WASHINGTON—While the Burmese government is much further along in making reforms toward democracy than one could have imagined a few years ago, it still has a way to go.
The United States has suspended most of its sanctions on Burma (also known as Myanmar), without entirely revoking them. Some human rights advocates think the lifting of sanctions was premature.
At a discussion held at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 13, representatives of various human rights groups cautioned the United States to move slowly in it’s policy on Burma.
The ultimate aim of U.S. policy on Burma is for the military-led, authoritarian regime to evolve into a democratic government that respects the rule of law and human rights, recognizes the rights of tens of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP), and will peacefully settle its long-standing conflicts with ethnic minorities.
In support of the reform process, President Barack Obama with then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Burma in November 2012. It was the first time an American president has visited the country. In July 2012, a U.S. ambassador was reinstalled in Burma after a hiatus of 22 years.
In a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released before Obama’s visit, HRW senior researcher David Scott Mathieson wrote that the removal of U.S. sanctions was premature, and “should have been gradually repealed in line with demonstrable steps to reform.”
Walter Lohman, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Asian Studies Center and host of the foundation’s discussion, agreed, saying the U.S. policy needs to be calibrated. He said U.S. policy in one year see-sawed from applying “maximum pressure, to lifting the principal parts of the sanctions regime[n].”
In February 2012, the Obama administration rescinded its opposition to the IMF, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank’s assessments in Burma. By November, the last major U.S. sanction that banned Burmese imports was lifted.
The United States continues to impose sanctions on persons and entities on the SDN (Specifically Designated Nationals) list, including generals, “crony businessmen,” and businesses with “alleged links to violence, oppression, and corrupt practices,” according to the Huffington Post.
Lohman would like to see Congress establish benchmarks toward reform in connection with sanctions; major sanctions would be reimposed if the benchmarks are not met.
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has also urged caution on suspending sanctions.
On May 15, 2012, she was quoted in the National Post: “I am not against the suspension of sanctions as long as the people of the United States feel that this is the right thing to do. … I sometimes feel that people are too optimistic about the scene in Burma. You have to remember that the democratization process is not irreversible.”
“In conflict areas in Kachin and Shan States, the Burmese military carried out extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, torture, forced labor, and deliberate attacks on civilian areas, all which continue with impunity,” reported HRW.
Malinowski said that the Burmese army disobeys or ignores the civilian government’s orders of a cease-fire. “The [Burmese] army lost thousands of troops since the cease-fire in the Kachin State and senior officers want to punish the Kachins,” he said.
The speakers also called for an end to attacks on the Rohingya Muslims in Burma’s western border state of Rakhine. A wave of anti-Muslim sentiment took hold of the country last year, Malinowski said. As stateless peoples, they need citizenship under Burmese law and protection from sectarian violence, which has resulted in tens of thousands of displaced persons.
Jannuzi said that cease-fires “to end the hemorrhaging” and allow humanitarian access to conflict areas in Kachin and Rakhine are “achievable” in the near term.
New Constitution
The biggest challenge to the reform effort is to institute the rule of law and replace the 2008 constitution. Jared Genser, international human rights lawyer and managing director of human rights-focused law firm Perseus Strategies, said that for change to be enduring, constitutional reform is a necessity.
But realistically, it will take a long time to accomplish.
Under the 2008 constitution, the military is guaranteed one-fourth of the seats in the national and local assemblies. The military can also legally mount a coup.
“Even with a legitimate democratic government, the military could conceivably continue to exercise an unacceptable degree of autonomy,” wrote Lohman in a Heritage Foundation article.
Genser said that in certain institutions, such as Burma’s Parliament, disclosure of a draft bill is a violation of the Official Secrets Act. Transparency and accountability in the Legislature are not possible with this law.
Malinowski said the judiciary is the same judiciary that three or four years ago sentenced a person to 20 years for sending an email. They are being told to act as an independent judiciary, but they are uncomfortable with change and are used to following orders by the state, he said.
“Yet nothing we want to achieve in Burma is possible if you don’t have an independent judiciary that is enforcing the good laws that we hope the Parliament will be passing,” Malinowski said.
Obviously, the constitution needs to be recast, but that will require the Burmese army to step back.
Malinowski said that Suu Kyi has avoided speaking up about the Kachin situation. She has her eye on the presidency, and also wants to change the constitution, which grants the military unchecked power. Malinowski said Suu Kyi does not criticize the army because she wants to reassure the army that “constitutional change need not be a threat to them.”
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 21 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
