California 2017-2018 Regular Session

California Senate Bill SR105 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE 20172018 REGULAR SESSION Senate Resolution No. 105Introduced by Senators Glazer and PanApril 16, 2018 Relative to the Rohingya in Rakhine State. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGESTSR 105, as introduced, Glazer. Digest KeyBill TextWHEREAS, The Rohingya are one of Myanmars many ethnic minorities that have lived under military dictatorship for most of the last few decades; andWHEREAS, Approximately one million Rohingya live predominantly in Myanmars Rakhine State, where they have faced ongoing repression under the Burmese military, including the revocation of their citizenship, killings, and mass rape; andWHEREAS, There is historical animosity between the majority Buddhist population and the minority Rohingya, with many in the Buddhist majority seeing the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from across the border in Bangladesh, despite the Rohingyas generational roots in Myanmar; andWHEREAS, Since 1999, the United States Department of State has regularly expressed concern over legal, economic, and social discrimination against Myanmars Rohingya population; andWHEREAS, An outbreak of communal violence in the Rakhine State in 2012 saw more than 100,000 Rohingya displaced and tens of thousands of Rohingya forced into squalid camps where travel was, and continues to be, restricted; andWHEREAS, The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar reported a long history of discrimination and persecution against the Rohingya; andWHEREAS, Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest for her peaceful advocacy of democracy in Myanmar, and during those years, she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament, the Nobel Peace Prize, the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal for her tireless struggle for democracy and human rights; andWHEREAS, In her 2012 Nobel Lecture, Aung San Suu Kyi made an impassioned appeal to the world not to forget those who are suffering hunger, disease, displacement, joblessness, poverty, injustice, discrimination, prejudice, bigotry, and war, and that wherever suffering is ignored, there will be the seeds of conflict, for suffering degrades and embitters and enrages; and WHEREAS, In a landmark election held in November 2015, Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in the first national vote since Myanmars nominal transition to civilian authority, after which Aung San Suu Kyi was named State Counsellor, a role created for her that made her the countrys de facto leader; andWHEREAS, In August 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi helped to establish the high-level Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, which is headed by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in order to address the mistreatment of the Rohingya; andWHEREAS, In October 2016, attacks on border police outposts led to reports of horrific human rights abuses against the Rohingya in a brutal military crackdown; andWHEREAS, In December 2016, a letter to the United Nations Security Council signed by 23 international activists, including more than a dozen fellow Nobel Laureates, urged Aung San Suu Kyi to address the escalating crisis facing the Rohingya in Myanmar; and WHEREAS, In February 2017, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report, finding that crimes against the Rohingya seems to have been widespread as well as systematic, indicating the very likely commission of crimes against humanity; and WHEREAS, In March 2017, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution creating a fact-finding mission to Myanmar to investigate allegations of human rights abuses against the Rohingya and to issue a report by the following year; and WHEREAS, On August 25, 2017, fighters from a small militant group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, conducted surprise raids on 30 police stations and an army base in Rakhine State in which more than 100 people died, including at least 10 policemen and many militants; and WHEREAS, The attack resulted in a brutal and methodical reprisal by the Burmese military on villages, with helicopters firing on civilians, the razing of villages with petrol bombs, and front line troops cutting off families escape routes; andWHEREAS, The assault caused more than 140,000 Rohingya to flee for Bangladesh and more than 30,000 Rohingya are estimated to be trapped in conflict zones in western Myanmar; andWHEREAS, United Nations field work and the delivery of vital supplies of food, water, and medicine were suspended by the government of Myanmar due to security concerns, leaving thousands of Rohingya vulnerable amid the deadly outbreak of violence; andWHEREAS, On August 31, 2017, the United Nations Security Council met to discuss the violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine State; now, therefore, be itResolved by the Senate of the State of California, that the Senate (1) condemns the violence and displacement inflicted on Myanmars Rohingya civilians, (2) calls for an immediate halt to all hostilities by Burmese authorities, (3) condemns the attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army militant group, (4) urges the government of Myanmar to allow unrestricted access to the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, a safe and sustainable volunteer-based return for Myanmars Rohingya civilians that is to be monitored by the United Nations, and the resumption of the delivery of field work and aid from critical humanitarian organizations to help those displaced and injured and to monitor events in Rakhine State, (5) calls on the government of Myanmar to implement the August 2017 recommendations of its Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, including ending restrictions on the movement of the Rohingya and providing the Rohingya with citizenship, and (6) encourages Aung San Suu Kyi to address the historic repression of the Rohingya in Rakhine State; and be it furtherResolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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3	3	CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE 20172018 REGULAR SESSION Senate Resolution No. 105Introduced by Senators Glazer and PanApril 16, 2018 Relative to the Rohingya in Rakhine State. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGESTSR 105, as introduced, Glazer. Digest Key
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9	9	CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE 20172018 REGULAR SESSION
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11	11	Senate Resolution No. 105
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13	13	Introduced by Senators Glazer and PanApril 16, 2018
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15	15	Introduced by Senators Glazer and Pan
16	16	April 16, 2018
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18	18	Relative to the Rohingya in Rakhine State.
