Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups

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Websites/Multiple Documents

Description: NOW CLOSED. SEE ARCHIVE TO OCTOBER 2016
Source/publisher: Various sources via "BurmaNet News"
Date of entry/update: 2015-03-08
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: About 119,000 results (August 2017)
Source/publisher: Various sources via Youtube
Date of entry/update: 2017-08-21
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Description: Advanced Search results for "Myanmar" Reports. (for Urgent Actions, Media etc. go to Library from the home page, use Advanced Search -- type in Myanmar, and check the item(s) you want. The site has reports on Myanmar from 7 November 1990 up to the present.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Useful articles, videos and links..."The AHRC Burmese-language blog is also updated constantly for Burmese-language readers, and covers the contents of urgent appeal cases, related news, and special analysis pieces..."
Source/publisher: Asian Human Rights Commission
Date of entry/update: 2011-11-22
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: Burmese
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Description: Very useful page... "The AHRC Burmese-language blog is also updated constantly for Burmese-language readers, and covers the contents of urgent appeal cases, related news, and special analysis pieces..."
Source/publisher: Asian Human Rights Commission
Date of entry/update: 2011-11-21
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: Burmese
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Description: 304 documents (June 2011)
Source/publisher: Amnesty International Deutschland
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Description: The Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law...Several written and oral statements on Burma to U. S. and U.N. bodies. Focus on international humanitarian law (laws of war, armed conflict. Keywords: Karen, Karenni, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, International law, violations of human rights law, violations of humanitarian law, armed conflict, Laws of War, Self-Determaination, United States Policy.
Creator/author: Karen Parker
Source/publisher: The Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: About 70 videos and audios from 19967
Source/publisher: Democracy Now!
Date of entry/update: 2018-02-07
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
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Description: Various reports on Burma, notably the reports of CSW vists to the border areas.
Source/publisher: Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Last updated about 1998. Some docs in Spanish
Source/publisher: Derechos
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
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Description: Lots of good human rights, academic and other links. The Burma-specific links were dead, August 2001, but we can hope...
Source/publisher: FDLAP
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Foundation of Fear. Since 1992, the Karen Human Rights Group has been documenting villagers? voices on the human rights situation in southeast Myanmar. 25 years on, KHRG presents this extensive review, an analysis of villagers? current concerns seen in the light of 25 years of testimonies on human rights and abuse. By revisiting these testimonies we can understand ongoing obstacles to peace, security and freedom for local community members in southeast Myanmar, and prevent human rights abuses from being forgotten, silenced and, crucially, from continuing and being repeated..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2017-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2017-12-16
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), Karen
Format : pdf
Size: 4.77 MB
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Description: Contents: 1 Forced labour... 2 Freedom of speech and political freedom: 2.1 Trade Unions; 2.2 Freedom of the press... 3 Freedom of religion... 4 State-sanctioned torture and rape... 5 Children?s rights... 6 Cases... 7 Minorities... 8 See also... 9 References... 10 External links.
Source/publisher: Wikipedia
Date of entry/update: 2012-08-14
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Full text online reports from 1989 (events of 1988), though 1991 seems to be missing and 2004 has no section on Burma.
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process... The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims... ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members? input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns... Vision: A peaceful, democratic and federal Burma that has acknowledged past human rights violations and has implemented measures to uphold the dignity of victims and guard against recurrence... Mission: Achieve government recognition, redress and guarantees of non-recurrence for victims of human rights violations... Goal: Produce high-quality data that ND-Burma and other human rights advocacy groups can use effectively.
Source/publisher: ND-Burma
Date of entry/update: 2017-08-15
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English, Burmese
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Description: About Progressive Voice:- Vision: "Progressive Voice envisions a federal democratic Myanmar that is free of discrimination and upholds the principles of peace, justice and human rights... Mission: Our mission is to amplify the voices from the ground for a principled, rights-based policy narrative on Myanmar at a local, national and international level through participatory research, analysis and advocacy... Who We Are: Progressive Voice is a participatory rights-based policy research and advocacy organization rooted in civil society, that maintains strong networks and relationships with grassroots organizations and community-based organizations throughout Myanmar. It acts as a bridge to the international community and international policymakers by amplifying voices from the ground, and advocating for a rights-based policy narrative. Underpinning our work and identity is a commitment to human rights principles. We stand for the universality, inalienability and absolute nature of human rights, and do not discriminate against people on grounds of race, color, nationality, ethnicity, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, social standing, religion, political or other beliefs. We maintain a gender-inclusive staffing policy that also draws strength from the ethnic and religious diversity of its staff while also aiming to foster and develop a young generation of people of Myanmar, particularly from marginalized communities, that will take the organization forward in years to come as well as contributing to the discourse and work towards democracy in Myanmar. Decision-making is principled, collective and consensus-orientated within Progressive Voice, ensuring the values of inclusivity and active participation. Progressive Voice?s research is done ethically, following the principle of ?do no harm.? Based on this research, we produce independent and principled analysis that remains non-aligned and independent of any political parties and political and religious institutions. Progressive Voice focuses on three main thematic policy areas: (1) Governance Reforms, including political, democratic, constitutional, administrative and institutional reform; (2) Rule of Law, including access to justice, legislative and judicial reform, strengthening the space and work of civil society and human rights defenders, and protecting religious minorities; and (3) Sustainable Development, including labor rights, foreign investment, corruption, transparency and accountability. Human rights is a central issue that is reflected in all analyses, publications and policy recommendations... What We Do: Working and cooperating with disenfranchised, disempowered and marginalized communities and civil society organizations, to amplify their voices, and concerns, thereby filling the gap between policy needs on the ground and the policy-makers themselves. Conducting independent, participatory research and analysis to equip relevant stakeholders and decision-makers with principled, rights-based policy recommendations. Advocating for institutional and structural reforms that comply with international human rights law and standards as well as Myanmar?s international commitments and obligations..."
Source/publisher: Progresssive Voice
Date of entry/update: 2017-04-01
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Description: 511 results, March 2004
Source/publisher: Asian Human Rights Commission
Date of entry/update: 2004-03-12
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Reports, resolutions, press releases etc.
Source/publisher: Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: Resolutions of the General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights; reports by the Secretary-General and the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar; written statements by NGOs; reports with references to Myanmar by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Special Rapporteur on toxic wastes, Special Rapporteur on Torture, Report of the High Commissioner on human rights and mass exoduses, Report of the Secretary-General on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, Report of the Secretary-General on the national practices related to the right to a fair trial.
Source/publisher: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
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Source/publisher: US Department of State
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Source/publisher: Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs U.S. Department of State
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Individual Documents

Sub-title: ‘Thermobaric’ Strike in Sagaing Region Killed More than 160
Description: "(Sydney) – The Myanmar military used a “thermobaric” munition for an attack on an opposition building in Sagaing Region on April 11, 2023, that killed more than 160 people, including children, Human Rights Watch said today. The airstrike using an “enhanced-blast” type munition on the village of Pa Zi Gyi in upper Myanmar caused indiscriminate and disproportionate civilian casualties in violation of international humanitarian law, and was an apparent war crime. Foreign governments should prevent funding, arms, and aviation fuel from going to Myanmar’s military, which continues to commit serous abuses with impunity. “The Myanmar military’s use of a weapon designed to cause maximum deaths on an area crowded with civilians shows flagrant disregard for human life,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Foreign governments need to cut off the junta’s funding, arms and jet fuel to deter further atrocities.” About 300 residents from Kantbalu township gathered on April 11, ahead of the Buddhist new year to open an opposition-controlled administrative office in Pa Zi Gyi. Two witnesses told Human Rights Watch that at about 7:30 a.m., a military jet flew overhead and dropped at least one munition, which exploded amid the crowd gathering around the building. Within minutes, a witness said, a helicopter gunship followed and fired cannons, grenades, and rockets into the crowd as people tried to flee. A resident of Pa Zi Gyi said that members of the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), an anti-junta militia, were at the opening. The office was intended for civilian uses such as filing taxes, township meetings, and judicial processes. The witness said the PDF stored goods, funds, and medicines in the office, but also some ammunition. “The event agenda had meetings, entertainment, and awards ceremonies,” the witness said. “There were many scouts and guards for security, but they were mainly concerned about possible junta military convoys on the road and not so much about airstrikes, so were taken by surprise.” He said some of his family members including a child were killed in the attack. A second witness said, “I got there early, and I was standing outside the building when the attack started so I had a chance to run for cover.” He said he jumped into a trench just as a munition detonated near the building. “The first strike was by [a jet plane] that killed everyone inside and destroyed the building. But the subsequent strafing by [a helicopter] that came afterward … attack[ed] and kill[ed] the survivors who were running for their lives into the nearby forest.” Human Rights Watch reviewed 59 photos of the victims’ bodies and a video of the site following the attacks, and concluded that the initial strike was conducted with a large, air-dropped “enhanced-blast” type munition. This type of weapon is often called “thermobaric” or a “vapor-cloud explosive.” Although enhanced-blast weapons can be used in several ways, they generally function on the same principle: an explosive material is dispersed as a vapor cloud that uses atmospheric oxygen as a fuel when it is detonated. The scale of the blast and thermal damage to the building, as well as the profound nature of the burns and evident soft-tissue and crushing injuries suffered by the victims, are distinctive. Enhanced-blast weapons are more powerful than conventional high-explosive munitions of comparable size and inflict extensive damage over a wide area, and thus are prone to indiscriminate use when used in populated areas, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch also reviewed eight photographs and two videos of the remnants of the weapons posted online and that the opposition National Unity Government (NUG) presented during a news conference on April 14. Human Rights Watch could not positively identify all of the remnants. However, some were consistent with the types of weapons and munitions used by the type of helicopter gunship, an Mi-35, deployed by Myanmar’s military. On state media on the evening of April 11, the Myanmar military claimed responsibility for the airstrikes. A military spokesman, Zaw Min Tun, said that they targeted People’s Defense Force members and that the casualties were a result of the strikes hitting PDF storage units for explosives and landmines, which then exploded. The National Unity Government said those killed were mainly civilian residents of Pa Zi Gyi, including 40 children. The youngest victim was 6 months old and the oldest was 76. As of May 5, the NUG said a total 168 people had been killed in the attack. Human Rights Watch was not able to confirm those figures. International humanitarian law applicable to the non-international armed conflicts in Myanmar obligates all warring forces to distinguish between combatants and civilians and to ensure that the targets of attacks are military objectives and not civilians or civilian objects. Both sides are required to take all feasible precautions to avoid and minimize civilian loss of life and property, and, where circumstance permit, provide effective advance warnings of attacks. The laws of war prohibit indiscriminate attacks, which include using methods or means of combat that cannot be limited in ways that minimize incidental loss of civilian life and damage to civilian objects. Attacks that can be expected to cause disproportionate civilian harm in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated in the attack are also prohibited. The presence of opposition combatants and ammunition would make the building a legitimate military objective subject to attack. Even so, the use of an enhanced-blast weapon for the attack was unlawfully indiscriminate because its use in a crowded civilian area could not minimize the loss of civilian life. In addition, the initial strike and ensuing attacks on hundreds of fleeing civilians was almost certainly an unlawfully disproportionate attack, and possibly a deliberate attack on civilians. Serious violations of international humanitarian law that are committed with criminal intent – that is, deliberately or recklessly – are war crimes. War crimes include deliberate, indiscriminate, and disproportionate attacks against civilians, and a wide array of other crimes. Individuals also may be held criminally liable for attempting to commit a war crime, as well as assisting in, facilitating, aiding, or abetting a war crime. Commanders who knew or should have known about abuses by their forces and failed to take appropriate action may be held liable as a matter of command responsibility. Recent attacks in which Myanmar’s military may be responsible for laws-of-war violations include airstrikes on April 10 in Chin State that killed nine civilians and in Bago Region on May 2 that killed three civilians. An air and ground assault in Magway Region on April 21 burned a Japan-funded hospital. And in March, after the military captured a town in Shan State, 22 people were summarily executed, with many of the victims bearing marks of torture. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should at its next meeting in Indonesia from May 9-11 signal its support for stronger measures to cut off the military’s cash flow and press the junta for reform. The United Nations Security Council should follow up on its December resolution on Myanmar and its March follow-up briefing by urgently considering a new resolution to deter the military from committing further abuses, including adopting an arms embargo, referring Myanmar to the International Criminal Court, and imposing targeted sanctions on junta leadership and military-owned companies. “The Myanmar junta’s abusive military operations depend on its ability to purchase weapons and materiel,” Pearson said. “ASEAN and the UN Security Council both need to reconsider their toothless approaches to Myanmar’s junta and take stronger measures.”..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch (USA)
2023-05-09
Date of entry/update: 2023-05-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 160.33 KB
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Description: "1.The National Unity Government is responding to the union level disaster of significantly large number of deaths and injured people due to the military council's air strikes at Pazigyi village, Kant Balu Township, Sagaing division. The relief and emergency response activities are being provided in a timely manner under the supervision of union level ministries and the coordination with the various officials in Sagaing region..."
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
2023-04-16
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 293.05 KB 2.53 MB
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Description: "Press Release Regarding Air Strikes on Pazigyi village, Kant Balu Township, Sagaing Division, Myanmar..... 1.The National Unity Government is responding to the union level disaster of significantly large number of deaths and injured people due to the military council's air strikes at Pazigyi village, Kant Balu Township, Sagaing division. The relief and emergency response activities are being provided in a timely manner under the supervision of union level ministries and the coordination with the various officials in Sagaing region..."
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
2023-04-16
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 2.63 MB
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Description: "1. At 07:45 am on 11th April 2023, Myanmar military council intentionally performed an atrocious, indiscriminate air raid on a gathering of villagers in Pazigyi Village, Malai Ward, Kantbalu Township, Kantbalu District, Sagaing Region, Myanmar. 2. The terrorist military council first bombed with jet fighters followed by numerous air raid runs by MI-35 and helicopters killing, inuring, and maiming a large number of innocent villagers. 3. An initial report has confirmed that more than 100 innocent villagers that 18 children together with expectant women were killed in this atrocity. We will update the data as we get more confirmed reports. 4. From the time the National Unity Government received the news of the barbarity, the NUG has been - collating, confirming, and authenticating reports from the site - offering assistance, and aid in cooperation with local civil organisations making funeral arrangements, etc. - ensuring that medical teams from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Defence were caring for the wounded and all that needed medical care - informing the diplomatic community and international community. 5. The National Unity Government makes a solemn pledge to take actions on the terrorist military council for its mass murder of innocent citizens, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the citizens and see that justice is served..."
