EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A. The Challenge

Canada and the world have reacted to the changes that have occurred in Burma over the past year with cautious optimism. However, as the witnesses who appeared before the Subcommittee stressed, Burma is emerging from 60 years of repressive military rule, characterized by grave human rights violations, an absence of the rule of law, persistent internal armed conflicts, and low levels of human and economic development. Mr. Greg Giokas, Director General, South, Southeast Asia and Oceania at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), underlined the fact that progress on human rights in Burma was unlikely to be entirely smooth and cannot be expected to happen overnight.[1] Developing the capacity within Burma to implement proposed reforms remains a major challenge. The Subcommittee agrees with Mr. Giokas’ assessment that, on the part of reformers within Burma’s civilian government, “this is a very sincere attempt to open up the country to democratic institutions to ensure prosperity and stability” for the people of Burma.[2]

At the same time, the Subcommittee believes this optimism needs to be tempered by continued vigilance on human rights issues. As Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,[3] Burma’s pro-democracy icon and leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), stated in April, if one were to measure Burma’s democratic development on a scale of 1 to 10, the country’s recent reforms have put it “on the way to one.”[4] At this point, the Subcommittee does not believe that Burma’s modest steps toward democratization are irreversible. Whether these recent reforms become entrenched and whether the country’s human rights record continues to improve in the coming years remain to be seen.

In this spirit, the Subcommittee’s report is intended to recognize the important achievements brought about as part of Burma’s reform process, in particular the election of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other candidates from the NLD as Members of Parliament (MP) this April. At the same time, we wish to warn against hasty or irresponsible optimism and to sound the alarm about the lack of civilian control over the Burmese military, which has very serious human rights and humanitarian consequences. Recent progress has not yet extended to all parts of the country, nor to all of the people of Burma. Going forward, we believe that it is important for the international community to look beyond central Burma in assessing the depth and sincerity of the country’s reforms. Respect by the Burmese government and military for human rights and international law in Burma’s ethnic minority areas will be the real measure of change in the country and should inform any decision regarding the permanent removal of sanctions by Canada.

B. Positive Developments

Since Burma’s 2010 general election, the Burmese government has begun a program of democratic reform. A new, civilian president has taken the helm, and Burma’s pro-democracy leader and most famous prisoner of conscience, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was released from house arrest shortly after the 2010 general election and has since been free to travel within Burma and abroad. Remarkably, in elections that appeared to be largely free of violence and intimidation, she was elected as a MP in April 2012 by-elections, along with 42 other members of the NLD. Critical legal reforms are underway or under consideration, many political prisoners have been released, restrictions on the media have been loosened, there is greater tolerance for protest and expressions of dissent, and the government is actively trying to reform its economy and seeking foreign cooperation to improve the lives of its people.[5]

Although these recent reforms in Burma should be approached with caution, the Subcommittee wishes to acknowledge the very real changes that have occurred in the central part of the country in the past two years. While these changes are relatively modest in terms of bringing Burma into compliance with international human rights norms, the Subcommittee recognizes that they are very significant when viewed in light of Burma’s authoritarian past. We sincerely hope that the Government of Burma will continue down this path toward democratization and extend recent reforms to Burma’s border regions.

C. Ongoing Concerns

Despite the progress that has been made in Burma’s major cities like Rangoon and Mandalay, Burma still has very a long way to go in terms of respect for human rights. Key problems identified by witnesses of particular concern to the Subcommittee include the following:

• a flawed constitution ensures that the civilian government has little or no control over the military;
• reforms in central Burma have not yet reached the country’s border regions, in particular in areas such as Kachin State, where different ethnic groups have been at war with the central government for decades;
• a program to reform the judiciary and guarantee its independence is needed urgently;
• the rule of law and civilian institutions remain weak;
• restrictions persist on the exercise of individual human rights such as freedom of expression, association and assembly, and forced labour remains an ongoing problem;
• political prisoners are still being held in sub-standard conditions at prisons and labour camps around the country, and other individuals continue to be arbitrarily detained, subject to torture or ill-treatment;
• land-grabbing is a growing problem;
• Burma lacks the necessary regulatory framework to ensure economic development, including in the extractive resource sector, benefits the people of Burma, and corruption remains endemic.

