Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 122.djvu/2655

 12 2 STA T . 2 63 2 PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 2 8 6 —J UL Y 2 9, 2008 PublicLaw1 1 0–286 110 thCongres s A n Act Toimp o se s anct ions on o f ficia l soft h e S tate P eace an dD e v elopment C o u ncil in B u r ma , to amend the Burmese F reedom and Democrac yA ct of 20 0 3 toe x empt humanitarian assistance from U nited States sanctions on Burma, to prohi b it the importation of g emstones from Burma, or that originate in Burma, to promote a coordinated international effort to restore civilian democratic rule to Burma, and for other purposes .Beit e nac te dby t h e S enate and Hous eo fR e pr esentati v es of the U nited States of Am erica in C on g ress assemb l ed ,SECTION1. S H O R T TIT L E. ThisActmaybe cite d as the ‘ ‘T o m L a n tos Bl oc k B ur mese J A DE( Junta ’ s Anti - Democratic E f forts ) Act of 20 0 8 ’’ . SEC. 2 . F IN D IN G S. C on g ress makes the follo w ing findings

( 1 ) Beginning on August 1 9, 200 7 , hundreds of thousands of citi z ens of Burma, including thousands of Buddhist monks and students, p articipated in peaceful demonstrations against rapidly deteriorating li v ing conditions and the violent and repressive policies of the S tate P eace and Development Council (SPDC), the ruling military regime in Burma — (A) to demand the release of all political prisoners, including 1991 N obel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu K yi and (B) to urge the regime to engage in meaningful dialogue to pursue national reconciliation. (2) The Burmese regime responded to these peaceful pro- tests with a violent crackdown leading to the reported killing of appro x imately 200 people, including a Japanese photo- j ournalist, and hundreds of injuries. H uman rights groups fur- ther estimate that over 2,000 individuals have been detained, arrested, imprisoned, beaten, tortured, or otherwise intimidated as part of this crackdown. Burmese military, police, and their affiliates in the U nion Solidarity Development Association (USDA) perpetrated almost all of these abuses. The Burmese regime continues to detain, torture, and otherwise intimidate those individuals whom it believes participated in or led the protests and it has closed down or otherwise limited access to several monasteries and temples that played key roles in the peaceful protests. ( 3 ) The Department of State’s 200 6 Country R eports on Human Rights Practices found that the SPDC— (A) routinely restricts freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, religion, and movement; AungSa n Suu Kyi.50U S C17 01 n ote . 50 USC 1701 note. T o mL anto sBl o ck Bu r mese J A DE( Junta ’ s Anti - Democratic E f forts ) Act of 2 00 8 . H uman rig h ts. P olitical p risoners. July 2 9, 2008 [ H. R. 3 890 ]

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