict in Kachin and improving
humanitarian access; the grave humanitarian situation caused by
violence in Rakhine State; and recent anti-Muslim violence. The
Council Conclusions "clearly set out the areas in which further
progress is expected", and reiterated "the EU's commitment
to engage constructively and critically with Burma as it seeks
to resolve these challenges". For its part, the Government
would "work to catalyse deeper, irreversible reform in Burma
[and] work alongside EU partners to use Member States' collective
influence on human rights, responsible trade, development, and
political reform". UK policy would "continue to evolve
in line with progress". The Government would "continue
to be a constructive, supportive and critical partner, committed
to supporting reform moves under the President and Aung San Suu
Kyi".
11.3 At the same time, the FAC invited the High Representative
(HR) to discuss and propose a Comprehensive Framework for the
EU's policy and support to the ongoing reforms for the next three
years.
11.4 As our previous Report recalls, the Committee
has continued to challenge the Minister's position — unique
among Member States and the Commission — that Council Conclusions
are the right vehicle because such policy frameworks (or strategies
or action plans) are political, not legislative: our view being
that it is precisely because of their political nature that they
should be subject to prior scrutiny, as was the case prior to
the Lisbon Treaty, and not just any manifestation that necessitates
legislation (e.g., restrictions such as these). Presently, the
Committee awaits the Government's response to the scrutiny inquiry
Report, of which this is the major Common Security and Defence
Policy (CSDP) bone of contention.
11.5 The Minister also had very little to say about
why there had been no pressure to remove the arms embargo, noting
only that:
"Despite political progress towards reconciliation,
there has been no move from any EU partners, or other countries
such as Australia and the US who impose embargoes, to consider
any changes to the current embargoes at the present time. The
Burmese government has not lobbied the UK directly for any lifting
of the embargo. Any move by the EU to consider lifting the embargo
would almost certainly lead to heavy criticism from the media,
parliamentarians and NGOs that the EU is softening its stance
despite continuing human rights abuses by the Burmese military."
Our assessment
11.6 We accordingly asked the Minister to let us
know in more detail what had transpired in the past 12 months
— what "political progress towards reconciliation",
and "what continuing human rights abuses by the Burmese military";
what impact, if any, the EU's Comprehensive Framework had had
in moving the Burmese government in the right direction; and what
the HR and the Government was doing to dissuade the Burmese military
authorities.
11.7 In the meantime, we cleared the draft Council
Decision.[27]
The Minister's letter of 30 April 2014
11.8 The Minister responds thus:
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
"Low-level conflict continues in some areas,
such as Kachin State and northern Shan State. Following informal
talks on 9 and 10 March 2014, the Burmese government and ethnic
armed groups agreed, for the first time, to establish a joint
committee to draft a nationwide ceasefire agreement. This is a
welcome initial step towards political dialogue, which will be
necessary for a sustainable settlement and lasting peace.
"High-level Burmese military participation
in the talks reflects the military's willingness to engage seriously
in this process. Whilst disagreements on the details of the ceasefire
remain, we expect, following further talks this month, that representatives
of government, military and the ethnic armed groups will reconvene
in May 2014 for further discussions on a ceasefire text.
ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS BY THE BURMESE MILITARY
"Credible allegations of abuse by the Burmese
military have been widely reported. In his final report, dated
2 April 2014, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Situation of Human
Rights in Myanmar (Burma), Mr Tomas Ojea Quintana, heard allegations
of human rights abuses from those affected by conflict in the
Je Yang camp for internally displaced persons in Kachin State.
This included allegations of sexual violence against Kachin women
and the arbitrary detention and torture of young Kachin men. In
the report, the Special Rapporteur noted that he continued to
receive allegations of serious human rights violations accompanying
military offensives.
"We regularly raise with the Burmese government
and the Burmese military the importance of the protection of human
rights, including the rights of women, particularly by preventing
sexual violence in conflict areas. As such, we continue to encourage
Burma to join 142 nations in endorsing the Foreign Secretary's
initiative, the UN Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence.
UK RESPONSE
"The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in
its Human Rights and Democracy Report 2013 published on 10 April
2014, set out the actions we are taking to tackle ongoing human
rights abuses in ethnic areas. We are funding work on preventing
sexual violence, totalling over £300,000 for the next fifteen
months. For example, the UK is funding an Action Aid Myanmar project
to improve access to justice for survivors of conflict, as well
as to develop community programmes to prevent and respond to acts
of sexual violence. The project will benefit survivors of conflict
in Kachin, Kayah, Rakhine, Meiktila, and Pyapon. The project will
support our existing work on the wider peace process in conflict
areas in Burma, such as Kachin State.
