AUSTRALIA SET TO IMPOSE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS ON 418

C O N F I D E N T I A L CANBERRA 001560 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS A.COPE STATE ALSO FOR EAP/ANP, EB, CA AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/23/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM CVIS ETRD AS BM SUBJECT: AUSTRALIA SET TO IMPOSE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS ON 418 BURMESE OFFICIALS REF: A. STATE 146862 ¶B. CANBERRA 1480 ¶C. STATE 142626 ¶D. CANBERRA 1457 Classified By: Political Counselor James F. Cole for reasons 1.4 (b),(d ). ¶1. (C) In a meeting with poloffs on October 23, Jeannie Henderson, Director of the Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma Section, DFAT, advised that Foreign Minister Downer had agreed to a recommendation to impose targeted financial sanctions against 418 individuals associated with Burma's military regime. The Reserve Bank of Australia planned to release publicly on October 24 the names of the individuals, who included members of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC),Cabinet ministers, deputy ministers, senior military officials, regional military commanders, and spouses and children of the foregoing. Sanctions would take effect the same day. ¶2. (C) Henderson said the sanctions would block financial transactions to and from individuals in Australia. Unlike U.S. law, however, Australian law did not allow for seizure of assets (Ref B),she added. Also, unlike the United States, Australia's sanctions were directed only at individuals and did not include corporate entities. ¶3. (C) Henderson explained that the Australian approach to sanctions closely paralleled that of the EU, targeting "positions" within the Burmese government, as well as some financiers. As the GOA decision to impose sanctions had been taken before the government entered into caretaker status in advance of elections, the sanctions could proceed to be implemented, she added. ¶4. (C) Regarding further measures, Henderson expected Burma to be on the agenda of both the forthcoming East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). Canada wanted to use the Burma issue as an initial case for the ARF's new Friends of the Chair, but Australia opposed having such a sensitive issue taken up by an as-yet-untested mechanism. MCCALLUM