Burma Campaign UK today called upon the European Union not to abandon benchmarks for the improvement of human rights in Burma.
The Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union meets on April 22nd to decide whether to continue the suspension of EU Sanctions, or to lift them.
Burma Briefing No.22: European Union Must Not Abandon Human Rights Benchmarks, contains detailed analysis of the benchmarks for human rights improvements set by the EU, and how the government of Burma has failed to meet any of them. It also documents serious on-going human rights problems in Burma, including violations of international law.
The briefing paper is available here.
“If the European Union lifts sanctions despite none of its own human rights benchmarks being met, it will send a signal to President Thein Sein that he can safely ignore demands for improvements in human rights,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK.