Source: Spiegel.de

Although Burma is shrugging off the burden of five decades of military dictatorship, its transition to democracy is still far from complete. Reform remains precarious, and ethnic violence is rife. But in its eagerness to claim a foreign policy success, Human Rights Watch believes the EU is turning a blind eye.

Over the past two years, Burma has been emerging from 50 years of brutal military rule at a breathtaking pace. The country has made some impressive and unprecedented changes, including the release of many political prisoners, the rolling back of censorship and the lifting of restrictions to allow opposition political parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, to stand for election for a modest number of seats in the military-laden parliament.

However, it is far too early to say whether Burma will continue to make progress, stall, or even fall back into a vicious circle of ethnic and sectarian violence that derails the efforts of reformers and empowers vested interests in the army. In fact, some of the most important signs are currently pointing in a distressing direction.

Despite such signs, the European Union recently scrapped nearly all of its sanctions on Burma. It was a serious mistake and sends the wrong message at the wrong time.

The grim fact is that Burmese authorities and local groups have engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the country’s Rohingya Muslims that has left that community devastated. Though many of the massacres occurred last year, the campaign continues to this day through the denial of aid and restrictions on movement for many of the 125,000 Rohingya who have been displaced. With bodies dumped into mass graves and perpetrators of anti-Muslim violence remaining free, this is hardly a time to lift sanctions against the government.

When the EU imposed sanctions in the 1990s and expanded them over the years, it argued that those targeted were officials and entities involved in abuses. In lifting sanctions, the EU failed to apply the same logic — that of removing sanctions from those not engaging in serious human rights abuses.

Instead, we see the blanket lifting of the travel bans, asset freezes and trade restrictions for Burmese military officials and their companies without establishing whether these individuals continue to be involved in abuses. Everything apart from an arms embargo is now gone.

Such a move is unlikely to encourage better behavior and accountability for crimes. On the contrary, by prematurely lifting all targeted sanctions, the EU surrendered critical leverage against the government that could have helped Burmese rights activists work for irreversible change.

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