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20	20	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
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22	22	## LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
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24	24	SR 105, as introduced, Glazer.
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28	28	## Digest Key
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30	30	## Bill Text
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32	32	WHEREAS, The Rohingya are one of Myanmars many ethnic minorities that have lived under military dictatorship for most of the last few decades; and
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34	34	WHEREAS, Approximately one million Rohingya live predominantly in Myanmars Rakhine State, where they have faced ongoing repression under the Burmese military, including the revocation of their citizenship, killings, and mass rape; and
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36	36	WHEREAS, There is historical animosity between the majority Buddhist population and the minority Rohingya, with many in the Buddhist majority seeing the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from across the border in Bangladesh, despite the Rohingyas generational roots in Myanmar; and
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38	38	WHEREAS, Since 1999, the United States Department of State has regularly expressed concern over legal, economic, and social discrimination against Myanmars Rohingya population; and
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40	40	WHEREAS, An outbreak of communal violence in the Rakhine State in 2012 saw more than 100,000 Rohingya displaced and tens of thousands of Rohingya forced into squalid camps where travel was, and continues to be, restricted; and
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42	42	WHEREAS, The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar reported a long history of discrimination and persecution against the Rohingya; and
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44	44	WHEREAS, Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest for her peaceful advocacy of democracy in Myanmar, and during those years, she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament, the Nobel Peace Prize, the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal for her tireless struggle for democracy and human rights; and
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46	46	WHEREAS, In her 2012 Nobel Lecture, Aung San Suu Kyi made an impassioned appeal to the world not to forget those who are suffering hunger, disease, displacement, joblessness, poverty, injustice, discrimination, prejudice, bigotry, and war, and that wherever suffering is ignored, there will be the seeds of conflict, for suffering degrades and embitters and enrages; and
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48	48	WHEREAS, In a landmark election held in November 2015, Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in the first national vote since Myanmars nominal transition to civilian authority, after which Aung San Suu Kyi was named State Counsellor, a role created for her that made her the countrys de facto leader; and
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50	50	WHEREAS, In August 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi helped to establish the high-level Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, which is headed by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in order to address the mistreatment of the Rohingya; and
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52	52	WHEREAS, In October 2016, attacks on border police outposts led to reports of horrific human rights abuses against the Rohingya in a brutal military crackdown; and
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54	54	WHEREAS, In December 2016, a letter to the United Nations Security Council signed by 23 international activists, including more than a dozen fellow Nobel Laureates, urged Aung San Suu Kyi to address the escalating crisis facing the Rohingya in Myanmar; and
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56	56	WHEREAS, In February 2017, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report, finding that crimes against the Rohingya seems to have been widespread as well as systematic, indicating the very likely commission of crimes against humanity; and
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58	58	WHEREAS, In March 2017, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution creating a fact-finding mission to Myanmar to investigate allegations of human rights abuses against the Rohingya and to issue a report by the following year; and
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60	60	WHEREAS, On August 25, 2017, fighters from a small militant group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, conducted surprise raids on 30 police stations and an army base in Rakhine State in which more than 100 people died, including at least 10 policemen and many militants; and
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62	62	WHEREAS, The attack resulted in a brutal and methodical reprisal by the Burmese military on villages, with helicopters firing on civilians, the razing of villages with petrol bombs, and front line troops cutting off families escape routes; and
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64	64	WHEREAS, The assault caused more than 140,000 Rohingya to flee for Bangladesh and more than 30,000 Rohingya are estimated to be trapped in conflict zones in western Myanmar; and
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66	66	WHEREAS, United Nations field work and the delivery of vital supplies of food, water, and medicine were suspended by the government of Myanmar due to security concerns, leaving thousands of Rohingya vulnerable amid the deadly outbreak of violence; and
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68	68	WHEREAS, On August 31, 2017, the United Nations Security Council met to discuss the violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine State; now, therefore, be it
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70	70	Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, that the Senate (1) condemns the violence and displacement inflicted on Myanmars Rohingya civilians, (2) calls for an immediate halt to all hostilities by Burmese authorities, (3) condemns the attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army militant group, (4) urges the government of Myanmar to allow unrestricted access to the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, a safe and sustainable volunteer-based return for Myanmars Rohingya civilians that is to be monitored by the United Nations, and the resumption of the delivery of field work and aid from critical humanitarian organizations to help those displaced and injured and to monitor events in Rakhine State, (5) calls on the government of Myanmar to implement the August 2017 recommendations of its Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, including ending restrictions on the movement of the Rohingya and providing the Rohingya with citizenship, and (6) encourages Aung San Suu Kyi to address the historic repression of the Rohingya in Rakhine State; and be it further
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72	72	Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.