THE EU COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK
"The EU Comprehensive Framework for Burma,
adopted on 22 July 2013, outlines priorities for the EU's policy
approach to Burma over the next three years. This approach was
agreed by Foreign Ministers at the Foreign Affairs Council, following
the lifting of all EU sanctions apart from the arms embargo and
restrictions on equipment which could be used for internal repression.
"The Comprehensive Framework outlines a
number of priority areas for which a long-term approach will be
necessary. Whilst it is too early to judge what effect the framework
has had in encouraging an improvement in the Burmese government's
human rights record, there are a number of actions planned for
the coming months. For instance, the first EU-Burma Human Rights
dialogue to be co-chaired by the EU Special Representative for
human rights, Stavros Lambrinidis, will take place in Burma from
19-21 May 2014. This will be an opportunity for the EU and Burma
to exchange views on human rights and identify key areas where
the EU and Burma might work together to resolve issues of concern.
"We believe that trade and investment has
an important role to play in alleviating poverty. In line with
the Framework, the EU will negotiate a Bilateral Investment Agreement,
which will afford EU companies greater investment protection in
Burma. This is particularly important in a country with a weak
legislative framework. The Agreement will help Burma attract high
quality investment from the EU, which will lead to the creation
of much needed jobs and the development of skills.
"Furthermore, discussions on the EU's development
priorities in Burma from 2014-2020 are currently taking place.
Whilst the outcome of these discussions has not yet been made
public, we fully expect that significant EU development funds
will be allocated to Burma on the basis of the priorities identified
in the Comprehensive Framework.
UK MILITARY ENGAGEMENT
"UK military engagement is at an early stage.
In October 2013, a UK Defence Attaché became resident in
Burma, following the re-establishment of military ties earlier
in the year. The focus of our defence engagement in Burma will
be on adherence to the core principles of democratic accountability,
international law and human rights. Foreign Office Minister of
State, Rt Hon Hugo Swire MP, raised specific concerns about the
human rights situation with the Burmese Commander-in-Chief, and
separately with members of the Burmese armed forces, during his
visit to Kachin State in January 2014.
"As part of this engagement, the UK Defence
Academy delivered the Managing Defence in a Wider Security Context
course (MDWSC) in Burma in January 2014 to 30 students drawn from
government and the Burmese military. This educational course focussed
on the principles of transparency, accountability and human rights.
One Burmese officer is currently participating in the UK variant
of this course.
ENGAGEMENT BY THE EU HIGH REPRESENTATIVE
"We are not aware of any engagement by the
EU High Representative, Baroness Ashton, with the Burmese military.
However, Baroness Ashton has been instrumental in driving forward
a closer relationship between Burma and the EU. In November 2013,
Baroness Ashton jointly chaired the EU-Myanmar Task Force with
Burmese Minister for the President's Office, U Soe Thane. The
Task Force brought together leading representatives of government,
business and civil society from the EU and Burma, including Commission
Vice President Tajani, Commissioner Piebalgs, and Commissioner
Ciolos. The Task Force discussed a range of political and economic
issues, including the importance of constitutional reform in the
lead-up to Burma's national elections in 2015. This was followed
by a visit by U Soe Thane to Brussels from 20-21 March
2014, during which Baroness Ashton repeated this message.
UK ACTIVITIES IN BURMA
"Finally, I would like to draw your committee's
attention to the publication, on 8 April 2014, of a summary of
the UK's activities in Burma:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-activities-in-burma
"This document, which is also available
in Burmese, sets the full range of UK work to support Burma's
democratic transition. Hard copies of this document have been
placed in the library of the House."
Conclusion
11.9 We are grateful to the Minister for his response,
which we are drawing to the attention of the House because of
the widespread interest in developments in Burma/Myanmar. We are
otherwise content for interested Members to pursue whatever questions
may arise via the other means at their disposal.
11.10 For our part, we should be grateful if,
the next time the Minister puts forward the Council Decision for
amendment or renewal, he would provide a similar assessment at
that time, including on the progress made in the areas that he
has particularly identified at this juncture (e.g., the newly-established
EU-Burma/Myanmar human rights dialogue, the prospective EU-Burma/Myanmar
Investment Agreement, the newly-established UK-Burma/Myanmar military
dialogue etc.).
27 See headnote: HC 83-xl (2013-14), chapter 6 (2
April 2014). Back
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