European parliament urges Russia, China to condemn Myanmar

Euro deputies urged “China and Russia to support a clear U.N. Security Council declaration condemning the use of force” in Myanmar, in a resolution adopted by an overwhelming majority at the parliament in Strasbourg.

The parliament applauded “the courageous action of the Burmese monks and tens of thousands of other peaceful demonstrators” and “utterly condemns the brutal response” by the junta in the country still widely known as Burma.

The parliament also protested at Myanmar’s refusal to allow U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari into the country. “There can be no moral equivalence between the visa ban on the Burmese Generals and their ban on the legitimate representation of the international community,” said Richard Howitt, Vice President of the Parliament’s Human Rights Sub-Committee.

On Wednesday the Security Council, on which Moscow and Beijing hold veto rights, would not condemn the bloody crackdown on anti-government protests in Myanmar and merely expressed “strong support” for a U.N. envoy’s visit there “as soon as possible.”

The MEPs called for “international medical assistance for the injured” and for the release of detained pro-democracy supporters.

The eurodeputies called on the 27 EU member states to liaise with the United States, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other members of the international community to prepare “a co-ordinated series of additional measures, including targeted economic sanctions, that might be taken against the Burmese regime if it resorts to violence and does not respond to the call for a return to democracy.”

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said Thursday it was ready to “step up the pressure” on the Myanmar junta by considering how to beef up the already considerable sanctions in place.

Questioned about the effectiveness of the EU’s visa bans, asset freezes, arms and trade embargoes which have been in place since 1996, Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj stressed that the measures also “express moral and political censure of the situation”.

In a joint statement Wednesday, the European Union and the United States called on Myanmar to stop using violence to quell peaceful protests in Yangon and expressed “solidarity” with the people of Myanmar.

In the statement the western partners also urged “China, India, ASEAN and others in the region to use their influence in support of the people of Burma/Myanmar.”

At a meeting in Brussels on Thursday, ambassadors from the 27 EU member states echoed the importance of the role of China, India and ASEAN — of which Myanmar is a member, a European diplomat said.

“The problem with sanctions is not that they are ineffective in themselves but that they are not universally applied,” he said.

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