BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23/11/2006

UN panel rebukes Myanmar and Belarus

Reuters

UNITED NATIONS, New York: A key UN panel rebuked Myanmar and Belarus for human rights abuses amid a growing debate about whether any country should be named and shamed for rights violations.

The panel, a General Assembly committee examining human rights issues, rebuked Myanmar in a resolution passed by a vote of 70 to 28 with 63 abstentions. The document said the country's government refused to investigate widespread human rights violations, such as summary executions, torture, forced labor, sexual violence and recruitment of child soldiers.

The resolution singled out attacks by the military on villages in Kayin state and other ethnic provinces, harassment and arrest of student leaders and the continuing house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and her deputy Tin Oo, leaders of the opposition National League for Democracy. Myanmar has long been criticized by UN human rights bodies for its military leadership that refused to acknowledge Aung San Suu Kyi's overwhelming win at the polls in 1990.

The United States asked the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that would pressure Myanmar to stop jailing political opponents and flooding the region with refugees.

The Belarus resolution, introduced by the United States, was passed by a vote of 70 to 31 with 67 abstentions. Its adoption is tantamount to official passage by the full assembly.

The resolution faulted the Minsk government for rigged elections last March, suppressing dissent, arresting dissidents and obstructing opposition candidates. Belarus in turn unsuccessfully sought a resolution against the United States, expressing "dismay" at voting irregularities, detentions at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and listing criticisms by U.S. civil rights groups on abrogation of liberties under legislation to combat terror.

That measure received six positive votes and 114 against with 45 abstentions. The six voting in favor were Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Syria as well as Belarus.

But several countries, including Egypt and Algeria, said they voted "no," mainly because they disagreed with any country-specific resolutions - with the exception of Israel because it was an occupying power. Belarus and Uzbekistan last week were successful in getting a measure passed that discouraged UN human rights bodies from adopting resolutions condemning violations in a specific country. The committee adopted a resolution Tuesday on rights abuses in Iran and an earlier one on North Korea.

Source:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/23/news/un.php