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
2023-04-11
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
Size: 24.33 KB
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Description: "၁။ ၂၀၂၃ ခုနှစ်၊ ဧပြီလ ၁၁ ရက်၊ နံနက် ၇ နာရီ ၄၅ မိနစ်အချိန်တွင် စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်း၊ ကန့်ဘလူခရိုင်၊ ကန့်ဘလူမြို့နယ်၊ မလယ်တိုက်နယ်၊ ပဇီကြီးကျေးရွာ၌ ရပ်ရွာလူထု စုဝေးတွေ့ဆုံနေစဉ် အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်တပ်က ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ လေကြောင်းတိုက်ခိုက်မှု ပြုလုပ်ကျူးလွန်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ၂။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်၏ ဂျက်တိုက်လေယာဉ်မှ ဖျက်အားပြင်းဗုံးများ ကြဲချခဲ့ပြီး MI-35 တိုက်ခိုက် ရေးရဟတ်ယာဉ်ဖြင့် အကြိမ်ကြိမ် ပစ်ခတ်တိုက်ခိုက်ခဲ့သောကြောင့် အပြစ်မဲ့အရပ်သား ပြည်သူအများ အပြား သေကြေ ၊ ထိခိုက်ဒဏ်ရာ ရရှိခဲ့ကြပါသည်။ ၃။ အဆိုပါတိုက်ခိုက်မှုကြောင့် လက်ရှိအတည်ပြုနိုင်သည်မှာ ကလေးသူငယ် အနည်းဆုံး (၁၈) ဦးနှင့် ကိုယ်ဝန်ဆောင် အမျိုးသမီးများ အပါအဝင် အပြစ်မဲ့အရပ်သားပြည်သူ စုစုပေါင်း(၁၀၀)ကျော်ခန့် သေဆုံး ခဲ့ရပြီး အရေအတွက် အတိအကျအား မြေပြင်အချက်အလက်များ အတည်ပြုချက်ရယူ၍ ဆက်လက် ထုတ်ပြန် အသိပေးသွားပါမည်။ ၄။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရအနေဖြင့် အဆိုပါဖြစ်စဉ်အား ကြားသိရသည့်အချိန်မှ စတင်၍ တိကျသေချာသော သတင်းအချက်အလက်များ ရယူစုဆောင်းခြင်း၊ ကူညီကယ်ဆယ်ရေးလုပ်ငန်းများ လုပ်ဆောင်ခြင်း၊ ဒေသခံလူမှုကူညီရေးအသင်းများမှ ဝိုင်းဝန်းလျက် အလောင်းကောက်ခြင်း၊ သင်္ဂြိုဟ် ခြင်း၊ ဒဏ်ရာရရှိသူများအား ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနနှင့် ကာကွယ်ရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန ဆေးအဖွဲ့များက ခွဲစိတ်ကုသခြင်း၊ နိုင်ငံတကာအစိုးရအဖွဲ့အစည်းများ သံတမန်များထံသို့ အကြောင်းကြားခြင်း စသည့် လုပ်ငန်းစဉ်များကို အချိန်နှင့်တပြေးညီ လုပ်ကိုင်ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ၅။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်သည် ယနေ့ညနေ (၅) နာရီခွဲခန့်အချိန်တွင် မြေပြင်ရှိ ကူညီကယ်ဆယ်ရေး ဆောင်ရွက်နေသူများကို ထပ်မံ၍ လေကြောင်းတိုက်ခိုက်မှုပြုလုပ်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ ၆။ ထိုကဲ့သို့ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်တပ်က အပြစ်မဲ့အရပ်သားများကို လူမဆန် ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်စွာ အစုလိုက်အပြုံလိုက်သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများ၊ စစ်ရာဇဝတ်မှုများအပါအဝင် လူသားမျိုးနွယ်စုအပေါ် ကျူးလွန် သည့် နိုင်ငံတကာရာဇဝတ်မှုများအား လုံးဝလက်ခံခွင့်လွှတ်မည်မဟုတ်ဘဲ ထိရောက်ပြင်းထန်စွာ အရေး ယူဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည်။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ..."
Source/publisher: National Unity Government of Myanmar
2023-04-11
Date of entry/update: 2023-04-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 489.39 KB
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Description: "The people of Burma have been suffering greatly for many decades under the brutality of the junta. Human rights should not be violated by anyone under any circumstances. For that reason, we present these videos about documenting human rights violations to encourage the emergence of Citizen Human Rights Documenters who can systematically collect and record strong, accurate evidence of human rights violations with the aim to establish justice, rehabilitate victims, and put an end to the cycle of impunity in Burma. In this second video, we will talk about why we do human rights documentation and what data to collect when human rights violations occur in our communities..."
Source/publisher: Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
2023-03-09
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: " The junta, still unable to gain political, territorial or economic control in the third month since its forcible and unconstitutional power grab, has engulfed the entire country in armed conflict. It has escalated military attacks on urban-based movements and border-based ethnic communities.  Security forces, including notorious units that committed genocidal atrocities against Rohingya people, unleashed lethal battlefield tactics in towns and cities, launched airstrikes on Kachin and Karen states, and shelled villages in Chin, Kachin, Karen, Shan, and Sagaing States/Regions.  During April alone, security forces killed at least 288 civilians and displaced over 27,000. The junta sentenced 26 civilians to death in military tribunals.  In total, it has killed at least 845 civilians, injured thousands more, displaced over 47,000 ethnic community members, and detained at least 4,537 politicians, activists, journalists and others, in attacks against the democracy movement.  The Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) (i.e., the elected parliament) formed an ethnically diverse National Unity Government (NUG).  ASEAN leaders invited junta leader Min Aung Hlaing—who illegally grabbed power on 1 February—to a meeting, rather than Burma’s legitimate civilian government. The meeting resolution contained “Five Points of Consensus,” including peaceful negotiation and cessation of violence in Burma, but not including the release of political detainees. The junta preceded the meeting by criminalizing the NUG, and followed the meeting by continuing its violence throughout the country.  The junta’s oppressive attempts to gain control of the country is disintegrating the economy, potentially dragging it back by 15 years. The UN projects that by 2022, 48% of the country will be in poverty.  In order to avert worse violence and create space for dialogue and negotiations, the movement in Burma and allies urge that: o The UN Security Council must work with ASEAN, to ensure it complies with UNSC resolutions on the protection of civilians, the Geneva Conventions, and international human rights standards; o The UN, foreign states, and international finance institutions (IFIs) must sanction and stop assisting the junta; and o These actors must engage with the NUG as the legitimate government of Burma, rather than the junta.....CONTENTS: 2 Burma movement demands 2 Democratic government 4 De jure and de facto authority 5 Air strikes and a new civil war 7 Offensives cross international lines 7 Attempts to stop defections 8 Junta’s violent crackdown 9 Bago massacre, Sagaing attacks 9 Tactics of fear and repression 10 Civilians sentenced to death 11 Media/information restrictions 12 Protests continue despite dangers 13 ASEAN meeting 14 International reactions, sanctions 18 Corporations pick sides 19 Coup continues to destroy economy..."
Source/publisher: Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
2021-05-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-07-03
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Description: "CONTENTS: 2 Trials for NLD leaders 2 NUG and CRPH 5 COVID-19 surge 5 Conflict and displacement 6 Ceasefires 6 Displacement 7 Fighting by region 9 Protests and violent crackdowns 12 Resistance bites 12 Women continue to lead, and to suffer disproportionately 13 International reactions, sanctions 15 ASEAN engagement 15 ASEAN-China meeting 17 UN General Assembly 17 G7 Summit 17 Effects on foreign business 18 Foreign links identified 18 Economy continues to sink 19 Junta continues to enrich itself.....Junta seeks to bolster coup narrative: Since April, the junta has published at least three propaganda books that omitted its killing of over 800 pro-democracy protesters. The books focused on the myth that the military had to take over due to widespread electoral fraud by the NLD in the 2020 elections. According to the books’ prefaces: “Although Myanmar’s democracy foundation shaped by the Tatmadaw since 1988 is making certain progress, the democratic journey is delayed by voter-list errors and poor transparency in the 2020 election and the failure to handle the Tatmadaw’s statements on the election.” On 10 June, the Ministry of Information reported that the junta’s Union Election Commission had found evidence of electoral fraud by the NLD after examining the voter lists and voting conditions in 49 townships in Shan State. It declared that NLD candidates violated the Hluttaw Election Law, as well as COVID-19 prevention and control guidelines during the campaign and on polling day. The Commission added that the NLD had “arranged to seize power in advance”, and concluded that the election was not free and fair. This was one in a months-long series of examinations by location since February. During the ASEAN-Russian Federation Summit on Security on 28 June, junta representative Lt-Gen Yar Pyae said that electoral fraud by the NLD had led to a loss of trust in democracy and the election system. He claimed that the Tatmadaw had no choice but to take power to maintain stability. Yar Pyae also accused the NLD of banning “the rights of democracy, including media freedom” during its first term in office, and blamed the kyat’s drop in value and increased commodity prices on their “wrong” economic policies. Irrawaddy (24 Jun 2021) Myanmar Junta Propaganda Books Hope to Rewrite History; SAC (10 Jun 2021) Announcement of Union Election Commission; SAC (29 Jun 2021) Union Minister Lt-Gen Yar Pyae joins virtual ASEAN-Russian Federation Summit on Security Affairs.....Junta’s “perfect information”: In light of widespread condemnation by independent media, the NUG, and foreign governments, the junta sought to dispute the facts about its military actions. On 7 June, it denied that its troops initiated a 5 June shootout with villagers armed with homemade guns in Kyonpyaw Township (Ayeyarwady Region). This contradicted news reports that the Tatmadaw fired first. The junta also alleged that three villagers were killed, compared to 20 in other sources. On 19 June, it criticized CNN and Reuters for their “wrong news without media ethics” after they reported, on 17 June, that junta forces had burned down 80% of homes in Kinma Village, Pauk Township (Magway Region). It alleged that a local PDF and insurgents from Chin State set fire to the house of a USDP member during a clash with security forces on June 15, leading to more fires. Also on 19 June, it published a press release on the incident, accusing the CRPH, NUG, PDF, extremist NLD members and followers of spreading rumours on social networks to cause instability. On 20 June, it alleged that the PDF had deliberately set fire to Kinma to raise funds through Facebook donations, tarnish the image of the government, and draw international condemnation. On 21 June, the (reconstituted) Myanmar Press Council released a statement that unlicensed local media outlets, international news agencies, and foreign embassies had spread fake news regarding the events in Kinma to help international organizations interfere with the country’s internal affairs. It said it would not be responsible for further disputes that occur if media workers contact and provide information to news outlets whose licenses were revoked by the junta. The next day, the junta said official news media had already provided “the perfect information” and urged news agencies to follow international media ethics. SAC (7 Jun 2021) Exaggeration of media on attack in Ayeyawady Region; Myanmar Now (5 Jun 2021) Junta troops kill three civilians in shootout over arrest of local villager; Guardian (6 Jun 2021) Myanmar junta forces reportedly kill 20 civilians in fresh clashes; SAC (19 Jun 2021) CNN, Reuters news agencies presenting news without media ethics need to post correct news; SAC (19 Jun 2021) Public information released not to believe fake and false news on social networks; SAC (20 Jun 2021) Statement strongly condemns media outlets and organizations spreading false information on Kinma fire case; SAC (22 Jun 2021) Media council releases statement urging to follow journalism ethics; SAC (26 Jun 2021) Myanmar Press Council – Announcement 5/2021.....Latest information control measure: whitelists: In June, internet providers in Burma confirmed that the junta plans to allow access only to approved (“whitelisted”) websites/platforms, whereas before the internet was open except for blacklisted sites. From February, the junta instructed internet providers to ban platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and continued to add other websites, often via twice-weekly directives. A senior official at Burma telecommunications company MPT said the junta gave the company hundreds of thousands of IP addresses to blacklist, including news websites. For nearly 50 days, there were only around 500,000 internet connections in a country of 54 million. Website/platform bans and internet blackouts disrupted even the most basic functions of the banking, education, transportation, and healthcare sectors. The junta restored access to the internet over mobile data in May. Popular websites and platforms like Facebook and Twitter remain inaccessible without a VPN, but some mobile banking applications became usable again. An IT professional said that while the junta could not ban some Cloudflare VPNs, most VPNs could be shut down as whitelisting begins. All internet users in Burma will likely eventually be affected by whitelisting, but so far the whitelist only seems to be affecting mobile internet. The ministry has sent its lists of over 1,000 websites and applications to be whitelisted, and mandated that mobile operators and internet service providers follow the whitelist plan. MPT was also recently required to begin monitoring calls and the most frequently visited websites. Senior official said they could not view emails and chats, but were monitoring the highest traffic websites from local IP addresses. Frontier Myanmar (30 Jun 2021) Whitelisted internet takes Myanmar back to a ‘dark age’..."
Source/publisher: Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
2021-07-01
Date of entry/update: 2021-07-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: " The junta, still unable to gain political, territorial or economic control in the second month of its power grab, has escalated military offensives on both the democracy movement and border-based ethnic communities.  Security forces have unleashed lethal battlefield tactics and weapons on civilians throughout the country, killing scores in the towns and cities of Ayeyarwaddy, Bago, Kachin, Mandalay, Mon, Sagaing, Shan, Thanitharyi, and Yangon States and Regions.  The junta has launched airstrikes on Kachin and Karen states, in apparent retaliation for opposition to the coup.  The junta has already killed at least 536 civilians, injured hundreds more, and detained at least 2,729 politicians, activists, journalists and others, in attacks against the democracy movement. It has also killed at least 23 and displaced over 20,000 in attacks on ethnic communities. o During March alone, the junta killed at least 513, and displaced over 18,000.  Despite being threatened with the death penalty for “treason,” the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) (i.e., representing the national parliament) abolished the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, paving the way for the establishment of a national unity government with ethnic organizations.  In order to avert worse violence and create space for dialogue and negotiations, the movement in Burma and allies urge that: o Foreign states and bodies enact targeted sanctions on the military (Tatmadaw), Tatmadaw-affiliated companies and partners, including a global arms embargo; o All International Financial Institutions (IFIs) immediately freeze existing loans, recall prior loans and reassess the post-coup situation; and o The UN Security Council immediately send a delegation to prevent further violence and ensure the situation is peacefully resolved.  The Tatmadaw has sought to weaken popular opposition by reintroducing the death penalty, and enforcing a string of oppressive legal amendments and orders that violate human rights of anybody the junta perceives as an enemy. It enumerated 23 laws or causes of action that would subject civilians to prosecution by court-martial.  Millions of civilians continue to protest nationwide—in almost every township in Burma—despite military intimidation and brutal violence.....CONTENTS: 2 Coup timeline 2 Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw 3 Nationwide peaceful protest 3 Illegal junta’s violent crackdown 4 Junta “apologizes” and then ramps up violence 6 Attacks on ethnic communities 7 Desperate junta orders 8 International condemnation and sanctions 10 Corporations pull back 10 Coup destabilizes economy..."
