Burma Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2014 - Prohibits FY2014 Department of Defense (DOD) funds from being made available to the government of Burma unless the Secretary of State certifies to Congress that: (1) Burma has taken steps toward establishing civilian oversight of the armed forces, addressing human rights abuses by the military, and terminating military relations with North Korea; (2) Burma has taken steps to establish a fair and inclusive process to amend the Constitution of Burma, including the full participation of the political opposition and ethnic minority groups; (3) Burma has amended its constitution and laws to ensure civilian control of the military; (4) Burma is promoting peace agreements or political reconciliation and is addressing the resettlement and humanitarian situation of displaced persons; and (5) the Burmese military is improving its human rights record, taking steps to withdraw forces from conflict zones, and implementing a code of conduct.
Directs the Secretary of Defense to report annually to Congress on the status of military-to-military engagement between the U.S. Armed Forces and the Burmese military.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3889 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 3889
To place conditions on assistance to the Government of Burma.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 15, 2014
Mr. Crowley (for himself and Mr. Chabot) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To place conditions on assistance to the Government of Burma.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Burma Human Rights and Democracy Act
of 2014''.
SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF BURMA.
(a) Limitation.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), no
funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available
for fiscal year 2014 for the Department of Defense may be made
available for assistance to the Government of Burma unless the
Secretary of State certifies to the appropriate congressional
committees that--
(A) the Government of Burma has taken concrete
steps toward--
(i) establishing civilian oversight of the
armed forces;
(ii) addressing human rights abuses by the
Burmese military, including publicly
acknowledging that human rights abuses have
been and continue to be committed by the
Burmese military, and committing to a zero
tolerance policy against such human rights
abuses; and
(iii) terminating military relations with
North Korea;
(B) the Government of Burma has taken concrete
steps to establish a fair, transparent and inclusive
process to amend the Constitution of Burma, including
the full participation of the political opposition and
all ethnic minority groups, and the constitutional
reform process will provide the basis for free, fair,
and competitive elections in Burma;
(C) the Government of Burma has amended its
constitution and laws to ensure civilian control of the
military and implemented reforms to increase the
transparency and accountability of the military's
budget and operations, and the Burmese military has
taken substantial and meaningful steps to divest itself
from ownership of commercial businesses;
(D) the Government of Burma is showing meaningful
and well-documented efforts to promote peace agreements
or political reconciliation and equal and fair
treatment of all ethnic groups in conflict areas or
areas of unrest, and to actively address the
resettlement and humanitarian situation of displaced
persons; and
(E) the Burmese military is--
(i) improving its human rights record, as
measured by consistent decreases in reports of
forced labor, indefinite detention, torture, or
cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment of
detainees, and use in armed conflict of
indiscriminate or disproportionate methods and
means of attack;
(ii) demonstrating a genuine interest in
reform by ceasing attacks against ethnic
minority groups in both ceasefire and non-
ceasefire areas;
(iii) taking steps to withdraw forces from
conflict zones, including by halting the use of
soldiers in economic development projects;
(iv) adhering to the conditions of
ceasefire agreements; and
(v) signing and implementing a code of
conduct.
(2) Exception.--The restriction in paragraph (1) does not
apply to consultation and basic training on human rights and
disaster response for the Burmese military, including training
for the Burmese military and civilian leadership on
international law, civilian control of the military, and
justice and accountability mechanisms both through the chain of
command and civilian authority, except that such consultation
and training shall occur in conjunction with engagement with
ethnic armed groups and conducted in a manner that will not
enhance the Burmese military's capabilities against ethnic
minorities.
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary of Defense, in concurrence with the Secretary of
State, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees
a report on the strategy for, and plans and status of,
military-to-military engagement between the United States Armed
Forces and the Burmese military.
(2) Elements.--The report required under paragraph (1)
shall include the following elements:
(A) A description and assessment of the Government
of Burma's strategy for security sector reform, an
identification and comprehensive analysis of those
reform elements that the United States Government
should support, and a multi-year cost estimate for
providing such support.
(B) The United States strategy for the military-to-
military relationship between the United States and
Burma, including a description of how and why such
engagements are necessary for United States national
security.
(C) An assessment of the human rights record of the
Burmese military over the past decade, including--
(i) an account of violations of human
rights and laws of armed conflict by the
Burmese military and all paramilitary and
security forces under its command, including
against ethnic minority groups;
(ii) a description of efforts by the
Burmese military to implement human rights
reforms; and
(iii) a description of the relationship
between progress in the United States-Burma
military-to-military relationship and such
reforms.
(D) An assessment of--
(i) any substantial and meaningful steps
taken by the Burmese military to implement
reforms to increase transparency and
accountability of the military's budget and
operations and to divest itself from ownership
of commercial business; and
(ii) the relationship between progress in
the United States-Burma military-to-military
relationship and such reforms.
(E) A list of ongoing military-to-military
activities conducted by the United States Government
and other international donors, including a description
of each such activity.
(F) An update on activities that were listed in
previous reporting.
(G) A list of activities that are planned to occur
over the upcoming year, with a written description of
each.
(H) A description of progress on the peaceful
settlement of armed conflicts between the Government of
Burma and ethnic minority groups, including the steps
taken by the Burmese military to demonstrate respect
for ceasefires, laws of armed conflict, and human
rights provisions prohibiting rape, torture, forced
labor, trafficking, and the use of child soldiers.
(I) A description of the concrete steps the
Government of Burma has taken--
(i) to establish a fair, transparent, and
inclusive process to amend the Constitution of
Burma;
(ii) to promote peace agreements or
political reconciliation and equal and fair
treatment of all ethnic groups in conflict
areas or areas of unrest; and
(iii) to actively address the resettlement
and humanitarian situation of displaced
persons.
(J) An assessment of the status of the Burmese
military's cooperation with civilian authorities to
investigate and resolve cases of human rights
violations.
(3) Form.--The report required under paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified
annex as necessary.
(c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section,
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the
congressional defense committees and the Committee on Foreign Relations
and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on
Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
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