Analysis: US reignites debate over Burma sanctions
YANGON, 3 September 2009 (IRIN) – An expected review of US policy towards poverty-stricken Burma has reignited the debate over the effectiveness of sanctions against the country.
The persecution of Burmas opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi – who has spent about 14 of the last 20 years in detention – and the harassment of her pro-democracy party, was the underlying rationale for sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) in 1996 and the US a year later.
But in an acknowledgment that sanctions were failing, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a review of Washingtons stance towards Burma in February. The review is expected to be completed soon.
– Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions has not influenced the Burmese junta, she said.
The news was followed by an unprecedented meeting on 15 August between the head of Burmas military government, Senior General Than Shwe, and US Senator Jim Webb, the highest-ranking US official to hold talks with the leader.
The meeting came days after Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to a further 18 months of house arrest, sparking further EU sanctions.
For those who favour engagement over sanctions, the meeting between the US senator and the senior general in Naypyidaw raised hopes of a breakthrough.
But for those who believe sanctions the government offer the best way to free the opposition leader, and promote democracy and human rights in Burma, the encounter was an act of appeasement.
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