In
September, the US unveiled its new Burma policy which calls for
high-level engagement with the SPDC while leaving existing sanctions
in place. However, Burma’s neighbors have deliberately misread
Washington’s new approach and used it to justify greater tolerance
of the regime’s escalating crimes against humanity and war
crimes.
The misrepresentation has emboldened
the SPDC’s sense that it can placate its neighbors through
rhetoric instead of genuine reform; created a sense of complacency
in the region that conditions in Burma are actually improving; and
tacitly encouraged the SPDC to jail opposition leaders and persecute
ethnic nationalities.
President Obama must speak up forcefully
in favor of human rights defenders and the vital role of an independent
civil society. US officials need to clearly articulate a set of
benchmarks hinged on human rights and democracy to measure progress
in Burma in the run-up to the 2010 elections.
|