Source/publisher: Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
2021-04-07
Date of entry/update: 2021-07-03
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Description: " The junta, still unable to gain political, territorial, or economic control in the fourth month since its forcible and unconstitutional power grab, has engulfed the entire country in armed conflict.  Security forces created battlefields in more towns and cities, expanded airstrikes on Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni, and Sagaing States/Regions, and shelled villages in all of these places as well as in Shan State.  During May alone, security forces killed at least 125 civilians and displaced over 150,000. There were 530 violent attacks that either targeted or failed to protect civilians in the first three weeks of May, and a total 2,098 incidents 1 Feb–21 May.  In total, they have killed over 1,000 civilians, injured thousands more, displaced over 200,000 mainly ethnic minority people, and detained at least 5,554 politicians, activists, journalists and others, in attacks against the democracy movement.  The National Unity Government (NUG) formed an interim armed force, began a constitutional reform process, and took other democratic, inclusive governance measures. It suggested granting ICC jurisdiction over events since 1 February.  Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing snubbed ASEAN’s 5-point consensus by escalating violence and discarding commitments without consequences—ASEAN members instead moved to remove the call for an arms embargo at the UN General Assembly.  The junta’s oppressive attempts to gain control of the country is disintegrating the economy. The value of the Kyat fell by 20% since January, inflating costs for people already impacted by the crippling economic impacts of the coup and COVID-19.  Junta leaders, secure in their access to foreign currency through oil, gas, and natural resource exploitation, seem willing to accept destruction of the domestic economy as the price of territorial control.  In order to avert worse violence and create space for dialogue and negotiations, the movement in Burma and allies urge that: o The UN, foreign states, and international finance institutions (IFIs) must expand sanctions; o These actors must engage with the NUG as the legitimate government of Burma, rather than the junta; and o The UN Security Council must take a more active role, in the face of ASEAN’s weakness and the junta’s intransigence.....CONTENTS: 2 NUG fights for democracy 5 Air strikes, artillery, and attacks on towns 10 Violent crackdowns on resistance 13 Resistance bites 14 Protests continue despite dangers 15 Women continue to lead, and continue to be targeted 16 International reactions, sanctions 18 More corporations depart 19 Economy continues to sink 20 Junta focuses on extractives for personal enrichment..."
Source/publisher: Altsean Burma, Burma Human Rights Network, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Initiatives for International Dialogue, International Federation for Human Rights, Progressive Voice, US Campaign for Burma, and Women Peace Network
2021-06-02
Date of entry/update: 2021-07-03
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Sub-title: Working class communities may have been among the hardest hit by the coup, but despite their struggles many remain determined to see the military overthrown.
Description: "Among the wood, bamboo and tin homes that sprawl over several acres in one of Shwepyithar Township’s largest slums, Ko Kyaw Thu Htet begins to weep silently as he contemplates life under a military dictatorship. “Many lives have been sacrificed, including innocent children,” he says. “The democracy that we want is very expensive – we have to sacrifice a lot to get it.” Kyaw Thu Htet has seen this sacrifice first-hand. The 24-year-old bricklayer has been a regular member of frontline protest teams in the northern Yangon township since shortly after the coup, and on March 3 security forces shot and killed a man in his 30s standing near him. The death occurred during a confrontation with police and soldiers outside Sein Gay Har shopping centre in Hlaing Township; Kyaw Thu Htet was one of 128 people arrested that day. Despite initially facing a charge of incitement under section 505(a) of the Penal Code, he was released on March 24, together with 97 others arrested three weeks earlier. The arrest didn’t deter him. Shortly after returning home, Kyaw Thu Htet and his wife, a 24-year-old garment worker, immediately re-joined the protests, stopping only when it became impossible to evade the growing number of police and soldiers on the streets. Kyaw Thu Htet has vowed not to return to work until the revolution succeeds. For now, he’s relying on his wife and his father, who is also a bricklayer, in order to eat. Life is much more difficult, but Kyaw Thu Htet said he would dedicate every waking hour of his remaining life to the protest movement. “We just want to get democracy back. We hate the military dictator,” he told Frontier, referring to Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. From Shwepyithar to Hlaing Tharyar, North Okkalapa to South Dagon, Yangon’s working-class neighbourhoods have been among the most resistant to military rule. Scores have been killed, with security forces deploying battlefield weapons to subdue street-level opposition. Since mid-March, these industrial townships have been under martial law, with a stricter curfew than elsewhere in the city and many criminal cases heard at military tribunals. These townships have also been among the most affected by the economic fallout from the February 1 coup, which prompted the World Bank to last month downgrade its forecast for Myanmar’s economy in 2020-21 to a 10 percent contraction. Others are warning of a contraction as large as 20pc, and possible economic collapse. Many households in these areas were already struggling due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, after the National League for Democracy government ordered two stringent lockdowns last year. “With savings already drained, many poor households have been forced to reduce consumption to cope,” the World Bank warned. Combined with “existing welfare challenges”, the impact of the coup would “likely result in a sharp increase in poverty, heightened food security risks, and deeper destitution for those already poor”. Since mid-March, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers have left Yangon due to lack of work and security concerns, returning to rural areas where there are very few jobs and they are reliant on the support of relatives. Much of this economic fallout has been self-imposed, in an effort to deny legitimacy and revenue to the junta. The Civil Disobedience Movement has shuttered banks and disrupted trade, while street protests have prompted many businesses to lock their doors. The closure of government facilities, particularly healthcare, has also disproportionately affected the poor. Frontier spoke to a number of people living on the outskirts of Yangon, who before the coup typically worked in insecure, low-paid jobs. Despite the hardship they faced, they said their support for the revolution remained undiminished, and they lay the blame for the economic crisis squarely on the military for illegally toppling the NLD government. Ma Hla Witt Yee, 25, lives with her husband and their four-year-old son in Nya ward of Shwepyithar. They run a small business making pillows using leftovers from the township’s many factories. Hla Witt Yee said that even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales were not as slow as they have been post-coup. Previously, they could bring in about K50,000 a day – about a third of which was profit – but that figure has dropped to K10,000 since February, the couple said. Like other interviewees, Hla Witt Yee said her financial problems could only be resolved through a political solution to the country’s crisis – for her, that means the release of detained NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the end of military rule. “We’re not just hoping for our business to recover,” she said. “No matter what happens, if the country remains under the military, our desire for democracy will not change.” Hla Witt Yee’s cousin, Ma Thiri Mon, 24, also works in the pillow-making business in Shwepyithar. A single mother, she lives there with her brothers and now her parents, who moved in after the coup because of their own financial difficulties. Like her cousin, Thiri Mon is also facing economic disaster and had been unable to pay the interest on a debt owed to a moneylender since before the coup. But Thiri Mon said she was more concerned about the impact military rule would have on her daughter and future generations. “Our children’s education has already been delayed because of COVID-19,” she said, referring to the year-long closure of schools due to the pandemic. “I’m very concerned for my child’s future.” She said children could only thrive in a democracy, where they have access to information and freedom of expression. “If not, they won’t be able to express what they believe,” she said. Many have made sacrifices to contribute to the resistance. They include a 42-year-old woman, also from Shwepyithar, who requested anonymity due to fears for her safety. A single mother and a businesswoman, before the coup she lived in a large, comfortable two-storey home. Shortly after the military takeover she got involved in the anti-coup movement, not only joining protests but also providing cash and in-kind support to demonstrators and striking workers. She was arrested in Tarmwe Township on March 3 during a large-scale crackdown on protesters and sent to Insein Prison in northern Yangon. Since her release three weeks later, she has moved to a slum in Shwepyithar, where she has resolved to live and support grassroots communities until the revolution prevails. “Do you know why I’m so determined? Only when we win will those arrested be able to go back home. Most of them are from the working class,” she said. “Wealthier people are more afraid than grassroots workers … most of those who are really willing to make sacrifices for democracy are from the grassroots.” Across the Hlaing River from Shwepyithar, the industrial suburb of Hlaing Tharyar has seen many of its factories close temporarily or permanently since the coup, due to lack of orders, raw materials or workers. Several Chinese-run and other foreign-owned factories were also set alight shortly after security forces massacred more than 50 people in the township in March. About two-thirds of its residents, many of whom are first-generation migrants to Yangon, have since left for other parts of the country, according to labour rights groups and residents. Those who remain face a struggle to survive. Ma Thin Thin Aye, 35, a resident of Hlaing Tharyar’s 20 ward, gave birth to her third child a few days after the coup. A former leader of a local labour movement, she was unable to join the resistance because she was looking after her young daughter. In November she left her job at a garment factory in Mingaladon Township to open a tailor shop at her home because she wanted to run her own business. Until February, she earned a healthy income of about K300,000 per month sewing dresses, but now brings in just K50,000. Her husband, a construction worker earning a daily wage, has also struggled to find work since the coup. The couple spend K60,000 per month on rent, leaving them little to get by on each month. But unlike many of her neighbours, Thin Thin Aye has stayed in Yangon because, she said, life would be even more difficult in her Ayeyarwady delta hometown of Mawlamyinegyun. “If we go back there, our lives will be worse than they are now because we won’t have any income. We just wish to get back Mother Suu. We’ll only be able to live peacefully when we get her back,” she said. Although some tentative signs of an economic recovery are evident, Ko San Yu Maung, the general secretary of Action Labour Rights, said the factories that had reopened were operating well below their full capacity. “Since the military coup, people have found it really hard to earn a living. They are all in a state of fear. They go to work today despite feeling under threat from security forces because if they don’t work, they won’t have any money for food tomorrow,” he said. Business owners, too, have been badly affected. One small business owner from South Dagon Township, who is also a member of local resistance group the South Dagon People’s Guards, said that prior to the coup he had been hoping to expand his business, but the military takeover had crushed these plans. Instead, he’s been forced to lay off his workers temporarily. “I sent all my employees back to their villages,” said the man, who didn’t want to reveal the type of business. He said his business – and the economy more broadly – would only recover when the political situation improves. “Politics is the foundation of a country. Without a good and stable foundation, everything will suffer – not just the economy, but also thinks like education and healthcare,” he said. “So we just have to survive as best we can for now – we can’t expect a good economy until we are successful [in gaining democracy].” Ma Zin Mar Win, 22, is another migrant worker who has remained in Yangon. She’s managed to keep hold of her job in a factory in South Dagon that processes preserved fruit. She works there with her two sisters, aged 24 and 28, to support a young brother and their mother. The family is originally from Pyapon in Ayeyarwady Region, about 125 kilometres southwest of Yangon, and moved to the commercial capital six years ago in search of work. Until the coup, they had been slowly but gradually building a better future for themselves, putting away some of the K600,000 they earn each month so they could one day buy their own home. But the periodic closures of the factory since February 1, either due to a lack of raw materials at the factory or difficulties reaching their workplace, mean the sisters now only take home about K400,000 a month. Although this is enough to survive on, Zin Mar Win said the coup had robbed them of a better future. “We were trying to improve our lives, but how we can do that in this situation?” Safety is a major concern in these outlying townships. Residents are scared of the security forces, and some days there’s either no transport available to take them to the factory or they are too afraid to make the journey. Zin Mar Win said she fears every day for herself and her family. “We’re not safe during the day or at night because they [security forces] are shooting recklessly. We’re terrified of being hit, whether at home, on the street or at work,” she said. “We want to get back the peace we once had.”..."
