The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has been urged to adopt a resolution that would enable the world body to assume leadership in forcing through democratic reform in Burma.

The call was made in a 70-page report released today and which also seeks UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's involvement in implementing a plan to restore a democratically-elected government.

In the report, Burma was described as posing a threat to peace and security far worse than in places where the UNSC had previously intervened, such as Afghanistan, Haiti, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Cambodia.

The report, entitled 'Threat to the peace: A call for the UN Security Council to act on Burma', was commissioned by former Czech Republic president Vaclav Havel and South Africa's Bishop Desmond M Tutu.

"For 15 years the government of Burma has refused to implement recommendations made by the UN and the situation is getting worse," said Havel in a statement.

"In fact, the situation in Burma is much more severe compared to other countries in which the Security Council has chosen to act in recent years."

Tutu, meanwhile, said all other avenues sought to bring democracy and positive change in Burma had failed.

"Quiet closed-door meetings among countries in New York are no longer enough. They have failed. It is time for the UN Security Council to act. In fact, it is past due. This report quite clearly evidences the need for multilateral action," he said in a statement.

"If governments want to talk about the situation in Burma, the time is now and the venue is the Security Council."

Five factors

The executive summary of the report states how the decision to classify Burma as a threat to peace had been derived, based mainly on reviews of UNSC resolutions adopted in response to internal conflict situations.

The council uses five main criteria to determine the case for intervention, which the report found to correspond with the situation in Burma.

One criterion was the overthrow of a democratically-elected government. The 1990 elections saw a win for the democratic front, the National League for Democracy helmed by Aung San Suu Kyi. It won over 80 percent of the seats in Parliament but was not allowed to form a government.

To date, the military regime now called the State Peace and Development Council has refused to acknowledge the results. In addition, it has kept Suu Kyi in detention or under house arrest for the major part of 16 years.


The second relevant factor is the existence of conflict among governmental bodies and insurgent armies or armed ethnic groups.

Widespread internal humanitarian and human rights violations was the third factor cited, supporting the views of international and regional rights groups.

The substantial overflow of refugees - over 700,000 in recent years according to the report - was the fourth factor, while the fifth covers various elements that create cross-border problems such as drug trafficking.

"Burma has all five factors present. Furthermore, the extent to which some of these factors exist is considerably worse than in other countries the UNSC has chosen to act on," the report added.