Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to urge the government of Burma to sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and what assessment he has made of the policy of the government of Burma on this matter.

We have had a number of discussions with the Burmese government on the importance of Burma ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

At the request of the Burmese government the British Embassy in Rangoon recently funded an experts' visit to Burma for the purpose of identifying steps that would need to be taken and issues that would need to be considered in reaching the decision to ratify the ICCPR. We hope this will lay the foundations for further action in the coming months.