Save Darfur Coalition and Genocide Intervention Network are now

July 26, 2013

The Honorable Mr. Barack Obama President of the United States of America The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Obama: On behalf of the thousands of Americans concerned about severe human rights abuses continuing in Burma, I am writing to urge you to maintain pressure on the Burmese government through all available means at your disposal, including maintaining sanctions. Over the last several months you have received some 10,000 emails from American citizens expressing their concern over the Burmese governments inadequate response or even complicity in ethnic and religiously motivated violence in Burma and asking you to do all in your power to push Burma to stop the violence. Another 10,000 messages have been sent to the U.S. Congress in recent weeks urging members to act to renew remaining sanctions on Burma until growing violence targeted against Muslims is addressed. This is not a regime that should be rewarded with the lifting of remaining economic sanctions. The State Department recently cited Burmas failure to protect civilians concluding that abuses continued with impunity. And the UN Special Rapporteur for Burma reported that human rights abuses committed by security forces against Burmas Rohingya Muslim minorities are Widespread and systematic. Sanctions are the final bit of pressure the United States has left to demand that the Burmese government finally do what is right. With the expiration of the sanctions mandated by the Burma Freedom and Democracy Act on July 25, 2013, trade related to a wide range of products linked to human rights abuses has been opened up. Last year you maintained some key sanctions, including those on jadeite and rubies through Executive Order. We urge you to once again use your powers to ensure that sanctions are maintained at the very least on these most problematic of products. From hate speech to burning of mosques, the ominous warning signs of genocide continue to grow in Burma. The Burmese government has been both implicated in the violence and found to stand by when they could be protecting civilians. Now is not the time to let up what remaining
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pressure the U.S. government has on the Burmese government. Ensure that leverage is maintained with sanctions and make clear to the Burmese government that any further rewards will not come without addressing the violence against civilians in Burma.

Sincerely,

Thomas H. Andrews President and CEO United to End Genocide cc: John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State Susan Rice, National Security Advisor Uzra Zeya, Acting Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Department of State Daniel Russel, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of East Asia and the Pacific, Department of State Derek Mitchell, U.S. Ambassador to Burma

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