Brussels, 03/08/2011
Writing to Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy who is conducting discussions with EU countries about their position on Burma to be advanced at the 21st UN General Assembly, ETUC General Secretary, Bernadette Ségol, urged her to to support the recommendation of the United Nations Special Rapporteur for a COI into human rights abuses in Burma/Myanmar. That call has been backed by the leader of Burma’s democracy movement, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Bernadette Ségol added: “Some EU countries have been reluctant to support the establishment of such a UN Commission, hoping that a peaceful transition to peace and democracy would follow the elections last year. But the elections were not free, fair or inclusive, and have done nothing to change the situation in the country. Human rights abuses continue unabated. The military has targeted several ethnic communities and has subjected the inhabitants to serious human rights violations, such as extrajudicial killing, torture and rape, in addition to forced labour that continues unabated. The EU should now take a tough stand against the regime.”
- Letter to the High Representative : http://www.etuc.org/IMG/pdf/020811_Catherine_Ashton.pdf