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Burma has finally arrived on the formal agenda of the UN Security Council. On September 30, the Council held its third briefing on the dire human rights situation in Burma, with member states voting 10-4 (with one abstention) to continue the discussion. This process began in 2005, when a report commissioned by Vaclav Havel and Bishop Desmond Tutu, called "Threat to the Peace: A Call for UN Security Council Action on Burma", advocated increased Council action to address Burma. This has become one of the most serious international efforts facing the generals who run the country with brutality and an iron fist, and comes after years in which the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) ignored repeated General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights resolutions condemning systemic rights violations.

In recent weeks the SPDC has mobilised rallies by the pro-regime Union Solidarity and Development Association to protest against the Security Council deliberations. It has instructed ethnic militia cease-fire groups to issue statements condemning the move as "imperialist", and "exploiting the authority of the UN". The SPDC has rejected or ignored all international efforts to assist the welfare of the people of Burma, and these cries of defiance demonstrate how unconcerned they are with international opinion.

If the Burmese regime wished to demonstrate its contempt for international efforts to bring it before the Council, then it made its intentions plain two days before the vote. Burmese police arrested three prominent activists, Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Htay Kywe for advocating action by the Security Council. Days later they arrested another two '88 Student Generation' activists, Min Zeya and Pyone Choe, and lawyer U Aye Myint. There are grave concerns over their welfare

The Security Council must act further on the human rights situation of a country where violence and repression from the military are an everyday fact of life. The military doesn't allow a free press, independent civil society organisations or opposition parties, and it arrests and tortures those who speak out. These are the issues the Council must address. The next step is a strongly worded resolution calling on the SPDC to fulfil its obligations to its citizens and the international community.

With the political support of China, Russia, India and Thailand, the SPDC has become increasingly intransigent. All have close diplomatic and commercial ties with the SPDC, including arms sales that enable the Burmese military to commit abuses and stay in power. Each provides diplomatic cover for the generals to commit their abuses. For example, when the issue of Burma was placed on the formal agenda on September 15, the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, Wang Guangya, called the move "preposterous". India recently welcomed junta leader Than Shwe with a 19-gun salute and recently sold artillery pieces to the Burmese army. To secure his business goals in Burma, recently deposed Thai prime minister Thaksin transformed Thailand into an international mouthpiece for the Burmese junta. Thai authorities have also adopted a hard-line policy to put pressure on asylum seekers, dissidents and human rights activists from Burma.

Yet the tide of international opinion is turning. In an unprecedented statement for an organisation historically committed to non-interference in the internal affairs of other members, the secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Ong Keng Yong said in July, "Asean has a lot of other things to do. But now Myanmar [Burma] seems to be always there and clouding the other issues out of the way."

China is increasingly out of step with Burma's neighbours, which see the Burmese junta as an embarrassment to Asean and want reforms to start immediately. If China wants to be taken seriously as a respected member of the international community, it needs to stop protecting the Burmese generals who provide neither security nor development for their people.

Thailand, which under then Foreign Minister Surin Phitsuwan first raised the issue of human rights in Burma within Asean in 1997, now has the opportunity to end its recent shameful political support for the Burmese government by instituting a new policy. The newly appointed interim prime minister, General Surayud Chulanont, and the army that installed him must see the many ethnic armed conflicts in Burma, the systematic abuse of Burmese people and the lack of democracy in Burma - as symbolised by the continued detention and isolation of Aung San Suu Kyi - as a destabilising factor for Thailand. Thailand must no longer be passive or half-hearted in supporting international action to improve democracy, human rights and peace in Burma.

A change in Thai policy and a willingness to speak out on the dire situation in Burma is critical to success in improving the human rights situation in Burma and gaining an international consensus, including at the Security Council, for urgent action. It will help give the senior UN official in charge of the Security Council process, Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari, the kind of political cover necessary to make it clear to the junta that it will not be protected by all of its neighbours anymore.

The Security Council should not wait any longer before acting. It should approve a resolution that will make clear the need to rapidly begin a genuine process towards civilian rule and democracy. Recently arrested political activists and other political prisoners must be released. Military offensives against ethnic minority populations must also cease. Humanitarian aid agencies must be permitted unfettered access to parts of the country where poor military governance has degraded the health conditions of the population, and forced labour and sexual violence are widespread. The generals must get the message that they can no longer remain intransigent with the support of China and other neighbours.

Brad Adams
London

Brad Adams is Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch.

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