19 October 2004
New EU Sanctions on Burma a Positive Step, U.S. Says
State Department urges speedy adoption and implementation
The United States welcomes a decision by the European Union (EU) to impose new sanctions on the military regime of Burma, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in an October 18 statement.
"The EU action is a positive step that underlines the international community's continued desire to see positive and peaceful change in Burma, and we urge the EU to move quickly to final adoption and implementation of the sanctions," Boucher said.
EU foreign ministers agreed to impose the tougher sanctions on October 11, after the Burmese junta failed to meet an October 7 deadline for the release from house arrest of democratic opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and failed to take other concrete steps toward democratization.
Boucher said the United States encourages the members of the EU and other democracies in the international community to consider further strengthening sanctions, including placing a comprehensive import ban on Burmese products.
"We urge the international community to remain focused on this vital matter in order to generate more cooperation in support of the Burmese people's enduring desire for freedom, democracy, and national reconciliation," he said.
Following is the full text of the statement:
(begin text)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
October 18, 2004
Statement by Richard Boucher, Spokesman
New E.U. Sanctions on Burma
The United States welcomes the European Union's announcement of new sanctions on Burma, following the Burmese junta's failure to meet the E.U.'s October 7 deadline for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the completion of certain concrete steps toward democratization. The E.U. action is a positive step that underlines the international community's continued desire to see positive and peaceful change in Burma, and we urge the E.U. to move quickly to final adoption and implementation of the sanctions. Should Burma continue to deny its citizens basic human rights and freedoms, we urge the E.U. and other democracies in the international community to consider further strengthening sanctions, including placing a comprehensive import ban on Burmese products. We urge the international community to remain focused on this vital matter in order to generate more cooperation in support of the Burmese people's enduring desire for freedom, democracy, and national reconciliation.
We are deeply disappointed that the Burmese junta continues to ignore the demands of the international community and their own citizens for democracy and the free exercise of fundamental human rights. The situation in Burma has further deteriorated since the brutal May 30, 2003, attack on Aung San Suu Kyi and members and supporters of the National League for Democracy (NLD). The United States remains deeply concerned by the continued detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and over a thousand other political prisoners, the failure of the junta to permit the NLD to open its offices nationwide and operate freely, the denial of full and free participation of ethnic minority and NLD representatives in the National Convention, and by recent reports of serious abuses in southern Shan, Karen and Karenni States.
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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