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
2021-04-24
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Your Excellencies, In alignment with the upcoming Special ASEAN Summit on Myanmar on 24 April 2021, we, the undersigned 744 individuals, 402 civil society organisations in Myanmar and 444 in other Southeast Asian nations and globally, call on the ASEAN, its leaders and Member States to come up with an effective and sustainable strategy jointly with the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court (ICC), and other international community actors in addressing the illegitimate and brutal coup and atrocity crimes committed by the military junta in Myanmar. We welcome the decision to hold the Special ASEAN Summit on Myanmar, based on the proposal made by President Joko Widodo of the Republic of Indonesia to discuss the worsening situation in Myanmar following the violent crackdown against peaceful protesters and the terror campaign against civilians launched by the junta. The decision hopefully constitutes a precedent and reflects the commitment of ASEAN Member States leaders to address Myanmar’s appalling situation using its highest-level policy-making body. However, in view of ASEAN Member States’ differing positions on the coup in Myanmar, we remain extremely concerned that the ASEAN Summit’s response might be to consider the crisis as solely within Myanmar’s domestic affairs and therefore deciding to refrain from any meaningful action in line with the “ASEAN Way” of non-interference and overzealous respect for ‘state sovereignty’. The differing positions of ASEAN Member States have made it difficult for ASEAN to reach a consensus and resulted in equivocations and delayed responses from ASEAN, while the military junta continued its deliberate, murderous attacks on Myanmar’s people, including various violence against women and girls, much to our sorrow and anger. As evidenced from the outputs produced by the Informal ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting (IAFMM), ASEAN responses fall well short of meeting the will of the people of Myanmar. The chair’s statement of the IAFMM meeting neither specifically publicly called out the junta’s brutality nor called for stronger cooperation with the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council. Further, it also fails to mention ASEAN’s commitment to supporting targeted economic sanctions against military personnel and business entities and global arms embargo and referral of the Myanmar situation to the ICC. With the different interests and political will of ASEAN Member States at the moment, we are concerned to what extent the Special ASEAN Summit can create an immediate and meaningful intervention to resolve the situation of Myanmar. ASEAN’s collective and meaningful action to uphold democracy is warranted at this time. Any decision by the ASEAN leaders to treat the military junta as the legitimate representative of Myanmar in the Summit will serve to legitimize the military junta’s crimes and will thus damage not only the relationship of ASEAN with the peoples of Myanmar but the people’s movement for democracy and human rights in the region as a whole. Further, the ASEAN and its Member States must recognise the legitimacy of the National Unity Government (NUG), the legitimate and democratically-elected government of Myanmar, given that it represents 76% of elected Members of the Union Parliament, ethnic leaders, the civil disobedience movement, and general strike committees endorsed by the people of Myanmar. Therefore, Myanmar must be represented by the NUG; not by the illegal junta who is trying to take full control of the country through its unprecedented brutality. As we send this letter to the ASEAN Leaders, the violence and killings by the Myanmar military against protesters and supporters continue with no sign of abating. The junta have so far arbitrarily killed 739 and arrested 3,331 people, including women, elderly people and children.[1] In Karen and Kachin ethnic areas, the junta has been bombing villages, displacing more than 30,000 villagers.[2] In these bombing attacks, civilians including children lost their lives as well as faced difficulties not only about their safety, but also for health, shelter and food. Among those fleeing were women, children, elderly and pregnant women who are due to give birth. There was also a case of a woman who gave birth to her child while she was fleeing. Given the gravity of the situation, the increasing number of victims, and the impact of the crisis on the region’s security and political stability, we strongly urge ASEAN to take firm and effective actions to address the Myanmar coup through the Special ASEAN Summit. We urge all ASEAN leaders to listen to, strongly consider, and to heed the aspirations and will of the peoples of Myanmar. The voices of Myanmar people who have risked their lives in defense of democracy and justice must be the anchor, the conscience, behind any modality and outcome of the Special ASEAN Summit on Myanmar.....၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဧပြီလ ၂၄ ရက်နေ့တွင် ကျင်းပပြုလုပ်မည့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာ အာဆီယံအထူး ထိပ်သီးအစည်းအဝေးနှင့်အညီ အာဆီယံခေါင်းဆောင်များနှင့် အဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံများကို မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် ဖြစ်နေသည့် တရားမဝင် ရက်စက်သော အာဏာသိမ်းမှုနှင့် စစ်အုပ်စုက ကျူးလွန်သော ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်သည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို ကိုင်တွယ်ဖြေရှင်းရာတွင် ကုသသမဂ္ဂ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီ၊ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ကောင်စီ၊ နိုင်ငံတကာ ရာဇဝတ်တရားရုံး (ICC) နှင့် အခြားသက်ဆိုင်ရာ နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝိုင်းများနှင့်အတူ ထိရောက်ခိုင်မာသော မဟာဗျူဟာတစ်ခုကို ပူးတွဲလုပ်ဆောင်ရန် အောက်တွင် လက်မှတ်ရေးထိုးထားသော တစ်သီးပုဂ္ဂလ ၇၄၄ ဦး၊ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံမှ အရပ်ဘက်လူထုအဖွဲ့အစည်း ၄၀၂ ဖွဲ့နှင့် အခြား အရှေ့တောင်အာရှနိုင်ငံများမှ အရပ်ဘက်လူထုအဖွဲ့အစည်း ၄၄၄ ဖွဲ့တို့က တောင်းဆိုလိုက်သည်။ အင်ဒိုနီးရှားနိုင်ငံ သမ္မတ ဂျိုကို ဝီဒိုဒို (Joko Widodo) ၏ အဆိုပြုချက်အပေါ် အခြေခံပြီး မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအတွင်း ငြိမ်းချမ်းစွာ ဆန္ဒပြသူများအပေါ် စစ်အုပ်စုမှ လုပ်ဆောင်သော အကြမ်းဖက် ဖြိုခွဲမှုများနှင့် အရပ်သားများအပေါ် ကြောက်မက်ဖွယ် တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများဖြစ်ပွားခဲ့သည့်နောက်ပိုင်း ပိုမိုဆိုးရွားလာနေသော အခြေအနေများကို ဆွေးနွေးရန်အတွက် အာဆီယံအထူးထိပ်သီးအစည်းအဝေးကို ကျင်းပပြုလုပ်ရန် ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်ကို မိမိတို့မှ ထောက်ခံကြိုဆိုသည်။ ယင်းဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်သည် အာဆီယံအဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံ ခေါင်းဆောင်များမှ ၎င်းတို့၏ အမြင့်ဆုံးအဆင့် မူဝါဒရေးဆွဲချမှတ်သည့်အဖွဲ့ကို အသုံးပြုပြီး မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် ဖြစ်ပေါ်နေသော ဆိုးရွားလှသည့် အခြေအနေများကို ကိုင်တွယ်ဖြေရှင်းရန် ကတိကဝတ်ပြုမှုကို ထင်ဟပ်သည့်အပြင် လိုက်နာရမည့်ထုံးတမ်းစဉ်လာဖြစ်လာလိမ့်မည်ဟု မျှော်လင့်ပါသည်။ သို့ရာတွင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ အာဏာသိမ်းမှုအပေါ် အာဆီယံအဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံများ၏ မတူကွဲပြားနေသော ရပ်တည်ချက်များကို ကြည့်ခြင်းအားဖြင့် အာဆီယံထိပ်သီးအစည်းအဝေးမှ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အကြပ်အတည်းကို ပြည်တွင်းရေးသာဖြစ်ပြီး “အာဆီယံနည်း” အရ ဝင်ရောက်စွက်ဖက်မှု မပြုခြင်းနှင့် နိုင်ငံ၏ အချုပ်အခြာအာဏာအပေါ် အလွန်အကျွံ လေးစားမှုတို့ကြောင့် အဓိပ္ပါယ်ပြည့်၀သော အရေးယူ ဆောင်ရွက်မှု လုပ်ဆောင်ခြင်းမှ ရှောင်ကြဥ်သွားမည်ကို မိမိတို့မှ စိုးရိမ်မိပါသည်။ စစ်အုပ်စုမှ မြန်မာပြည်သူများအပေါ် တမင်ရည်ရွယ်သော သတ်ဖြတ်တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများ ဆက်လက် လုပ်ဆောင်နေချိန်တွင် အာဆီယံအဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံများအကြား မတူကွဲပြားသော ရပ်တည်ချက်များက အာဆီယံအတွက် ဘုံသဘောတူညီချက် ရရှိရန် အခက်အခဲဖြစ်စေပြီး မရေရာမှုများကို ထွက်ပေါ်စေခြင်းနှင့် အာဆီယံ၏ တုံ့ပြန်မှုများ နှောင့်နှေးကြန့်ကြာနေမှုသည် မိမိတို့အား ဝမ်းနည်း အမြတ်ဒေါသ ဖြစ်စေပါသည်။ အာဆီယံနိုင်ငံခြားရေးဝန်ကြီးများ၏ အလွတ်သဘော အစည်းအဝေး (IAFMM) မှ ထွက်ပေါ်လာသော ရလဒ်များက ဖော်ပြနေသည်မှာ အာဆီယံ၏ တုံ့ပြန်မှုသည် မြန်မာပြည်သူများ၏ ဆန္ဒနှင့် ကိုက်ညီမှု မရှိပေ။ IAFMM အစည်းအဝေး ဥက္ကဌ၏ ကြေညာချက်သည် စစ်အုပ်စု၏ ရက်စက်ယုတ်မာမှုများကို တိကျစွာ လူသိရှင်ကြား ဝေဖန်ရှုတ်ချခြင်း မရှိသကဲ့သို့ ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လုံခြုံရေးကောင်စီနှင့် ကုလသမဂ္ဂ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးကောင်စီများနှင့် ပိုမိုအားကောင်းသော ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ရေးအတွက် တောင်းဆို ခဲ့ခြင်းလည်း မရှိပေ။ ထို့အပြင် အာဆီယံသည် စစ်အုပ်စု ခေါင်းဆောင်များနှင့် စီးပွားရေးလုပ်ငန်းများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထား စီးပွားရေးအရေးယူပိတ်ဆို့မှုများ၊ ကမ္ဘာတစ်ဝှမ်း လက်နက်ခဲယမ်း ပိတ်ဆို့မှု နှင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အခြေအနေကို နိုင်ငံတကာရာဇဝတ်တရားရုံး (ICC) သို့ လွှဲပြောင်းရေး တောင်းဆိုချက်များအပေါ် ထောက်ခံရေး ၎င်း၏ ကတိကဝတ်ကို ဖော်ပြရန်လည်း ပျက်ကွက်ခဲ့သည်။ လက်ရှိအချိန်တွင် အာဆီယံအဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံများ၏ မတူညီသော အကျိုးစီးပွားနှင့် နိုင်ငံရေးစိတ်ဆန္ဒများ ရှိနေခြင်းကြောင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အခြေအနေကို ဖြေရှင်းရန် အာဆီယံအထူးထိပ်သီးအစည်းအဝေးမှ လျင်မြန်ပြီး အဓိပ္ပာယ်ပြည့်ဝသော ကြားဝင်ဖြေရှင်းမှုကို မည်သည့်အတိုင်းအတာအထိ ဖော်ဆောင်နိုင်မည် ဆိုသည့်အပေါ် မိမိတို့မှ စိုးရိမ်ပူပန်သည်။ ယခုအချိန်တွင် ဒီမိုကရေစီ ထိန်းသိမ်းရေးအတွက် အာဆီယံ၏ အဓိပ္ပါယ်ပြည့်ဝသော စုပေါင်းအရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်မှုကို လိုအပ်သည်။ လာမည့် ထိပ်သီးအစည်းအဝေးတွင် အာဆီယံ ခေါင်းဆောင်များမှ စစ်အုပ်စုအား မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ တရားဝင်သော ကိုယ်စားလှယ်အဖြစ် သတ်မှတ်ဆက်ဆံရန် ဆုံးဖြတ်ပါက စစ်အုပ်စု၏ ရာဇဝတ်မှုများကို တရားဝင်စေမည်ဖြစ်သဖြင့် အာဆီယံနှင့် မြန်မာပြည်သူတို့၏ ဆက်ဆံရေးကိုသာမက ဒေသတွင်းတစ်ခုလုံး၏ ဒီမိုကရေစီနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးလှုပ်ရှားမှု ကိုလည်း ပျက်စီးစေလိမ့်မည်။ ထို့အပြင် အာဆီယံနှင့် ၎င်း၏ အဖွဲ့ဝင်နိုင်ငံများအနေဖြင့် ရွေးကောက်တင်မြှောက်ခံထားရသည့် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ် ၇၆%၊ တိုင်းရင်းသား ခေါင်းဆောင်များ၊ လူထုအာဏာဖီဆန်ရေး လှုပ်ရှားမှုနှင့် အထွေထွေသပိတ်ကော်မတီများဖြင့် ပါဝင်ဖွဲ့စည်းထားသော မြန်မာပြည်သူများ ထောက်ခံ ထားသည့် တရားဝင် ဒီမိုကရေစီနည်းကျ ရွေးကောက်တင်မြှောက်ခံ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ အစိုးရဖြစ်သည့် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၏ တရားဝင်မှုကို အသိအမှတ်ပြုရမည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေး အစိုးရကသာ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံကို ကိုယ်စားပြုရမည်ဖြစ်ပြီး ဆိုးရွားလှသည့်ရက်စက်ကြမ်းကြုတ်မှုများမှတစ်ဆင့် နိုင်ငံကို အပြည့်အဝ ထိန်းချုပ်နိုင်ရန် ကြိုးစားနေသည့် တရားမဝင် စစ်အုပ်စုက မဖြစ်ရပေ။ ဤစာကို အာဆီယံခေါင်းဆောင်များထံ ပေးပို့သည့်အချိန်တွင်ပင် ဆန္ဒပြသူများအပေါ် လုပ်ဆောင်နေသော စစ်အုပ်စု၏ အကြမ်းဖက်မှုများနှင့် သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများသည် လျော့နည်းလာမည့်လက္ခဏာ မရှိဘဲ ဆက်လက်ဖြစ်ပွားနေသည်။ လက်ရှိအချိန်ထိတွင် စစ်အုပ်စုမှ လူဦးရေ ၃,၂၂၉ ဦး မတရားဖမ်းဆီး ထိန်းသိမ်းထားပြီး လူပေါင်း ၇၃၇ ဦးကို သတ်ဖြတ်ခဲ့ကာ ထိုအထဲတွင် အမျိုးသမီး၊ သက်ကြီးရွယ်အိုများနှင့် ကလေးများ ပါဝင်သည်။[1] ကရင်နှင့် ကချင် တိုင်းရင်းသား နယ်မြေများတွင် စစ်အုပ်စုက ကျေးရွာများအား ဗုံးကြဲတိုက်ခိုက်ခြင်းကြောင့် အရပ်သားပေါင်း ၃၀,၀၀၀ ကျော် ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်နေကြရသည်။[2] ထိုဗုံးကြဲ တိုက်ခိုက်မှုများတွင် ကလေးငယ်များအပါအဝင် အရပ်သားများ အသက်ဆုံးရှုံးရမှုများအပြင် ၎င်းတို့၏ လုံခြုံမှုအတွက်သာမက ကျန်းမာရေး၊ နေထိုင်ရေးနှင့် အစားအသောက်တို့အတွက်ပါ အခက်အခဲများ ကြုံတွေ့ရသည်။ ထိုထွက်ပြေးရသူများထဲတွင် အမျိုးသမီးများ၊ ကလေးငယ်များ၊ သက်ကြီးရွယ်အိုများနှင့် မွေးဖွားခါနီး ကိုယ်ဝန်ဆောင်အမျိုးသမီးတို့ ပါဝင်သည်။ ထိုအထဲတွင် ထွက်ပြေးတိမ်းရှောင်ရင်း မီးဖွားခဲ့ရသော အမျိုးသမီးတစ်ဦး၏ ဖြစ်ရပ်လည်း ရှိခဲ့သည်။ အခြေအနေ၏ ဆိုးရွားမှု၊ ကျူးလွန်ချိုးဖောက် ခံနေရသူ အရေအတွက် များပြားလာမှုနှင့် ဒေသတွင်း လုံခြုံရေးနှင့် နိုင်ငံရေးတည်ငြိမ်မှုတို့အပေါ် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အကြပ်အတည်း၏ သက်ရောက်မှုကြောင့် အာဆီယံထိပ်သီး အစည်းအဝေးမှတစ်ဆင့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုကို ဖြေရှင်းရန်အတွက် အာဆီယံအနေဖြင့် ခိုင်မာထိရောက်သော အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက် မှုများ လုပ်ဆောင်ရန် မိမိတို့မှ တိုက်တွန်း တောင်းဆိုသည်။ အာဆီယံ ခေါင်းဆောင်များမှ မြန်မာပြည်သူများ၏ ရည်မှန်းချက်များနှင့် စိတ်ဆန္ဒကို နားထောင်ပြီး အလေးအနက်ထား ထည့်သွင်းစဥ်းစားလုပ်ဆောင်ရန် မိမိတို့မှ တိုက်တွန်းတောင်းဆိုသည်။ ဒီမိုကရေစီနှင့် တရားမျှတမှု ကာကွယ်ရာတွင် ၎င်းတို့၏ အသက်များကို စတေးထားသော မြန်မာပြည်သူများ၏ အသံများသည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဆိုင်ရာ အာဆီယံအထူးထိပ်သီးအစည်းအဝေး၏ လုပ်ဆောင်မှုပုံစံနှင့် ရလဒ်များ၏ အခြေခံကျောရိုး ဖြစ်ရမည်။..."
