U.S. seeks Security Council debate on Myanmar

By Irwin Arieff 
November 29, 2005
Reuters
Original Source: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N29178967.htm
 

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Washington pressed the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to discuss the deteriorating situation in Myanmar after its military rulers extended the house arrest of opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi by another year. 
A new effort to put the reclusive Southeast Asian nation on the council agenda could trigger a procedural battle when the United States raises it on Wednesday, council members said. 
An informal bid to raise an issue in the council requires the consent of all 15 members. A country can also demand a vote, requiring the support of nine members to win. 

It would be uncommon for a country to push for a discussion on an issue unless they already had nine votes, said Jeremy Woodrum of the Washington-based U.S. Campaign for Burma. 
The United States has imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Myanmar, including a ban on most imports, and has criticised Asia-Pacific nations for not speaking out against its human rights record. 

An earlier U.S. attempt to raise the issue of political repression in Myanmar was rebuffed in June when Russia, backed by China and Algeria, argued the issue was outside the council's mandate of ensuring international peace and security. 

In the latest U.S. bid, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton requested a council briefing on the situation in Myanmar in a Tuesday letter to Russian Ambassador Andrei Denisov, the council president for November. 

The United States and other members of the Security Council are concerned about the deteriorating situation in Burma, Bolton wrote. U.S. officials routinely refer to Myanmar as Burma, the country's name before it changed it in 1990. 

Among the reasons for a briefing to be scheduled were the illegal drug trade, the spread of AIDS, a stalled transition to democracy and human rights abuses including the detention of political prisoners, Bolton said. 

He also cited media reports that the authorities were seeking nuclear power capabilities, diverting scarce resources better used to address the needs of the Burmese people. 

Government officials visited Suu Kyi over the weekend to read her a statement outlining the decision to extend her detention by another 12 months. Her National League for Democracy party won a landslide election victory in 1990 but Myanmar's military leaders refused to hand over power.