XI. Recommendations

To the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC)

• Respect freedom of religion for all religious communities in Burma.
• Ensure that Buddhist monks and nuns have all the rights due to citizens of Burma, and do not punish them for asserting those rights.
• Immediately exonerate and release all monks and nuns arbitrarily detained or sentenced to prison for engaging in peaceful political activities, including those arrested for their involvement in the 2007 pro-democracy demonstrations.
• Investigate allegations of torture, mistreatment of detainees, and excessive use of force against protesters by security forces during September 2007 and afterwards.
• Rescind the ban on independent monastic organizations such as the ABMA and other social welfare and education associations organized by the Sangha.
• Ensure freedom of movement, assembly, and expression for members of religious orders throughout Burma.
• Do not repeat efforts made after the crackdown to discourage monastery-based palliative care and health services for people living with HIV/AIDS and other medical conditions, particularly at the Maggin monastery closed in 2007.
• Grant voting rights to members of religious orders before the 2010 elections.

To the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee

• Provide assistance to members of the monastic orders who face politically motivated actions from state officials, including threats, violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, unfair trials, and mistreatment in custody.
• End government controlled appointments to the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee.
• Permit religious orders to choose their own leaders.
• Encourage monks and monasteries to participate freely in social work such as education, health, and local development initiatives outside the control of local and national authorities.
• Permit free discussions in monasteries about the Sangha’s social and political role in Burmese society.
• Call on the SPDC to investigate allegations of raids and arrests of monks and nuns in monasteries and religious institutions, and end the use of household registration laws to monitor monks’ movements.

To Key International Actors, including the United States, China, India, Japan, the European Union (and its member states), ASEAN (and its member states), and the United Nations (and its agencies)

• Make the release of all political prisoners, including monks, a core priority of engagement in all dealings with Burma.
• Ensure that conditions of Buddhist monks and other political prisoners in prison are a core concern. Demand access to prisons and prisoners.
• Press for the 2010 elections to be fair and inclusive, including the participation of Buddhist monks and members of religious orders if they wish to participate.
• Press for an investigation, either in the UN Human Rights Council or the UN Security Council for a full inquiry into the 2007 crackdown on peaceful protests led by the monks.
• Grant full opportunities to local Buddhist monks and monastic orders to participate in relief and humanitarian work, either as aid recipients or local partner organizations. UN and other humanitarian agencies should also recognize that partnering with local Buddhist groups can provide a measure of protection from arbitrary harassment from local Burmese officials towards ‘private’ Burmese relief operations.

• Provide political asylum to members of the Sangha escaping persecution in Burma.