Witnesses also drew the Subcommittee’s attention to the role that industrial, mining and hydro power projects have played in fuelling human rights violations and abuses, as well as armed conflict in Burma’s ethnic minority areas. These projects have generally been implemented without consulting local communities, on land confiscated from local people without just compensation. Moreover, these projects generally have failed to provide jobs or other social or economic benefits to local residents. Instead, benefits accrue almost exclusively to the military, or to certain powerful individuals with close connections to the central government. Much of the hydro power generated and many of the resources extracted in Burma are sent abroad, benefitting people in foreign countries such as China. In the long term, the Subcommittee believes that Burma’s progress toward democracy and respect for universal human rights can only be secured if local communities and ethnic minority groups have significant input into the commencement and design of infrastructure and extractive resource projects.

Witnesses consistently told the Subcommittee that long-standing ethnic grievances in Burma, which have fuelled decades of internal armed conflict, are rooted in historic political disenfranchisement, perceptions of injustice, and widespread discrimination.[6] We are convinced that it is vital for the people of all ethnic and religious groups in Burma, including the Rohingya in Rakhine State, to be included in the democratic reform process.

The Subcommittee has heard eye-witness accounts of serious human rights violations and abuses that continue in the country’s border regions, as well as violations of the laws of war (known as international humanitarian law). Education services in these regions are woefully inadequate and are often provided in a manner that is discriminatory or violates other individual rights. We received compelling evidence about the situation in Kachin and Chin states to the northeast and northwest of the country, respectively, in regions populated by the Karen ethnic group in the east and south of Burma, and in Rakhine State to the southwest. In all of these regions, as well as in some other border areas dominated by other ethnic minority groups, people reportedly continue to face a program of religious and ethnic persecution undertaken by the Burmese military, which is characterized by war crimes and gross violations and abuses of individual human rights.

Witnesses also told the Subcommittee that thousands of people have been displaced in these regions and are now living in desperate conditions in internally displaced persons camps within Burma, or in refugee camps outside the country. Although these displaced persons are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, sufficient humanitarian access has been denied to the United Nations and other international organizations.[7] This must change.

A negotiated political settlement, based on mutual respect and recognition of the aspirations of all of Burma’s ethnic groups will be necessary to ensure that recent democratic reforms are not reversed by continuing armed conflict and violence. Ensuring that ethnic minority groups and local communities receive a fair share of the benefits from the country’s economic development will be a critical challenge for the Burmese government as it moves to entrench democratic reforms and human rights protections.

The Subcommittee believes strongly that sustainable progress towards national reconciliation and democracy in Burma will only be achieved if there is an independent and impartial investigation of alleged past and continuing serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross violations and abuses of internationally recognized human rights. Victims have a right to know the truth about what has happened to them, and Burmese society as a whole must come to terms with the violence, discrimination and racism that have marred its past. In the Subcommittee’s view, these investigations must be accompanied by a credible accountability process.

D. Canada’s Role

The Subcommittee welcomes the reforms recently undertaken in Burma. As parliamentarians, we are keenly aware of the important role that the legislature plays in democratic governance, and we wish to express our support for Foreign Affairs Minister Baird’s proposal for inter-parliamentary exchanges and capacity building efforts involving Canadian and Burmese parliamentarians.

Witnesses told the Subcommittee that Canada’s tough economic sanctions contributed to the Burmese military’s decision to move towards democratic reform. We note with approval that Canada has expressed a willingness to reimpose sanctions if the promised reforms do not materialize. The 2015 elections will be a key test of the sincerity of these reforms, as will progress towards a negotiated political solution to armed conflicts with ethnic minority groups and the respect for and protection of the human rights of ethnic minority groups in Burma, including the Rohingya. Such progress should include a resolution of their citizenship status in accordance with international standards. We note that in order to achieve these goals, Burma will need to cease its long-standing practice of discriminating against its own people on the basis of their religion, ethnicity and political opinions. For democratic reforms to be successful in the longterm, the country must also develop and entrench the rule of law.

It is the opinion of the Subcommittee that the Government of Canada needs to continue to press the Burmese government to meet international human rights standards. We believe that Canada should ensure that its remaining economic sanctions are up-to-date and appropriate, and publicly communicate that Burma’s progress on human rights issues will be taken into account in Canada’s determination as to whether and when sanctions may be permanently lifted.