Source/publisher: 744 individuals, 402 civil society organisations in Myanmar, 444 in other Southeast Asian nations and globally via "Progressive Voice"
2021-04-23
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Topic: UNLAWFUL KILLINGS
Topic: UNLAWFUL KILLINGS
Description: "Responding to reports that at least 91 people, including a five-year-old boy, were killed by Myanmar security forces across the country on 27 March in its ongoing brutal crackdown on protesters, Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns, said: “This is just the latest example of the military authorities’ determination to kill their way out of nationwide resistance to the coup. These abhorrent killings again show the generals’ brazen disregard for the inadequate pressure applied so far by the international community. “This comes a day after the military announced that further protests would be met with shots to the head. “The cost of international inaction is being counted in bodies, including children shot dead in their homes. Amid the horrifying death toll is a nation of over 50 million held hostage, subjected to arbitrary arrest and sweeping surveillance, living in fear of death and torture. “The people of Myanmar continue to protest, all while they grieve more killings by the hour. The nations that participated in the military’s Armed Forces Day events today in the capital of Nay Pyi Taw, particularly China and Russia, are the same states that have shielded the Tatmadaw from accountability time and time again, supplying them with the means to carry out mass slaughter. “UN Security Council member states’ continued refusal to meaningfully act against this never-ending horror is contemptible.” Background At the time of writing, media reported that the military killed nearly 100 people in Yangon, Mandalay and other towns today, including a five-year-old boy. On 26 March, state television announced protesters were “in danger of getting shot to the head and back”. According to estimates from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) (AAPPB), the minimum death toll since the 1 February coup stood at 328 on 26 March. While a small number of protesters have armed themselves with crude homemade weaponry including molotov cocktails, slingshots and homemade air-pressure rifles, the protests have overall remained peaceful and in the incidents that Amnesty International has examined, lethal force used by the military has been unlawful and excessive. Elsewhere in the country, armed conflict is escalating between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups. Amnesty International has grave concerns about the potential for further mass atrocities as well as the resumption of large-scale conflict and associated mass displacement adding to the country’s existing internally displaced population of over 300,000. Amnesty is calling on the UN Security Council to impose a comprehensive global arms embargo on Myanmar, and refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. The Security Council must also impose targeted financial sanctions against Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (Myanmar’s military chief now in charge of the country) and other military leaders responsible for atrocity crimes against various ethnic minorities across the country, including the Rohingya. The UN Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar has previously called for Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and other senior officials to be investigated and prosecuted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide..."
Source/publisher: "Amnesty International" (UK)
2021-03-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Hundreds of soldiers and police crush an anti-coup defence area in the Mandalay Region town, shooting indiscriminately and arresting locals, including one child
Description: "The regime’s armed forces crushed an anti-coup stronghold in the Mandalay Region town of Myingyan on Sunday in an afternoon attack. The Lanmadaw protest base in the town’s sixth ward was a primary defence area from which civilians had been using homemade guns, such as hunting rifles, to resist attacks by regime troops. Some 200 members of the armed forces assaulted the stronghold from late afternoon until 10pm, according to locals. An estimated six people, including a 13-year-old boy, were arrested after the attacks, a resident said. Local sources said that there were casualties on the side of the armed forces, but that no civilians had died in the assault. Myanmar Now was unable to confirm these details at the time of reporting. A Myingan local told Myanmar Now that troops were “shooting at every person they saw… like in a war zone.” Residents rebuilt the Lanmadaw stronghold before dawn on Monday, but it was destroyed by the troops again at around 10am. Prior to the attack on Lanmadaw on Sunday, soldiers and police also indiscriminately shot at people near Myingan’s municipal market. At least one man was injured and in critical condition after being shot in the head, according to local sources. He was a worker in a rice shop, and was shot by troops as he tried to close the shop’s doors as they passed by the area. At around 4pm on Sunday, there was an explosion in front of the KBZ Bank branch in the town but no one was reported as injured. The cause of the blast is unknown. According to local relief organisations, at least 23 people have been killed in Myingyan by the military and police in crackdowns on demonstrations since the February 1 coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group that has been monitoring the regime’s violence, reported that more than 730 people have been killed nationwide during the same period..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
2021-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: One casualty was reported in Kyaukme, in northern Shan state, while the other was in Sagaing region’s Kani township
Description: "Two anti-coup protesters were killed in northern Myanmar over the weekend as the military continued its push to crush resistance to its rule. One person was reported dead in the northern Shan State town of Kyaukme on Saturday, while another died during a shootout in Sagaing Region’s Kani Township on Sunday. Aung Ko Ko Phyo, a 25-year-old government employee who had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, was shot in the head as he was leaving the monastery where he had temporarily ordained as a monk during the Thingyan holidays. According to local sources, Aung Ko Ko Phyo, who worked for the Department of Electrical Power, was shot near Kyaukme’s Wailuwun monastery at around 9pm on Saturday. “He was on his way to his teacher’s home. He had just left the monkhood because it was the end of Thingyan,” a Kyaukme resident told Myanmar Now. There were numerous witnesses to the incident, the source added, noting that it occurred in the centre of town. A doctor who treated him said he died from a bullet wound and would be cremated on Monday. The troops who killed him removed his body from the scene soon after the shooting. Family members were told they could collect it on Sunday. However, according to a local news agency, his mother was forced to sign a release before she was allowed to claim his body stating that her son had been stabbed to death and that the military was not involved in his killing. Residents of Kyaukme, a trading town located about 175km northeast of Mandalay, have held regular protests against the military since it seized power in a coup on February 1. On Sunday, another man died after the arrest of a local man led to a five-hour confrontation between regime forces and civilians in Sagaing region. The shootout, which occurred on the Monywa-Kalaywa-Yargyi road between Mingin and Kani townships, began at around 1pm, a resident of the area told Myanmar Now. “[Soldiers] fired a shot and came into the village. They arrested a local and that’s when the fighting began,” said a resident of Sal Yar Chaung, the village where the arrest was made. At least 100 soldiers were involved in the clash, according to another villager. No further details were available about the man who died. Residents said that some of the military forces may have been injured by homemade hunting rifles and air guns used by members of a village defence team. Residents say that hundreds of people have fled the area since Sunday, as more army troops pour in and conduct door-to-door raids targeting local civilians. “They came into the village in the morning. There were a lot of them. They were searching every house, so we had to run. It looks like they’re setting up base,” said a resident of Chaung Ma Kyway, one of the affected villages. The shootout on Sunday came days after a similar incident on April 15 left six civilians dead and at least 20 others missing. Many parts of Sagaing region have been tense since late last month amid efforts by the regime to crack down on strongholds of the anti-coup movement. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 730 civilians have been killed by the junta nationwide as of April 17..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
2021-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar troops fired at anti-coup protesters on Wednesday, killing at least five people and wounding several, media said, as activists defied a bloody crackdown and internet blockade by the ruling junta. More than 580 people have been killed, according to an activist group, in the turmoil in Myanmar since a Feb. 1 coup that ended a brief period of civilian-led democracy. Nationwide protests and strikes have persisted since then despite the ruling military’s use of lethal force to quell the opposition. Security forces opened fire on Wednesday on protesters in the northwestern town of Kale as they demanded the restoration of Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government, a resident told Reuters. News outlets cited witnesses saying there were casualties and repeated gunfire. The Mizzima and Irrawaddy news outlets said five people were killed and several wounded. The Kale resident said the information was provided to him by witnesses, who took pictures of five bodies. Reuters could not independently verify the toll. The mostly youth-led anti-coup movement’s ability to organise campaigns and share information via social media and instant messaging has been severely hamstrung by curbs on broadband wireless internet and mobile data services. Fixed-line services, which few in Myanmar have access to, are available. “Myanmar has been subject to a stepwise collapse into the information abyss since February,” Alp Toker, founder of internet blockage observatory NetBlocks told Reuters. “Communications are now severely limited and available only to the few.” With print media also halted, protesters have sought workarounds to get their message across, producing their own A4-sized daily news pamphlets that are shared digitally and printed for distribution among the public. On Tuesday, Dr Sasa, who leads a parallel government of the remnants of Suu Kyi’s administration, said in a statement that its legal counsel would be submitting evidence of military atrocities to different U.N. human rights bodies. Sasa, a medical doctor who uses one name, said lawyers for his Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) had received 180,000 items of evidence and would meet on Wednesday with representatives of an independent investigative mechanism for Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
2021-04-07
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: UN Special Envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, warned on Wednesday that the situation in the country challenges “the stability of the region” and could lead to a “real war”.
Description: "Speaking at a virtual press conference, Ms. Burgener said the news out of Myanmar was shocking and, with the death of 38 people, marked the bloodiest day since the start of the coup on 1 February. More than 1,200 people are under detention and many families do not know where their loved ones are or what condition they are in. Ms. Schraner Burgener said that in discussions with the army, she warned that UN Member States and the Security Council might take “strong measures”, to which they responded: “We are used to sanctions and we survived the sanctions time in the past”. She continued, “I also warned they will go in an isolation”, to which they said, “we have to learn to walk with only few friends”. Chaos continues Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power and detained elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her National League for Democracy (NLD) leadership, who won a November election in a landslide, which the military said was fraudulent. However, the election commission said the vote was fair. The UN envoy said she remained in contact with the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), which represents the elected parliamentarians, and with all regional stakeholders, including leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). She noted that the Secretary-General condemned the coup and urged an end to the violence. Stressing that every tool available was now needed to end the situation, she spelled out that the unity of the international community was essential..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-03-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-03-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "More than 20 rights NGOs have urged the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, which was revamped in January and has been criticized as toothless, to focus on reported rights violations committed during the COVID-19 pandemic by military troops in conflicts in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan states. In a joint statement issued Wednesday, the 22 rights groups contend that the MNHRC is failing to address widespread human rights violations committed amid the coronavirus pandemic, especially in conflict zones in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan states, home to ethnic conflicts of varying intensity. “We haven’t seen any acknowledgement of human rights violations during the pandemic as we had seen before,” said Aung Myo Min, director of human rights education group Equality Myanmar. “The commission has been particularly silent on rights violations related to COVID-19 outbreaks,” he said. “It has also been inactive in providing guidelines for preventing rights violations or acknowledging violations that have occurred.” Aung Myo Min said that a government-imposed internet service ban in nine townships in northern Rakhine and Chin states is a violation of human rights because residents cannot access to information about the coronavirus pandemic and how to protect themselves from it..."
Source/publisher: "Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
2020-08-28
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Karen women’s groups called for more women to be involved in Burma’s federal political and Karen National Union elections. The call was made in a statement issued after the 4th Grassroots Karen Women Seminar held during the last week of October, 2019. The statement called for the abolishment of the 2018 Vacant Fellow and Virgin land law and for widespread land disputes to be settled fairly. The statement said women had to be included and involved in issues such as the enactment and enforcement of the women protection law, measure on refugee issue and support for cross-border aid, the abolishment of the 2008 constitution and amending to be a genuine federal constitution, to immediately stop large scale development projects in ethnic areas before genuine peace is achieved, to find solutions to overcome the deadlock on the current peace process, and to have free, fair and transparent elections with more women involved in the Burma’s 2020 general election and future KNU elections..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: KIC (Karen Information Center)
2019-10-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "As we approach the second anniversary of the Burmese military offensive against the Rohingya on 25th August 2017, in which thousands were killed and 700,000 fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, Burma Campaign UK today called on the British government, EU, USA and other governments to start implementing the recommendations on the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. To date not a single government anywhere in the world has done so. The United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar was created by the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish the facts of what has been taking place in Rakhine State against the Rohingya, and in Kachin and Shan States. In a report published 18th September 2018, it concluded that the Burmese military were responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and made a series of recommendations, including referring the situation in Burma to the International Criminal Court. The Mission also called for a UN mandated global arms embargo, targeted sanctions on military companies, and a review of support for the 2020 election in Burma, if the Rohingya continue to be disenfranchised. To date, rather than take these measures, the few governments which have taken any action have mostly only introduced bans on a small number of military personnel taking holidays in their countries..."
Source/publisher: "Progressive Voice" via Burma Campaign UK
2019-08-22
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "ASEAN member states must impose targeted financial sanctions against all Myanmar Army-owned companies and anyone contributing or benefiting economically from them, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today. “It is shameful that companies in Southeast Asia are providing economic benefit to an army that stands accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. ASEAN has been unable to take any meaningful measures to respond to the Tatmadaw’s international crimes, but this is one step that member states and private business can and must take,” said Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament in Malaysia and APHR Board Chair. “These companies run the risk of contributing to the human rights abuses perpetrated by the military in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states. It is simple; no businesses in the region should enter into any commercial relationship with the Myanmar Army, or any enterprise owned or controlled by them.” On Monday, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (IFFM) on Myanmar issued a report on “The economic interests of the Myanmar military,” highlighting the foreign companies with commercial ties to the Myanmar Army. According to the report, 15 foreign companies have joint ventures and at least 44 have other forms of commercial ties with Myanmar Army businesses. Several of them are domiciled in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. In addition, a firm based in the Philippines sold military equipment to the Myanmar Army well-after the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people..."
Source/publisher: "ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights"
2019-08-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Tatmadaw is responsible for systemic persecution and violence and has compromised post-2015 election democracy and free market transition, says a UN report
Description: "The United Nations Human Rights Council, charged last year with investigating the Myanmar army’s (Tatmadaw) business empire as the biggest single corporate owner amid findings of abuses and war crimes in three states, presented a complex construct of domestic and investor ties to be rolled back and unwound altogether under diplomatic and commercial imperatives. The report focuses on widespread violations in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states, the first two with longstanding independence movements in gem-producing regions, and the last the source of the 850,000 Rohingyas’ escape to Bangladesh after company-supported “cleansing operations” that may fit the universal genocide definition. Senior generals leading the two main Myanmar Economic Holdings (MEHL) and Cooperation (MEC) conglomerates are already under personal international sanctions and asset freezes, and the UN Council’s work, to be debated at the September General Assembly, is designed to reinforce the military’s isolation..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times"
2019-08-14
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "In late December 2018, amid ongoing and heavy armed conflict in Kachin and Shan states, the Burma army declared a four-month unilateral ceasefire in northern and north-eastern Burma. The announcement of the Burma army’s first ever truce was met with cautious optimism by ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) and welcomed as a constructive gesture by many observers and analysts of the peace process. However, despite this overture, the Burma army has continued to engage in armed clashes with EAOs in Kachin and Shan states, while establishing new military camps throughout the region. Indiscriminate gunfire, artillery attacks and aerial bombardments by Burma army soldiers against EAO positions over the initial four-month ceasefire and its renewal have led to villager deaths, injuries, displacement and increasing militarisation by Burma army forces. During this period, ND-Burma organisations documented numerous human rights abuses against civilians, including extrajudicial killings; arbitrary arrest, detention and torture; sexual violence; landmine incidents; and indiscriminate aerial and mortar campaigns in civilian areas by Burma army soldiers, as well as violations against civilians by EAOs. These ongoing offensives by the Burma army in Shan and Kachin states as well as the exclusion of the Arakan Army from the ceasefire despite heavy fighting in Rakhine and Chin states and the urging of their inclusion by its Northern Alliance allies, have marred the ceasefire’s implementation and undermined meaningful dialogue meant to reinvigorate Burma’s floundering peace process. Without a sincere commitment to overtures of peace such as the northern ceasefire or other peace-related activities by the Burma army, there will be no genuine progress towards peace and an end to hostilities in Burma. The Burma army must keep their word for trust building to occur, and this extends to guarantees of non-recurrence of human rights violations towards conflict- affected communities. Without a sincere effort on the part of the Burma army, there will be no trust and no concrete progress in the peace process..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Progressive Voice" via Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma
2019-07-26
Date of entry/update: 2019-08-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 457.61 KB
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Description: "As representatives of the international community, we stand together in expressing deep concern about ongoing and undue restrictions on religious freedom, including those on members of minority ethnic and religious groups, in Burma/Myanmar. We call on authorities to uphold the rights protected by Burma/Myanmar’s own Constitution “to freely profess and practice religion” and pursue accountability for those who have denied others these rights. Many of Burma/Myanmar’s religious and ethnic minorities – including Rohingya and other Muslims, Christians in Kachin and Chin States, and Hindus – face discrimination because of their beliefs. We are appalled by the horrific acts of violence and ethnic cleansing of Rohingya in northern Rakhine State, where Burmese security forces engaged in shocking and brutal violence that caused more than 740,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh and many others to be displaced within Burma/Myanmar. The government continues to commit abuses in Rakhine State and restrict access to citizenship and freedom of movement for the majority of Rohingya who remain in Rakhine State, especially for the more than 127,000 Rohingya in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in central Rakhine State. We are also troubled by the widespread reports of human right violations and abuses committed by the military in Kachin and Shan States, which have contributed to the displacement of more than 106,000 civilians. In other regions, authorities and armed actors have detained religious leaders on account of their faith, unduly restricted travel and religious practice, destroyed religious property and texts, denied or failed to approve permits for religious buildings and renovations, transferred lands away from minority communities without proper and transparent process, and discriminated on the basis of religion and ethnicity in public employment..."
