U.N. Human Rights Committee to begin Burma initiative

The Bush administration is pressuring the United Nations Security Council to draft a resolution that denounces the military regime of Burma, The Washington Post wrote in an editorial today. Burma, a clear dictatorship, is the world’s most offensive human rights abuser. In the early 1990’s, its attempts to hold a free election were thwarted when the winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was put under house arrest, where she currently remains. The junta military regime in Burma has victimized and waged war on many of the nation’s indigenous groups, which has led to the displacement of more than one million citizens.

A commissioned report, released in 2005 by retired archbishop Desmond Tutu and Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, detailed the effects of the Burmese military on neighboring nations. The abuses against the Burmese people and neighboring communities have been overlooked to a large extent and speaking out against such atrocities would be an ideal inaugural initiative for the new United Nations Human Rights Committee. As of now, the proposed U.N. resolution would have no disciplinary measures; it will simply gauge the interest of nations to work together. However, The Washington Post expresses hope that the resolution will spark an international campaign, with the combination of the two resulting in concrete reform in the Burmese government. However, both China and Russia have stated that they will veto such a resolution.

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