Pressuring Burma through Targeted Sanctions

September 2008 marked the one-year anniversary in Burma of a brutal government crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy protesters. To bring pressure to bear on the repressive military junta that rules Burma, Human Rights Watch has promoted targeted sanctions against those in power. We exposed the major business interests of the abusive military, including the lucrative international trade in gems mined in Burma, which puts millions of dollars into the military's pockets. We called for strong action to block sales of Burmese gems, including consumer boycotts and targeted government sanctions-sanctions that directly affect abusive individuals and not the general population. Such public pressure helped secure unanimous congressional support for US legislation to tackle the gem trade. President Bush signed the bill into law, and on September 27 it went into effect. The new law closes a loophole in the ban on Burma's "blood gems." Imports of Burmese rubies and jade are now completely outlawed in the United States, as they already were in the European Union and in Canada. There are signs that these targeted sanctions, alongside consumer boycotts, are having an effect and reducing the gem profits earned by Burma's ruthless rulers. We are continuing to push for international action in numerous high-level meetings, calling on all governments to design and adopt appropriate multilateral sanctions on Burma that narrowly focus on the individuals responsible for abuses and the businesses that finance the Burmese government.