Source/publisher: Progressive Voice via "Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom"
2019-07-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 106.04 KB
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Description: "When the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Myanmar completed a 444-page report last year documenting atrocities committed by security forces against Myanmar’s ethnic Rohingya minority, its experts reported to the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly, the Security Council, and a global audience via the media. Last month, the mission’s Experts took it upon themselves to report to the Rohingya themselves. On a May 5 visit to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, FFM Chairman Marzuki Darusman and Expert member Christopher Sidoti met with scores of refugees – the majority of whom had fled an explosion of violence in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine State two years ago. Among those present were witnesses, survivors and community leaders who had contributed vital testimony to the report. The meeting marked the first time the Experts were able to formally brief them, and the first time the Rohingya were able to pose questions of their own. Most of those present asked about the slow pace of justice and said they were desperate to return home. Trapped inside a vast network of camps that have become the largest refugee settlement in the world (900,000 people), they complained they were being excluded from discussions over their future by governments and humanitarian organizations. One man stood up to ask about some of the greatest challenges the exiled Rohingya now face: access to education, and jobs. “Our concern is what’s going to happen to the next generation,” he said. “If we’re stuck here … what will happen to them?” A few minutes later, a woman stood up to thank the Experts for taking the time to listen. “In Myanmar we never had the chance to speak about our rights and our demands,” she said, “and even here in the camps women especially don’t have that opportunity.” The woman said the FFM’s report had helped inform the world about the “indescribable violence” the Rohingya community had experienced. She added: “we would like to know, how can this type of suffering be stopped from happening again?” A Unique Opportunity Investigative missions established by the Human Rights Council report primarily to UN member States in Geneva and New York. But because the FFM’s mandate was extended an additional year – it expires in September 2019 – the Experts had the opportunity to go back and meet with those they reported on. “For us, this was the most important report back we’ve done,” Sidoti said. “Our report was the product of what they told us. Theirs are the stories we told. So we wanted to ensure that after their cooperation with us we had an opportunity to tell them what we found and what we recommended and what’s going to happen from here.” “I hope very much that as a result of our experience this will become standard for Human Rights Council investigations,” Sidoti said, shortly after FFM staff handed out summarized copies of their 2018 findings. “The mandate given to the investigative teams should require a report, not just to UN mechanisms, but also to the affected communities.” During their visit, the Experts held two meetings in the refugee camps, one exclusively with women. They also met with Rohingya on the Bangladeshi side of a strip of land at Konarpara, which straddles the Myanmar frontier, and heard new testimony from recent arrivals. The trip was part of a 10-day journey through the region that began May 3 and ended with the Experts urging the international community to cut all financial ties to Myanmar’s military, saying its commanders needed to be “isolated” and brought before a credible court to answer charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide..."
Source/publisher: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
2019-06-03
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The massacre of ethnic groups in Myanmar’s Rakhine state hasn’t ended, according to a new report by Amnesty International. Now the group wants the UN Security Council to refer the crimes to the International Criminal Court. The report claims that since January the Myanmar military has launched random attacks killing or wounding people. “The new operations in Rakhine State show an unrepentant, unreformed and unaccountable military terrorising civilians and committing widespread violations as a deliberate tactic,” says Nicholas Bequelin, regional director for East and Southeast Asia at Amnesty International. News of the killings comes just days after a report by Reuters found that the soldiers jailed for the slaughter of 10 Rohingya during a 2017 military crackdown had be set free. The military members served less than one year of a 10-year prison sentence..."
Creator/author: Nicholas Bequelin
Source/publisher: Al Jazeera
2019-06-04
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Myanmar: cooperation with UN needed, UN must put rights up front (UN statement) MARCH 12, 2018 The ICJ today delivered a statement at the UN Human Rights Council calling on Myanmar to cooperate with UN mechanisms and for all UN agencies in the country to make human rights central to their approach. The statement, made in the interactive dialogue with the international Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar, and the Special Rapporteur, read as follows: “The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes the update of the Independent International Fact Finding Mission. In relation to crimes under international law, the ICJ encourages the experts to continue to develop further specific recommendations for securing criminal accountability and providing redress. The ICJ also welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur, and strongly supports the renewal of her mandate and tenure. As a UN Member State, the Government of Myanmar should fully cooperate with all the organs and mechanisms of the UN, in accordance with its obligations under the UN Charter. At this session, the government asked for ‘concrete evidence’ of alleged human rights violations, and committed to taking action against perpetrators, but permission to enter the country is still refused to the Fact Finding Mission, to the Special Rapporteur and to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. To demonstrate a genuine commitment to truth and accountability, the Government must allow them full access to areas of concern, particularly to Rakhine State and to conflict areas in Kachin State and Shan State. Humanitarian actors and independent media must also be immediately allowed full and unimpeded access, particularly to Rakhine State, as recommended by the government’s own Advisory Commission...''
Source/publisher: International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
2018-03-12
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''“The creation of this evidence-gathering mechanism is a welcome concrete step towards justice,” said Matt Pollard, Senior Legal Adviser for the ICJ. “But this is a stopgap measure, effectively creating a prosecutor without a court, that only underscores the urgent need for the Security Council to refer the entire situation to the International Criminal Court, which was created for precisely such circumstances,” he added. The Council’s decision follows on conclusions and recommendations by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFM). The FFM’s 444-page full report described large-scale patterns of grave human rights violations against minority groups in the country, particularly in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States. It also highlighted the need for criminal investigations and prosecutions for crimes under international law, something the FFM concluded that national courts and commissions within Myanmar could not deliver. “National justice institutions within Myanmar lack the independence, capacity and often also the will to hold perpetrators of human rights violations to account, particularly when members of security forces are involved. The latest government-established inquiry in Rakhine State also seems designed to deter and delay justice,” Pollard said...''
Source/publisher: International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
2018-09-27
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''The statement, delivered during an interactive dialogue with the UN International Fact Finding Mission, read as follows: “The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has monitored justice and human rights in Myanmar for more than five decades. The ICJ has an established presence in the country supporting justice actors to protect human rights through the rule of law. With this experience, the ICJ views the Independent International Fact Finding Mission’s conclusions as painting an authoritative picture of the general situation in Myanmar, particularly in its highlighting of the pervasive damage of military impunity upon human rights, rule of law and the nascent democratic process. The rule of law cannot be established, let alone flourish, without accountability for perpetrators of human rights violations and redress for victims and their families. The Fact Finding Mission’s findings of crimes under international law, including crimes against humanity in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states, and the identification of alleged perpetrators, necessitate immediate action...''
Source/publisher: International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
2018-09-18
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "On December 9, the KPSN joined prominent international human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in condemning the conviction and jailing of these three activists. Their statement argues ‘the jailing of these activists is designed to silence criticism of the military,’ but reiterates KPSN’s firm belief that it will not succeed in suppressing the voices of Burma’s ethnic minorities. ‘Ethnic people will stand united for our rights, for peace, and for our freedom.’ KPSN demanded that the NLD use its constitutional power to immediately release all political prisoners and repeal section 500 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes defamation..."
Creator/author: Karen News
Source/publisher: Karen News
2018-12-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Sub-title: Burma Campaign UK Revives ‘Dirty List’ Following Recent Atrocities
Description: "This is the first time Burma Campaign UK has published a ‘Dirty List’ since the country purportedly began its democratic transition in 2011. It comes in response to sustained human rights abuses perpetrated by Burma’s military (the Tatmadaw), which is currently under investigation by the International Criminal Court for ethnic cleansing committed against the Rohingya population in Rakhine State. These atrocities have continued unabated despite the landslide election of Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD in 2015. Mark Farmaner, the Director of Burma Campaign UK, argues “companies which supply equipment to the military or do business with the military, are complicit in the human rights violations committed by them..."
Creator/author: Karen News
Source/publisher: Kane News
2018-12-28
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The women discussed issues for two days and decided to form the new Grassroots Women’s Network. At the conclusion of the seminar the attendees jointly endorsed the following resolutions: We call on the Burma Army to stop their military operations in all ethnic areas. We want the 2008 constitution to be abolished and call on the Burma Government to begin a process whereby a genuine federal constitution can be drawn up. We also call on all stakeholders to stop mega development projects in all ethnic areas until there is genuine peace and a political settlement. There must be no forced repatriation of refugees. We also call on the international community and donors to continue to support humanitarian aid to refugees and IDPs according to international standards until peace is restored in the country..."
Creator/author: The Karen Women’s Organisation
Source/publisher: Karen Women's Organisation
2018-03-30
Date of entry/update: 2018-12-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Sgaw Karen, Burmese ျမန္မာဘာသာ, English
Format : pdf
Size: 336.17 KB
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Description: "(Yangon ? 16 October, 2018) Victims of human rights violations desire government reparations and deserve to see justice for what they have suffered, said the Reparations Working Group initiated by the Network for Human Rights Documentation Burma (ND-Burma) in a new report released today. The report, which is the first ever needs assessment of victims of human rights violations in Burma, offers preliminary recommendations for action that must be taken for victims of human rights violations to rebuild their lives, including justice and accountability for the abuses they have suffered and guarantees of non-recurrence. The new report, You cannot ignore us: Victims of human rights violations from 1970 ? 2017 outline their desires for justice, is based on interviews with 170 individuals in 11 states and regions. The cases present the testimonies of survivors from Burma?s 70-year civil war, former political prisoners, and land grab victims. The majority of interviewees have experienced either the repression of the 1988 student-led protests against the military-run Burmese Socialist Programme Party, the military operation during the 1991 Bogalay crisis in Irrawaddy Region, or the ongoing armed conflict in northern Shan and Kachin states. Victims and their families have suffered a range of human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest, torture, killing, disappearance, rape, forced relocation, and arbitrary taxation..."
Source/publisher: ND-Burma via "Progressive Voice"
2018-10-16
Date of entry/update: 2018-10-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "ND-Burma?s biannual report on the human rights situation has found that intense conflict between the military and ethnic armed organisations has been accompanied by a spike in the number of human rights violations recorded. In Kachin and northern Shan states the military committed human rights violations against civilians during armed conflict, including: indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombing of civilian areas; looting and destruction of property; and using those fleeing conflict as human shields and minesweepers. As part of the military?s ongoing campaign against ethnic armed organisations, soldiers have continued to arbitrarily arrest and torture ethnic nationality civilians accused of supporting insurgents. A 41-year-old man interviewed for the report was tortured for four days by Burma army soldiers after being accused of providing rice to the Kachin Independence Army, telling ND-Burma that soldiers beat him ?as if they were pounding sticky rice to become powder.”..."
Source/publisher: ND-Burma via Progressive Voice
2018-09-11
Date of entry/update: 2018-09-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "We, the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN), welcome the August 27 report of the UN Independent International Fact Finding Mission, which called for six top Burmese military leaders including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to be investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide against Rohingya Muslims, and for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Arakan, Shan and Kachin States. We also welcome the ruling by the ICC last week that it has jurisdiction over crimes committed in Burma, even though Burma is not a member state of the ICC. This is clearly the right decision, and will go down in history as such. Burma Army crimes detailed by the Fact Finding Mission include imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture, rape, and burning of villages. These crimes have all also been committed against the people of Karenni State..."
Source/publisher: Karenni Civil Society Network via "Progressive Voice"
2018-09-16
Date of entry/update: 2018-09-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "(Geneva, September 10, 2018) ? The United Nations Human Rights Council should act to preserve evidence and create a path to justice for victims of atrocities in Myanmar, Human Rights Watch said today in issuing a question and answer document. The Human Rights Council is expected to adopt a resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar as part of its 39th session, which starts on September 10, 2018. The session follows the report in August by the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, which detailed crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide by Myanmar?s security forces in Rakhine State. The council created the panel in March 2017 to document violations by Myanmar?s security forces and non-state armed groups ?with a view to ensuring full accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims.” The report also examined abuses in Shan and Kachin States. ?The Human Rights Council should demonstrate its resolve to bring Myanmar?s generals to justice for their heinous crimes,” said John Fisher, Geneva director at Human Rights Watch. ?The council should underline the UN Security Council?s responsibility to refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court and create an evidence-gathering body to prepare case files for future trials.”..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch via "Progressive Voice"
2018-09-10
Date of entry/update: 2018-09-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "The situation in Myanmar has deteriorated dramatically in the last year, and across the country the military has committed wide-ranging human rights violations. The severity of the situation cannot be understated. Myanmar today increasingly ? and alarmingly ? resembles the Myanmar of old. The civilian government, while holding no formal power over the military, has failed to curb the violence, and instead has often fostered rather than challenged impunity and discrimination. The country risks regressing still further unless there is a major change in course. This not only necessitates a fundamental change from Myanmar?s civilian and military authorities, but also much more effective action from the international community. At the upcoming session, the UN Human Rights Council must send a clear message to Myanmar?s leaders that human rights violations ? both past and ongoing ? will not go unpunished."
Source/publisher: Amnesty International (ASA 16/7915/2018)
2018-02-16
Date of entry/update: 2018-02-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 200.76 KB
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Description: "By now, the main contours of the recent events in Rakhine State, in western Myanmar, are well-known. On August 25, an insurgent group calling itself the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) (previously Harakah al-Yaqin) attacked police posts in northern Rakhine, eliciting a broad counterinsurgency response from the Myanmar military that has displaced over 400,000 Rohingya people into Bangladesh. As in previous cycles of violence, the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, has reportedly targeted civilians in its ?clearance operations,” leading to allegations of killings, rape, and the burning of villages. The UN?s human rights body has referred to this latest outbreak of violence as ?a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” The crisis in, and now, beyond, Rakhine is part of a much longer story of Rohingya oppression and persecution in Myanmar. This history has almost certainly contributed to the growth of the ARSA insurgency. In contrast to its own claims and those of the Myanmar government and media, ARSA comes across as a poor, small, and desperate movement, staging its attacks in a haphazard manner with homemade weapons like knives, swords, and sticks. The Myanmar government and Burmese media, however, have painted ARSA— and in many ways, Rohingya people more broadly— as part of global Islamist networks. In government communications, ?extremist Bengali terrorists” is the favored term for the military?s current foe in Rakhine. Notably, the current crisis is unfolding under the government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She is Myanmar?s long-time opposition leader, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD). The NLD swept into power in the country?s nationwide elections of late 2015, the first open national elections in generations..."
