Elizabeth Boomer of the AFL-CIO International Affairs Department sends us this report.

Burma needs to address chronic human rights abuses before sanctions are lifted says a new report from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

Despite some positive signs of change in Burma, forced labor is still widely practiced, trade unions are illegal and hundreds of political prisoners remain in jail. The AFL-CIO agrees with the ITUC that the time is not ripe for a major revision of sanctions, and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton solidifying this position.

• The report argues that sanctions should only be lifted if the government of Burma:
• Eliminates forced labor. Widespread forced labor practices by civilian and military authorities in nearly all of the country's states and divisions continue. The government of Burma has failed to fulfill any of the steps required of it to eliminate forced labor in the country, as recommended by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 1998.
• Allows independent and democratic trade unions. Despite recently passing a Labor Organization Law, the government has yet to implement it. The law also contains significant flaws, and is undermined
  by other legislation. Further, the Federation of Trade Unions - Burma (FTUB), a member of the ITUC, is still a banned organization. The government of Burma, unions and employers and the ILO need to redraft the law and oversee its effective implementation.
• Frees all political prisoners. The government has released hundreds of political prisoners, yet more than a 1,000 remain in jail, and many more remain in exile. Prisoners need to be released unconditionally, and provided with rehabilitation. The laws that put them in jail in the first place need to be scrapped.

The report also calls on the Burmese authorities to end all other serious human rights abuses; enter into a nation-wide ceasefire and address the root causes of conflict; hold free and fair elections, including through amending the flawed 2008 constitution; and curtail the role of the military in government and the economy.

Specifically, the report calls for “a gradual, measured lifting of sanctions as the government of Burma makes progress on this complete list.”

The report has been developed in close consultation with the FTUB, and is in response to growing calls for the EU, US, Canada and Australia to lift their sanctions against Burma.

While the ITUC report mainly focuses on labor rights, it urges governments to be also guided by the recommendations of other civil society organizations that raise additional and compelling human rights
concerns.

Download the ITUC Burma sanctions benchmarks report.

For more information see also, Are workers now free in Burma?

A note about Burma:  Although the military junta decided to change Burma’s name to Myanmar some years ago, the National League for Democracy, the Federation of Trade Unions-Burma, and all other exile and opposition groups continue to refuse to recognize this change and continue to use "Burma" as the name of the country.