Dear Ms Ashton,
Dear Mr Lambrinidis,
Dear Mr Piebalgs,
Dear Mr De Gucht,
FIDH would like to share with you information regarding the latest attacks on civilians in Burma, which clearly challenge the diagnosis made about an "unprecedented peace initiative" in Burma and questions the EU’s strategy to reframe its relations with this country.
- On 22 October, 2013, the Burmese Army launched a new offensive that targeted an IDP camp in Mansi Township, Southern Kachin State. 7 battalions advanced upon Kong Ja village and fired small and heavy artillery toward civilian areas. Local witnesses reported that heavy artillery shells landed near the school in the IDP camp of Mung Ding Pa. Burmese soldiers reportedly looted IDPs’ belongings and arrested eight villagers, including a child of about 12 years of age. The attack violates an agreement signed on 10 October 2013 between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar Union Peace-Making Working Committee to end all armed fighting and to develop a plan for the voluntary return and resettlement of all IDPs [1].
- On October 13, 2013, Burmese government troops forced 18 villagers to be human shields while returning to their base, after attacking a Shan ceasefire group in Kunhing, close to the Salween River, in central Shan State [2].
- During October 10 to 12, about 80 Burmese troops from Light Infantry Battalion 150, based at Mong Zarng, 30 miles north of Kunhing, fired mortar shells on civilian areas during an attack on the Shan State Army-South, causing over 100 people from the village of Paeng Ner, southeast of Kunhing, to flee their homes [3]
FIDH deeply regrets that no statement nor public condemnation on the recent attacks has been issued and calls upon you to issue a public and high level statement condemning these events.
In addition as the Burma/Myanmar-EU Task force, which will take place on 13-15 November, is set to discuss financial and technical support and investments [4], the multiplication of human rights violations send a worrying message on how the EU will be able to implement the programme it defined on 22 July 2013. Given the current context, it also raises concerns on how the implementation and calibration of such a programme could either jeopardize or promote progress towards reforms to halt and prevent impunity in the country.
Given the involvement of the military and other state institutions in the commission of human rights violations, and the continuous increase of the budget allocation to the military in the past 2 years [5], the EU’s financial support to Burma raises serious concerns, notably given the fungibility of aid [6]. Any financial and technical support to Burma must primarily address this issue as well the situation of IDPs, and the pervasive climate of impunity in the country.
The interrelation between investments, IDPs and the military offensives must be clarified, better assessed and adequately and efficiently addressed in the context of the investment negotiations, notably to prevent the involvement of the EU and European investors in human rights violations
More broadly, FIDH wishes to invite you to launch a genuine dialogue with civil society with the aim to clarify the way the EU will proceed to address human rights challenges in Burma. Indeed the “comprehensive framework for the European Union’s policy and support to Myanmar/Burma” endorsed by the Council of the EU in its 22 July conclusions remains problematic, as it fails to define the best interplay between the different instruments the EU has at it disposal, and to integrate human rights in its investment and trade components. In failing to do so, the framework fails to comply with the EU strategic framework and action plan on human rights and democracy adopted in June 2012 and exposes the EU, its member states, its companies and the populations in Burma/Myanmar to major risks.
Thanking you for the attention you will bring to this letter,
Sincerely Yours,
Karim Lahidji
FIDH president