Chronology of UN Visits to Burma
A duty to investigate arises as soon as a UN member state or a designated global monitor such as the ICRC receives verifiable information that heinous crimes are occurring. Since 1990, eight envoys have been appointed by the United Nations system to facilitate dialogue between the junta and the pro-democracy forces, and to carry out fact-finding missions in Burma. The timeline below, created by ALTSEAN, chronicles the visits and reports of UN envoys to Burma, all of which have been met with silence.
Download the full PDF version of the Chronology of UN Visits and Reports compiled by the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN)
On 6 March, UN Special Advisor on Burma Ibrahim Gambari arrived in Burma for a five-day official visit. On 7 March, Gambari met with SPDC Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan and other junta officials. Kyaw Hsan roundly rejected UN requests for opening the constitutional drafting process and more substantive political dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. "It is impossible to review or rewrite the constitution [...]," Kyaw Hsan said. Kyaw Hsan also accused Gambari of "bias" and "act[ing] outside [his] role as mediator" by releasing a statement from Daw Suu in November. He expressed unhappiness with Gambari's trips to other countries in the region and warned that his role as an "impartial adviser" would be brought into question if he follows suggestions from Western nations. Gambari also met with members of the SPDC-appointed referendum commission. The regime rejected offers of UN technical assistance and help with providing observers at the referendum. Referendum commissioner Thaung Nyunt told Gambari the military had enough experience with running elections.
On 14 March, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma Paulo Sergio Pinheiro slammed the SPDC for its patently false claims of democratization. "There is a contradiction between what the government of Myanmar says it is doing, and what is really happening," Pinheiro said. "If you believe in gnomes, trolls, and elves, you can believe in this process of democracy in Myanmar," he added. "No referendum or elections can be fair, no transition to democracy can be effective, without the release of political prisoners, the authorization for all political parties to operate, and the protection of the basic civil and political freedoms, all non-existent in Myanmar," Pinheiro concluded. The SPDC denied Pinheiro a travel visa despite a UN Human Rights Council request for a follow-up visit. in Myanmar," Pinheiro concluded. The SPDC denied Pinheiro a travel visa despite a UN Human Rights Council request for a follow-up visit.
In his last report presented to the Human Rights Council as UN Special Rapporteur on Burma in March, Pinheiro said that the SPDC's willingness to address human rights abuses had "disappeared."
On 28 March, the Human Rights Council appointed Argentine Tomás Ojea Quintana as the new UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma.
HRC, 7th session, 5 March 2008, A/HRC/7/18
HRC, 7th session, 7 March 2008, A/HRC/7/24