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  BURMA
  

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APPEAL FOR SUPPORT

TO:

Premier Gordon Campbell,

Ministers of the Government of British Columbia,

Members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia,

Mayor Larry Campbell,

City of Vancouver Councillors,

Mayors and members of other municipal governments in British Columbia, and

All other leaders of the Province of British Columbia:

CANADA CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

The undersigned representatives of the Burmese community in Canada jointly appeal for the support of all prominent and influential residents in British Columbia.

We call on the Government of the Province of British Columbia to provide support in accordance with the commitment inherent in the resolution adopted unanimously by the Legislative Assembly on May 4, 1999. Motion 61, Human Rights Violations in Burma, condemned the State Peace and Development Commission (“SPDC”) and urged the Government of Canada to recognize the democratically elected government of Burma and take other action.

We call on all British Columbians to help convince the Government of Canada to take a strong and principled stand in relation to Burma.

Since its predecessor lost the 1990 election, the SPDC has had no claim to legitimacy. Yet it continues to govern the country by brutally oppressive and corrupt means. The overwhelming evidence of its repression and human rights abuses has been documented by human rights agencies such as Human Rights Watch (see http://hrw.org/wr2k3 /asia2.html), as well as the U.S. State Department (Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Burma, March 31, 2003). Other countries are adopting tough economic measures against the regime. As U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has said, “…the time has come to turn up the pressure on the SPDC” (New York Times, June 12, 2003). But Canada’s response has been weak.

There is much the Government of Canada can do to establish leadership in the international campaign to restore the democratically elected government of Burma. It has been argued that the Government should invoke the Special Economic Measures Act (see Paul Knox, Worldbeat, Gobe and Mail, June 11, 2003). The organizations of Burmese people in Canada strongly believe Canada’s response should include a minimum demand that the SPDC take these four steps:

1. Release Aung San Suu Kyi, along with National League for Democracy leaders and all other political prisoners, including all those detained as a result of the events of May 30, 2003;
2. Re-open the headquarters and all other offices of the National League for Democracy;
3. Recognize and implement the results of the 1990 election; and
4. Immediately cease and discontinue all military action against Burma’s ethnic nationalities.

Please add your name to the following list of Burmese and supportive organizations which respectfully urge the Government of Canada to provide international leadership to the movement to restore democracy and civil rights in Burma.

Signed and supported by:

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