John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, to the House. The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Michael P. Kitt, was obliged to attend another meeting but it is encouraging to see that should a Senator depart this House the next logical step is to become a Minister.

In 1990 the opposition National League for Democracy Party won the general election in Myanmar-Burma but the military junta refused to honour the result and placed the party leader and Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest. Recently 100,000 people began to openly protest against the military dictatorship. The timing is crucial because the eyes of the West are now on the East due to the impending Olympic Games in China.

Myanmar has a long history of close association with China, its largest trading partner and a heavy purchaser of Myanmar's rich natural resources. The Chinese influence in Myanmar is powerful and, to date, it has protected Myanmar from UN sanctions and other attempted action because of the junta's refusal to recognise the elected government and other civil rights violations.

UN sanctions do not always work and they were counter-productive in Iraq where the general population, including children, suffered as a result. This provided a salutary lesson for the future because severe deprivation was caused by UN sanctions. Sanctions are a blunt instrument and those against whom they are aimed often become even wealthier through the use of limited natural resources while the rest of the population, who we seek to protect, end up worse off.

It is important, however, that we recognise spheres of influence. They were evident in the Monroe Doctrine the United States applied to South America, in Tehran and when the great powers divided eastern Europe into spheres of influence. There is no doubt that Myanmar lies within the Chinese sphere of influence. There are severe civil rights violations in Myanmar and China has an obligation to ensure the military junta there at least stops its crackdown on innocent, peaceful protesters. It would be difficult to request a full, democratic government in a country under the influence of China, a one party state. Notwithstanding this, it operates in Hong Kong under two systems and there is no reason why, in an enlightened atmosphere, Chinese influence should not be brought to bear to ensure an element of democracy or at least that this repression stops.

We have a long history of bringing people to account for crimes committed during terms of military dictatorship and this is evident now in the Hague where crimes committed in Kosovo and Croatia ten or 20 years ago are being tried. It was also the case with the Nuremberg trials. The military junta should be made aware by the international community that there is a price to be paid and that it will pay it. During the Second World War one of the factors that limited the maltreatment of prisoners of war were leaflets dropped by the allies stating in German that any maltreatment would be dealt with subsequently by the allied powers with justice brought to bear.

With regard to Burma, we should take into account different proposals made by different groups. The Ethnic Nationalities Council in Burma has specific proposals, many of which I support, including, given the extreme suffering of the people of Burma, the need for the violence to stop in the cities and the countryside in the seven ethnic states. The Ethnic Nationalities Council has a particular interest in the ethnic groups. It calls on parties in the conflict to withhold aggressive action and seek a political solution through dialogue. It also seeks support for the UN General Assembly resolution of 1999 that calls for a tripartite dialogue between the military, the 1990 election winners, led by Aung San Suu Kyi and the ethnic nationalities to solve Burma's problems and build a sustainable democracy.

The Ethnic Nationalities Council calls for no further action on talks for a parallel government because they may be counter-productive and it also urges the international community to address the situation in the Union of Burma to assist the national reconciliation process through the good offices of the United Nations, multi-party talks, a UN Security Council resolution under chapter 6 and under chapter 7. There are many suitable, peaceful and diplomatic solutions available to us.

The international community, including our Department of Foreign Affairs, must make it clear, especially through the Chinese, who have a strong say in their sphere of influence, that any violations of civil liberties and human rights will be brought to account sooner or later. The world will hear about these violations and people will be made answerable.