Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

  (a)   notes:

     (i)   on 29 August and 30 August 2012 the Burmese regime removed the names of 1 147 foreign citizens, including ex-Burmese citizens, as well as 935 Burmese political dissidents from the Blacklist,

     (ii)   the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) believes there are 818 political prisoners in Burma,

     (iii)   human rights lawyer Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min is Burma's latest political prisoner, sentenced to 6 months in jail on 29 August 2012 on contempt of court charges, after returning to Burma in May, and

     (iv)   90 000 people have been displaced by the ongoing military attacks and human rights violations in Kachin State, northern Burma; and

  (b)   calls on the Australian Government to:

     (i)   call on the Burmese Government to immediately and unconditionally release all remaining political prisoners, to lift any restrictions imposed on already freed political prisoners and repeal all laws that have political prisoners arbitrarily detained,

     (ii)   publicly support an independent investigation into the number of political prisoners in Burma,

     (iii)   call on the Burmese Government and all parties to immediately cease hostilities and implement a nation-wide ceasefire, and, if necessary, invite independent international observers to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire,

     (iv)   encourage the Burmese Government and all parties to take further steps beyond the current ceasefire agreements and enter into a comprehensive, inclusive and time-bound political dialogue that fully engages the democratic opposition, genuine representatives of all ethnic opposition groups, and civil society actors, and

     (v)   support the inclusion of language of the above recommendations into the 2012 United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Burma.

Question negatived.