New Delhi (Mizzima) – Citing no progress in democratization after the new government assumed power this year, the US Congress passed a resolution on Thursday to extend sanctions against Burma for one more year. The resolution will be deliberated in the US Senate on Friday.
The resolution passed unanimously, the policy director of the US Campaign for Burma (USCB), Aung Din, told Mizzima. The current resolution will expire on July 28.
Aung Din said there are three essential demands made by US: releasing all political prisoners, engaging in a tripartite dialogue and allowing international aid agencies efficient access to refugees in conflict zones in the civil war. None of these demands have been implemented during the past year, he said.
The sanctions include freezing assets owned by the Burmese government and its business cronies, visa bans and import and investment sanctions.
Import bans must be passed by the legislature annually; investment sanctions can be extended by presidential authority. President Obama extended investment sanctions on May 16.
The US first imposed an arms embargo sanction in 1993 against Burma citing human rights violations. The US imposed sanctions against new investment in 1997 and targeted sanctions in 2003 by law.
In Burma, the National League for Democracy (NLD) party said the Congress vote showed the US was upholding its foreign policy towards Burma.
NLD central committee member Nyan Win told Mizzima: “The main purpose of the sanctions is to stop human rights violations in Burma. If the human right violations are stopped, they might reconsider and lift them.”
Obama adopted a new foreign policy towards Burma, using both sanctions and engagement with the new government at the same time.
The NLD said that the sanctions should be lifted only after substantial reforms are implemented.
“In international relations, from now on, Burma needs to reform itself. Only after that can the country have friendly cooperation with these countries,” Nyan Win said.
The USCB lobby group on June 28 called on the US to impose targeted sanctions against 42 people including actor Lwin Moe, and Senior-General Than Shwe’s grandson, Nay Shwe Thway Aung, for their political and economic support of the Burmese government.
The USCB said: “We are not yet satisfied with the current sanctions. They have followed the new policy for two years and have not yet seen any progress. We told the US government to establish an exact time frame for their engagement policy. They should demand what they want from the Burmese government within this stipulated timeframe. At the same time, they should consolidate and enhance the current sanctions to make them more efficient and stronger. They need to put stronger pressure on them [Burma].”