Creator/author: Soe Lin Aung
Source/publisher: TEACIRCLEOXFORD
2017-09-27
Date of entry/update: 2018-01-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra?ad al-Hussein announced on December 20, 2017 that he wouldn?t be seeking a second mandate, due to the ?appalling climate for advocacy” in the current geopolitical system. This comes as a worrying warning regarding the inability of the UN system to respond to multiplying conflicts across the globe, from Syria to Yemen, and from Myanmar to Iraq, with acts amounting to crimes against humanity. His nomination in 2014— which was unanimously approved by all 193 member states of the UN General Assembly— was at the time perceived as a positive sign, showing a political will to strengthen human rights within the UN system. The former professional diplomat, who has acquired a strong reputation as a fierce defender of human rights, never shied away from speaking truth even to the most powerful states within the UN. He was especially vocal in his criticism of Russian support to the Syrian government, and regularly denounced the Trump administration?s faux pas, from the travel bans against citizens from Muslim majority countries to the administration?s reaction to the demonstrations organized by white supremacists in Virginia..."
Creator/author: Morgane Dussud
Source/publisher: Teacircleoxford
2018-01-05
Date of entry/update: 2018-01-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "ND-Burma?s update (English Burmese) has found that grave human rights violations such as killings and torture are ongoing in conflict areas. Sadly, impunity for abuses continues to be the norm: all 24 cases recorded over the period January ? June 2017 remain uninvestigated and unpunished. Some of the key findings include: ND-Burma recorded 24 human rights violations over the period January ? June 2017. 23 of these violations were recorded in Shan State and one in Kachin State. There were a total of 76 victims. The most common human rights violation was torture, with 14 cases recorded. The second was killing, with 6 cases recorded. 17 out of 24 human rights violations were committed by government security forces. Three were committed by ethnic armed organizations and four by unknown perpetrators. Impunity for human rights violations continues to be the norm. None of the perpetrators in the 24 cases in our update have faced any formal justice mechanisms for their actions..."
Source/publisher: ND-Burma
2017-08-15
Date of entry/update: 2017-08-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 1.98 MB 2.33 MB
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Description: Executive Summary: *2016 has seen a dramatic increase in the number of human rights violations with 154 being recorded over the course of the year. This is almost double the number of Human rights violations recorded throughout 2015 (84 ). *The most common human rights violation continues to be torture, with 67 cases recorded in 2016. There has also been a large increase in the number of killings, with 28 cases recorded, compared to 11 in 2015. *The large increase in human rights violations can be ascribed to an escalation in conflict in northern Shan, Kachin and Rakhine states in Burma/Myanmar. *More than half of human rights violations took place in Shan State ? a region that makes up just over 10% of Burma/Myanmar?s population. *A large number of human rights violations recorded have been committed by Burma/Myanmar government forces, namely the military, BGF, militia and police, with the rest being committed by EAOs. *The number of political prisoners in jail and awaiting trial has significantly decreased since 2015. However, the government?s extensive use of Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law has begun to push the numbers up again. *Under the 2008 Constitution, the army retains a firm grip on state power, complete autonomy over its own affairs and legal immunity. This has allowed government forces to continue to commit human rights violations under the NLD-led government. *Two notable exceptions are the sentencing of seven Burma/Myanmar army soldiers for killing civilians in Shan state and the sentencing of a Burma/ Myanmar army soldier for killing a Kachin student. ND-Burma believes such cases show there are increasing opportunities to seek justice for victims of human rights violations.
Source/publisher: ND-Burma
2017-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2017-02-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 299.44 KB 8.06 MB
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Description: "The year 2015 will be remembered as a momentous year for Burma/Myanmar as the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, clinched an emphatic victory in the 8 November polls. However, the main challenges that impede a full and genuine democratic transition remain. Impunity remains deeply entrenched in the key institutions and structures of governance and the Burma/Myanmar Army- the main perpetrator of pervasive human rights violations and abuses in the country for decades- remain untouched and still wield far-reaching powers despite the bruising electoral loss by the Army backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). No amount of optimism or plaudits can hide or gloss over the gross human rights situation that has admittedly worsened this past year, particularly in ethnic areas. Despite the on-going peace process, which includes the signing of the non-inclusive ?Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement? (NCA) in October 2015, and the Union Peace Conference (UPC) in January 2016, the Burma/Myanmar Army continues to commit gross human rights violations that may constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the routine use of torture, sexual violence and extra-judicial killings, in both ceasefire and non-ceasefire areas. The escalation of conflict, particularly around the NCA signing and General Elections, now includes the regular use of aerial firepower and has led to a continuation of forced displacement of civilians in ethnic minority areas."
Source/publisher: Burma Partnership, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
2016-03-02
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 851.78 KB
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Description: Conclusions: "The above findings demonstrate some of the human rights violations that continue to be perpetrated by the Government of Burma against their own people. Despite the changes that have happened in the country since the quasi-civilian government took power, the research carried out by ND-Burma members demonstrates how little actual progress has been made that impacts civilians. The experiences recorded by ND-Burma field researchers shows the continuing suffering these grave violations of people?s basic rights have caused. The following recommendations are based on the combined experiences of NDBurma members, their researchers and the people who discussed their experiences. These recommendations seek to outline ways in which the Government of Burma can begin to make amends for the crimes of the past and account for the harm caused throughout years of brutal military rule. The experiences of the people of Burma at the hands of government forces are essential to formulating effective and appropriate measures of reparations..."
Source/publisher: ND-Burma
2015-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-06-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 4.67 MB
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Description: Introduction: "Throughout the period from July to December 2014, ND-Burma documented 107 human rights violations across Burma. The violations documented during these six months occurred in areas of armed conflict but also in areas covered by ceasefires. Each violation is a specific incident, but it may involve any number of victims, from one victim of killing, to forced labor involving many victims, to the forced displacement of an entire village. ND-Burma?s findings demonstrate that, despite progress in reaching ceasefire agreements with non-state armed groups, the government has made little progress protecting the human rights of its citizens. Furthermore, continued arrests of human rights defenders demonstrate that the government is not serious about working with civil society to protect human rights. During this period, people in Burma, especially activists, communities, and victim?s families have dared to raise the issue and demand the truth of what actually happened to their loved ones. For instance Ko Aung Kyaw Naing, also known as Ko Par Gyi, was a freelance journalist who went missing while he was in Mon State. In October, the Burma Army announced that Ko Par Gyi was fatally shot when he attempted to grab a weapon and flee while being investigated in military custody.1 Later Ma Thandar, an activist and wife of Ko Par Gyi, tried to demand that the Burma Army state the truth regarding what happened to Ko Par Gyi. Finally the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) agreed to investigate the case, however the commission?s report was unsatisfactory to the victim?s family and activists who had seen Ko Par Gyi?s body and believed that he was killed following brutal torture."
Source/publisher: Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND - Burma)
2014-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-04-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.85 MB
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Description: "Wartime Abuses in Kachin State, ?Ethnic Cleansing? in Rakhine State, Tens of Thousands Denied Access to Aid ...The United Nations General Assembly should adopt a strong and comprehensive resolution on the situation of human rights in Myanmar to promote much-needed human rights reform in the country, Fortify Rights said today. When it considers a forthcoming resolution on Myanmar, the UN General Assembly should condemn the wide range of ongoing human rights violations by the government and armed forces of Myanmar and provide clear benchmarks for measurable improvement, including establishing the presence of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Myanmar. ?Positive political changes have come to Myanmar but the human rights situation is deeply concerning,? said Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights. ?The pending resolution should acknowledge Myanmar?s political progress but shouldn?t gloss over the immense amount of work that remains to be done.?..."
Source/publisher: Fortify Rights
2013-10-09
Date of entry/update: 2014-05-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: This is an article from Journal of the British Section of Amnesty International No. 48 Dec/Jun 1990/1... Myanmar, once known as a green and gentle land of golden pagodas, is now a country of blood and terror...
Source/publisher: The British Section of Amnesty International
1991-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 123.72 KB
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Description: Extract on Burma/Myanmar
Source/publisher: United Kingdom Foreign & Commonwealth Office
2012-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 82.25 KB
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Description: While Aung San Suu Kyi?s freedom marks a step towards normality, the fallout from ethnic conflict remains
Creator/author: Donna Jean Guest
Source/publisher: Al Jazeera
2012-06-22
Date of entry/update: 2012-06-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Burma?s people go to the polls on May 27, 1990, in the first election to be held in the country in thirty years. However, human rights violations are so widespread and restrictions on political expression so severe as to render impossible a free and fair election. An Asia Watch mission to Burma and Thailand in April 1990 confirmed that the Burmese military authorities continue to engage in a consistent pattern of gross human rights abuses both in the interior and along the border. In Rangoon and other major cities, political dissidents have been jailed or placed under house arrest, torture of political detainees is widespread, martial law remains in effect throughout most of the country, criticism of the military is banned, and hundreds of thousands have been forcibly relocated to outlying areas lacking basic amenities. In its recent offensive against ethnic minority guerrilla forces on the Thai border, the Burmese army has indiscriminately killed or wounded hundreds of civilians and looted or burned homes and private property. Thousands of civilians have been compelled to serve as porters for the army. As such, they are brutally mistreated and are forced to carry supplies or to serve as human mine-sweepers. Porters have been shot or beaten for trying to escape, and those who become exhausted or ill are routinely left to die..."
Creator/author: James A. Goldston
Source/publisher: Asia Watch (A Committee of Human Rights Watch)
1990-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-06-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 504.66 KB
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Description: "Amid myriad changes taking place in Myanmar, Amnesty International concluded its first official visit to the country in nearly a decade on May 23. Our two-week mission consisted of a diverse collection of 49 meetings with government officials, political parties and their members of parliament; members of the diplomatic community; lawyers and other civil society actors; ethnic minority activists; former political prisoners as well as the families of current political prisoners; and a representative of the National Human Rights Commission. The mission provided a preliminary opportunity to assess Myanmar?s current human-rights situation, which Amnesty International has monitored for the past 25 years. What has improved since the new government came into power a little more than a year ago? What human rights violations have persisted or even worsened? And what new human-rights challenges have the country?s recent reform efforts engendered or brought to the fore?...Our delegation was sometimes reminded that "Rome wasn?t built in a day". To the extent that the only thing less desirable than a lack of legal reform is legal reform poorly done, this reminder was well-received. The same is true to varying degrees on matters of accountability; the full realization of social, economic, and cultural rights; and the determination of who is a political prisoner and who is not. Capacity is limited and the development of certain "human-rights infrastructure" is advisable before particular changes are made. But insofar as prisoners of conscience can be readily identified and set free, and as attacks against civilians can stop in response to clear orders, it takes less than a day to undertake some important human-rights changes. Myanmar should continue to improve its human-rights record accordingly."
Creator/author: Benjamin Zawacki, Donna Jean Guest
Source/publisher: Amnesty International via "Asia Times Online"
2012-05-25
Date of entry/update: 2012-05-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 68.58 KB
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Description: "The periodic report of the Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND-Burma) documents the human rights situation in Burma from March 2011 - March 2012 the period marking President Thein Sein and his government being in office. The ND-Burma periodic report provides up-to-date information on human rights violations (HRVs) and highlights pressing issues and trends within the country. The information gathered covers 16 categories of human rights violations (HRV?s), documented in all 14 states and regions across Burma...There is still a serious concern for the human rights situation in Burma. The ongoing civil war in ethnic areas has directly resulted in killings, land confiscation, forced labour, child soldiers, forced relocation, torture and ill treatment. Fighting in Karen State intensified after the 2010 election, until a ceasefire agreement was reached between the KNU and the government?s peace negotiation team in January 2012. The Burmese armed forces continue to launch offensives against the Shan State Army (south) and the Shan State Army (North) even though a ceasefire agreement was signed more than four months ago. Finally, a seventeen year ceasefire agreement between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burmese armed forces fell apart when the military attacked a strategic KIA post on June 9 2011, despite President Thein Sein ordering the army to haft offensives in Kachin State..."
Source/publisher: Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND-Burma)
2012-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-05-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 382.07 KB 1.59 MB
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Description: This report describes some of the human rights violations which have taken place in Myanmar between May and September 1990, including the arrest of political activists and ill-treatment of political prisoners. It reports the continuing detention of members and leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD), namely: Aung San Suu Kyi, Tin U, Kyi Maung, Chit Kaing, Ohn Kyaing, Thein Dan, Ye Myint Aung, Sein Kla Aung, Kyi Hla, Sein Hlaing, Myo Myint Nyein, and Nyan Paw. Three leaders of the Democratic Party for a New Society have also been arrested: Kyi Win, Ye Naing, Ngwe Oo.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International (ASA 16/28/90)
1990-11-01
Date of entry/update: 2012-05-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 9.53 KB
Local URL:
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Description: Profile of Myanmar... The iron road... War on the borders... Silencing the democracy movement... Prisoner of conscience... Cultural activists imprisoned... Prisoner of conscience... The vocabulary of torture... ?See how we deal with insurgents?... Riding a motor-cycle... ?Nothing but an ambush?... ?Nothing but an ambush?... The soldiers gave no warning... Laws restricting basic rights... Martial law summary justice... Recommendations... Information from Amnesty International...
Source/publisher: Amnesty International (ASA 16/09/90)
1990-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-03-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.91 MB
Local URL:
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Description: "Amnesty International?s written statement to the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council (27 February ? 23 March 2012) Over the past year, Myanmar?s human rights situation has improved notably in some respects but has significantly worsened in others. Freedoms of assembly and expression remain restricted; there still are hundreds of political prisoners and many prisoners of conscience. In several ethnic minority areas the army continues to commit violations of international human rights and humanitarian law against civilians, including acts that may constitute crimes against humanity or war crimes..."
