29 September 2009
Direct Talks Between U.S. and Burma Expected in New York
Washington — The United States and Burma are expected to begin having direct, substantial contacts on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly later during the week of September 28, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs said.
Speaking in Washington September 28, Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell said the Obama administration is working on the details of the “first substantive interaction” between U.S. officials and representatives of the Burmese military junta with the goal of laying out a path for better relations between the two countries.
“We expect that to take place around the edges of the U.N. General Assembly,” Campbell said. “I will be involved in those discussions.”
Under U.S. law, the Obama administration is required to appoint a Burma coordinator. The assistant secretary said the State Department is working with the White House and consulting with the U.S. Congress to identify the appropriate person.
The approach reflects the conclusions of a seven-month review of U.S. policy toward Burma, which was done in consultation with Congress, members of the international community, and “a wide range of stakeholders inside Burma,” including the country’s democratic opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), Campbell said.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced September 23 that the United States would maintain its targeted sanctions against the Burmese military leadership and its associates, but would also engage them in direct talks, saying, “Engagement versus sanctions is a false choice, in our opinion.” (See “United States Will Directly Engage Burma, but Keep Sanctions.”)
Campbell said lifting sanctions now “would send the wrong signal.” At the same time, the Burmese leadership “for the first time in memory … has shown an interest in engaging with the United States, and we intend to explore that interest,” he said.
During the policy review, “we recognized that ultimately we need to change our methods but not our goals,” which continue to be “a unified, peaceful, prosperous and democratic Burma that respects the human rights of its citizens,” he said.
The United States will continue to push for the release of political prisoners, including NLD leader and Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as “an end to conflicts with ethnic minorities and gross human-rights violations.” The Obama administration also wants the military leadership to begin “a credible internal political dialogue with the democratic opposition and ethnic minority leaders on elements of reconciliation and reform,” Campbell said.
The United States should be prepared to sustain its efforts beyond Burma’s planned 2010 elections, he said, but he expressed skepticism that those elections will be free or fair. The Obama administration will stress to the Burmese military the conditions it considers are necessary for a credible electoral process, and will take “a measured approach” to the vote “until we can assess the electoral conditions and know whether opposition and ethnic groups will be able to participate.”
The Obama administration will also press Burma to comply with international obligations, particularly the need to enforce sanctions directed against North Korea and end “any prohibited military or proliferation-related cooperation” the Burmese military has with Pyongyang, he said.
But Campbell said Burma played “a positive role behind the scenes” in recent efforts to enforce the sanctions, and “that willingness to play a more responsible role in the realm of international-sanction support vis-a-vis North Korea has been factored into our overall approach.”
The dialogue will also include “areas that could be of mutual benefit,” such as counternarcotics efforts and the recovery of human remains from the World War II era, he said.
Campbell said U.S. humanitarian assistance to the Burmese people will also be expanded “to the extent we are confident the assistance is reaching the people in need,” building upon the U.S. experience from providing nearly $75 million for relief efforts following Cyclone Nargis in May 2008.
If Burma makes meaningful progress on human rights, democracy and other goals, the assistant secretary said, the bilateral relationship can improve.
“We recognize that this will likely be a long and difficult process, and we are prepared to sustain our efforts on this front,” he said. “We have an open door, and we’re prepared to sit down and have responsible dialogue about the way forward.”
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