HomeMy WebLinkAbout915 - Regarding BURMARESOLUTION NO. 915
A RESOLUTION REGARDING
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN BURMA
WHEREAS, a militaiy government seized power in Burma in 1962 and then illegally
maintained power by ignoring the democratic elections of 1990;
WHEREAS, that military government changed the country's name to Myanmar but
supporters of the democratic government and the people of Burma themselves refuse to use the new
name, continuing to call the country Burma;
WHEREAS, the Burmese government is considered by numerous world and religious leaders
to be one of the planet's most repressive regimes;
WHEREAS, the people of Burma are subject to brutal human rights violations, including
murder, torture, rape, political imprisonment and forced labor;
WHEREAS, the environment in Burma is suffering as vast amounts of rainforest is being cut
down for wood, natural gas and minerals are being exploited, and the habitats of endangered species
are being destroyed;
WHEREAS, the Burmese military government is widely reported to be involved in the
international drug trade, responsible for 60% of tihe heroin that comes into the United States,
according to one U.S. Department of Sfate report, and heroin production in Burma has increased
400% since the military took power in 1988 resulting in the existence of an estimaYed half million
addicts in Burma;
WHEREAS, in November, 2000 the International Labor Organization (ILO), an agency of
the United Nations, called on all of its members, including 175 governments (and the United States),
to review tiheir relaYionships with and polieies toward Burma to ensure they are not conri•ibuting to
forced labor in the country;
WHEREAS, in November of 1999 the United Nations released a report documenting
government sponsored rape, torture, and killing of pro-democracy activists, political prisoners and
refugees living on Burma's borders;
WHEREAS, acwrding to Amnesty International, the Burmese military regime holds over
1,700 "prisoners of conscience." Activists from the National League for Democracy (NLD), the
political party which overwhelmingly won an internaUonally recognrzed election in 1990, are
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frequent targets of torture and ill treatment. Hundreds of NLD members are imprisoned and tens of
thousands have been forced to resign from the party;
WHEREAS, the International Committee to Ban Landmines released a report in September
of 2000 documenting the use of Burmese refugees as "human mine sweepers," forced to walk at
gunpoint over mine fields as a method of "discovering" where land mines exist;
WHEREAS, on May 20, 1997, the President of the United States issued Burma Executive
Order, Exec. Order No. 13047, by which he certified that the Government of Burma had "committed
large-scale repression of the democratic opposition in Burma" and found that the Burmese
government's actions and policies constituted "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national
security and foreign policy of the United States;"
WHEREAS, in December of 1996, in response to numerous human rights violations in the
nation of Burma (also known as Myanmar) the city adopted Ordinance No. 5855 adding Section 2-
8-11,B.R.C. 1981. That provision prohibits the city from purchasing tangible property and services
from persons that conduct business in Burma;
WHEREAS, in 1997, the Colorado State Senate unanimously adopted Senate Resolution 97-
5, which discouraged the purchase of property and services from persons who conduct business in
Burma;
WHEREAS, a number of other local jurisdictions and states enacted provisions seeking to
express their concerns about human rights in Burma and impose purchasing restrictions with
reference to companies that do business in Burma; and
WHEREAS, in the case of Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council, 120 S.Ct. 2288
(2000), the United States Supreme Court struck down a Massachusetts Burma law that awarded a
preference on state contracts to bidders who did not do business in Burma and, in the course of
making that decision declared that Che federal government had preempted any locally enacted
sanctions against Burma or companies that do business in Burma.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
BOULDER, COLORADO, that Council urges all federal elected officials to support legislative
changes that would provide the following:
Authorize local governments to pass and enforce economic sanctions against companies
doing business in Burma.
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2. Reconfirm that United States policy strongly supports the restoration of democracy in Burma,
including implementation of the results of free and fair elections that took place in 1990.
3. Increase pressure upon the Military Dictatorship in Burma to immediately and
unconditionally release all detained members elected to the 1990 parliament and all other
political prisoners and to cease military actions against ethnic minority populations located
within Burma.
APPROVED this 3rd day of December, 2002. /
~^ C
William R. Toor, Mayor
Attest:
dal ,~ G`3
City Clerk on beha f of the
Director of Finance and Record
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