The European Parliament,

A. shocked by the evidence that the long, sustained, gross and massive violations of human rights by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) in Burma are getting even worse,

B. recalling that SLORC holds power illegitimately, having been decisively defeated in the elections of May 1990 by the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who is still held under house arrest and incommunicado in Rangoon,

C. stressing that political prisoners are tried and sentenced by military tribunals which use summary procedures and against whose verdicts there is no right of judicial appeal,

D. shocked by the sentencing of at least 25 Members of Parliament of the NLD to imprisonment for between 10 and 25 years, because, following the refusal of SLORC to accept the election results, they took part in discussions on the formation of a democratic government in exile or in hiding,

E. gravely concerned by the suspicions that U Tin Maung Win, an opposition Member of Parliament and U Ba Thaw, a retired naval officer and writer died in January 1991 and June 1991 respectively as a result of ill treatment in prison,

F. horrified by reports that civilians from ethnic minorities are being conscripted by the army and forced to walk through areas that have been mined so as to clear the way for troops,

G. recalling its repeated resolutions on the gross abuse of human rights in Burma,

1. Condemns the atrocities committed by SLORC against its own people;

2. Demands the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners;

3. Expresses its solidarity with all those Burmese who are struggling to establish democracy in their country;

4. Calls on European Political Cooperation to investigate the reports of conscripted civilians being used to explode mines, with a view to raising this matter in the United Nations;

5. Calls on European Political Cooperation to establish close contact with the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, which was created in December 1990 from Members of the Parliament elected in May 1990, to see what can be done to assist them in their objective of securing respect for the results of the elections;

6. Urges the need to establish a complete arms embargo on Burma while the gross abuse of human rights continues and stresses its concern that China appears to be supplying SLORC with $1.3 billion worth of weapons;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, European Political Cooperation, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma and SLORC.