Source/publisher: Amnesty International
2012-02-13
Date of entry/update: 2012-02-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 108.23 KB
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Description: "This briefing document summarises research conducted by KHRG regarding the service history of Tatmadaw Brigadier General Myint Naung, and documented incidents of abuse reported to have been perpetrated by units Brigadier General Myint Naung may have commanded as Operation Commander of Tatmadaw Military Operation Command (MOC) #4. This information raises serious questions and concerns regarding the background of the current Myanmar Ambassador U Myint Naung. The South Africa government should therefore seek to obtain further information from the Myanmar government that can clarify the Ambassador?s service record in the Tatmadaw, and follow up with inquiries regarding any specific incidents of serious abuse perpetrated by units under his command. Such steps are within South Africa?s rights under international law governing diplomatic relations, and consistent with all states? duty under customary international humanitarian law to ensure respect for international humanitarian law erga omnes. KHRG believes that such an inquiry would contribute to raising opportunity costs for potential perpetrators of serious abuse in Burma as well as supporting domestic reforms, potentially precipitating positive changes in abusive Tatmadaw practices that could ultimately reduce the frequency with which certain abuses occur, while supporting the strategies used by local communities in Burma to claim their human rights on a day-to-day basis. This document was compiled by KHRG in response to queries by journalists and advocacy organisations in South Africa regarding the background of the Myanmar Ambassador."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2011-11-25
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Since a new quasi-parliamentary government led by former army officers began work in Burma (Myanmar) earlier this year, some observers have argued that the government is showing a commitment to bring about, albeit cautiously, reforms that will result in an overall improvement in human rights conditions. The question remains, though, as to whether the new government constitutes the beginning of a real shift from the blinkered despotism of its predecessors to a new form of government, or simply to a type of semi-enlightened and market-oriented despotism, the sort of which has been more common in Asia than the type of outright military domination experienced by Burma for most of the last half-century. "
Source/publisher: Asian Human Rights Commission
2011-12-10
Date of entry/update: 2011-12-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 457.43 KB
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Description: BURMA: Government by confusion & the un-rule of law: "The first elections held in Burma for two decades on 7 November 2010 ended as most people thought they would, with the military party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, taking a vast majority in the national parliament through rigged balloting. Almost a week later, after days of disgruntlement and debate about the outcome of the elections, the military regime released the leader of the National League for Democracy, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, from house arrest. Although Aung San Suu Kyi?s release was expected, since November 13 was the deadline on the period of imprisonment imposed through a fraudulent criminal case against her in 2009, it perplexed many foreign observers, who asked questions about why the military would acquiesce to her release at a time that it may provoke and create unnecessary problems during the planned transition from full-frontal army dictatorship to authoritarian clique in civilian garb. What most of these persons have not yet understood about the nature of the state in Burma is that government by confusion is an operating principle. For them, as military strategists and planners who think in terms of threats and enemies, the most effective strategies and plans are those where both outside observers and as many people in the domestic population as possible are left uncertain about what has happened and why, what may or may not happen next, and what it all means. This principle of government by confusion underpins the un-rule of law in Burma to which the Asian Human Rights Commission has pointed, described and analyzed through careful study of hundreds of cases and attendant information over the last few years. Whereas the rule of law depends upon a minimum degree of certainty by which citizens can organize their lives, the un-rule of law depends upon uncertainty. Whereas rule of law depends upon consistency in how state institutions and their personnel operate, the un-rule of law depends upon arbitrariness. Whereas rule of law is intimately connected to the protection of human rights, the un-rule of law is associated with the denial of rights, and with the absence of norms upon which rights can even by nominally established. In this annual report, the AHRC points more explicitly to the links between this operating principle and the un-rule of law..."
Source/publisher: Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC-SPR-002-2010)
2010-12-09
Date of entry/update: 2011-01-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Events of 1996" ..... More than 1,000 people involved in opposition political activities, including 68 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison throughout the year. Almost 2,000 people were arrested for political reasons, including at least 23 prisoners of conscience. Although most were released, 45 were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after unfair trials and 175 were still detained without charge or trial at the end of the year. Political prisoners were ill-treated and held in conditions that amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Members of ethnic minorities continued to suffer human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions and ill-treatment during forced labour and portering, and forcible relocations. Seven people were sentenced to death.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International USA
1997-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: (This report covers the period January-December 1997) ..... More than 1,200 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including 89 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison throughout the year. Hundreds of people were arrested for political reasons; although most were released, 31 – five of them prisoners of conscience – were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after unfair trials. Political prisoners were ill-treated and held in conditions that amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Members of ethnic minorities continued to suffer human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions and ill-treatment during forced labour and portering, and forcible relocations. Two people were sentenced to death.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International
1998-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: This report covers the period January to December 1998. ..... More than 1,200 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including 89 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison throughout the year. Hundreds of people were arrested for political reasons. Political prisoners were tortured and ill-treated, and held in conditions that amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Members of ethnic minorities continued to suffer human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, torture, ill-treatment during forced portering, and other forms of forced labour and forcible relocations. Six political prisoners were sentenced to death. No executions were known to have taken place.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International
1999-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Hundreds of people, including more than 200 members of political parties and young activists, were arrested for political reasons. Ten others were known to have been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after unfair trials. At least 1,500 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including more than 100 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were placed under de facto house arrest after being prevented by the military from travelling outside Yangon to visit other NLD members. Prison conditions constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and torture of political prisoners was reported. The military continued to seize ethnic minority civilians for forced labour duties and to kill members of ethnic minorities during counter-insurgency operations in the Shan, Kayah, and Kayin states. Five people were sentenced to death in 2000 for drug trafficking.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR)
2001-06-01
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: General Assembly, Fifty-first session. The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of the General Assembly the interim report on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, prepared by Judge Rajsoomer Lallah, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, in accordance with Commission resolution 1996/80 of 23 April 1996.
Creator/author: Mr. Rajsoomer Lallah
Source/publisher: United Nations (A/51/466)
1996-11-08
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Special issue of the magazine. Several articles
Source/publisher: New Internationalist
1996-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Testimony of Karen Parker J.D. before the Foreign Operations Sub-Committee Senate Appropriations Committee. " The three features of the situation of human rights in Burma described in my 1993 statement are still valid today: (1) the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) regime is illegitimate yet continues in power; (2) the regime continues to be particularly brutal; and (3) armed conflict continues, primarily involving the ethnic nationalities who have been fighting against the SLORC regime and its predecessor governments. Violations of armed conflict law, as set out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and all customary humanitarian law, continue to be violated. Thus, the SLORC regime continues to commit grave war crimes..." Keywords: Karen, Karenni, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, International law, violations of human rights law, violations of humanitarian law, armed conflict, Laws of War, United States Policy.
Creator/author: Karen Parker
Source/publisher: The Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law
1995-07-25
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Testimony of Karen Parker J. D. before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Asian and Pacific Affairs. Main headings: Illegitimacy of SLORC; G ross violatoins of human rights; Armed Conflict; The NDF/DAB-SLORC War; The Karenni-SLORC War; U.S. Policy. "I am pleased to have this opportunity to provide the Sub- Committee with information regarding Burma and my views on what United States policy should be towards that country... This statement will set out the situation in Burma from the point of view of international law norms. It will also present actions taken at the United Nations and its human rights bodies, including a review of Aung San Suu Kyi?s case at the Working Group. It will conclude with recommendations regarding United States policy. There are three salient features of the situation of human rights in Burma: (1) the current regime is illegitimate; (2) the regime is particularly brutal; and (3) there is wide scale armed conflict, primarily involving the ethnic nationalities who have been fighting against the SLORC regime and its predecessor governments..."
Creator/author: Karen Parker
Source/publisher: The Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law
1993-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Events of 1999" .... Scores of people were arrested for political reasons and 200 people, some of them prisoners of conscience, were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. More than 1,200 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including 89 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced in May that it had begun to visit prisons and other places of detention. The military continued to seize ethnic minority civilians for forced labour duties and to kill members of ethnic minorities not taking an active part in hostilities, during counter-insurgency operations, particularly in the Kayin State. Forcible relocation continued to be reported in the Kayin State, and the effects of massive forcible relocation programs in previous years in the Kayah and Shan States continued to be felt as civilians were still deprived of their land and livelihood and subjected to forced labour and detention by the military.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International USA
2000-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Events of 2001" ...... In January the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Myanmar announced that a confidential dialogue had been taking place since October 2000 between the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). The dialogue was believed to have continued for most of 2001. However, Aung San Suu Kyi remained under de facto house arrest, although international delegations were permitted to visit her. Some 1,600 political prisoners arrested in previous years remained in prison. Almost 220 people were released. Three people were sentenced to death for drug trafficking. Extrajudicial executions and forced labour continued to be reported in the ethnic minority states, particularly Shan and Kayin states.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR)
2002-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Covering events from January - December 2000 ..... Hundreds of people, including more than 200 members of political parties and young activists, were arrested for political reasons. Ten others were known to have been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after unfair trials. At least 1,500 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including more than 100 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were placed under de facto house arrest after being prevented by the military from travelling outside Yangon to visit other NLD members. Prison conditions constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and torture of political prisoners was reported. The military continued to seize ethnic minority civilians for forced labour duties and to kill members of ethnic minorities during counter-insurgency operations in the Shan, Kayah, and Kayin states. Five people were sentenced to death in 2000 for drug trafficking.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International USA
2001-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Events of 2002 "...Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was released from de facto house arrest in May. There was no reported progress in confidential talks about the future of the country, begun in October 2000, between the ruling military government – the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) – and Aung San Suu Kyi. However, over 300 political prisoners were released during the year, bringing the total of those released since January 2001 to over 500. Some 1,300 political prisoners arrested in previous years remained in prison and some 50 people were arrested for political reasons, despite the SPDC?s stated commitment to release political prisoners as part of their undertaking to work with the NLD. Extrajudicial executions and forced labour continued to be reported in most of the seven ethnic minority states, particularly the Shan and Kayin states. Civilians continued to be the victims of human rights violations in the context of the SPDC?s counter-insurgency tactics in parts of the Shan and Kayin states..."
Source/publisher: Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR)
2003-05-28
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Berichtszeitraum 1. Januar bis 31. Dezember 2001
Source/publisher: ai Deutschland
2002-05-28
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Description: Covering events from January - December 2004... "In October the Prime Minister was placed under house arrest and replaced by another army general. Despite the announcement of the release of large numbers of prisoners in November, more than 1,300 political prisoners remained in prison, and arrests and imprisonment for peaceful political opposition activities continued. The army continued to commit serious human rights violations against ethnic minority civilians during counter-insurgency operations in the Mon, Shan and Kayin States, and in Tanintharyi Division. Restrictions on freedom of movement in states with predominantly ethnic minority populations continued to impede farming, trade and employment. This particularly impacted on the Rohingyas in Rakhine State. Ethnic minority civilians living in all these areas continued to be subjected to forced labour by the military..."
Source/publisher: Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR)
2005-05-25
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Summary; 1. Introduction; 2. Itinerary; 3. Personnel; 4. Aid; 5. Religious Persecution; 6. Cultural Genocide; 7. Forced Labour; 8. Economic oppression; 9. Political oppression and torture of political detainees; 10. Health Care; 11. The Kachin; 12. Refugees in India; 13. The Chin Diaspora; 14. Conclusions and Recommendations; 15. Bibliography... APPENDIX: Testimony of a Defector.
Source/publisher: Christian Solidarity Worldwide
2004-03-19
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Events of 2004..."Burma remains one of the most repressive countries in Asia, despite promises for political reform and national reconciliation by its authoritarian military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The SPDC restricts the basic rights and freedoms of all Burmese. It continues to attack and harass democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, still under house arrest at this writing, and the political movement she represents. It also continues to use internationally outlawed tactics in ongoing conflicts with ethnic minority rebel groups. Burma has more child soldiers than any other country in the world, and its forces have used extrajudicial execution, rape, torture, forced relocation of villages, and forced labor in campaigns against rebel groups. Ethnic minority forces have also committed abuses, though not on the scale committed by government forces. The abrupt removal of Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt, viewed as a relative moderate, on October 19, 2004, has reinforced hardline elements of the SPDC. Khin Nyunt?s removal damaged immediate prospects for a ceasefire in the decades-old struggle with the Karen ethnic minority and has been followed by increasingly hostile rhetoric from SPDC leaders directed at Suu Kyi and democracy activists. Thousands of Burmese citizens, most of them from the embattled ethnic minorities, have fled to neighboring countries, in particular Thailand, where they face difficult circumstances, or live precariously as internally displaced people..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2005-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
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Description: Press statement at end of AI?s first visit to Burma. "After its first ever visit to Myanmar, Amnesty International called upon the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC, Myanmar?s military government), to release immediately and unconditionally all prisoners of conscience still held throughout the country. "The continued imprisonment of between 1200 - 1300 political prisoners, many of whom we believe are prisoners of conscience, held solely for their peaceful political activities, was one of the key issues discussed with the local authorities," Amnesty International said during a press conference held today in Bangkok, Thailand. The organization, which had been requesting access to Myanmar since 1988, welcomed the efforts made by the government officials in Myanmar to accommodate the delegation?s requests and the frank discussions it held with Ministers, police and prison officials...."
Creator/author: Publisher, translator of Japanese version: Burma Coordination Team of Amnesty International - Japan
Source/publisher: Amnesty International (ASA 16/007/2003)
2003-02-10
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Francais
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Description: "The violent suppression by the Myanmar authorities of peaceful demonstrations in 66 cities country-wide from mid-August through September 2007 provoked international condemnation. Amnesty International continues to document serious human rights violations. The situation has not returned to normal. Based on numerous first-hand accounts from victims and eye-witnesses, this briefing paper outlines some key human rights abuses committed since the start of the crackdown."
Source/publisher: Amnesty International (ASA 16/037/2007)
2007-11-09
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Francais, Espanol
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Description: "...In February and March 2002 Amnesty International interviewed some 100 migrants from Myanmar at seven different locations in Thailand. They were from a variety of ethnic groups, including the Shan; Lahu; Palaung; Akha; Mon; Po and Sgaw Karen; Rakhine; and Tavoyan ethnic minorities, and the majority Bamar (Burman) group. They originally came from the Mon, Kayin, Shan, and Rakhine States, and Bago, Yangon and Tanintharyi Divisions.(1) What follows below is a summary of human rights violations in some parts of eastern Myanmar during the last 18 months which migrants reported to Amnesty International. One section of the report also examines several cases of abuses of civilians by armed opposition groups fighting against the Myanmar military. Finally, this document describes various aspects of a Burmese migrant worker?s life in Thailand..." ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced labour, refugees, land confiscation, forced relocation, forced removal, forced resettlement, forced displacement, internal displacement, IDP, extortion, torture, extrajudicial killings, forced conscription, child soldiers, porters, forced portering, house destruction, eviction, Shan State, Wa, USWA, Wa resettlement, Tenasserim, abuses by armed opposition groups.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International
2002-07-17
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Testimony of Chris Beyrer MD, MPH Professor of Epidemiology and International Health Director, Center for Public Health and Human Rights Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health...
Source/publisher: U. S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
2009-10-21
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...The human rights situation in Burma continued its downward trend in 2009. Daily life in Burma continues to be characterised by the denial of almost all fundamental rights, and a pervasive military and security presence. Expressions of opposition to the regime often result in arrest and extended detention without trial. Despite international pressure, the regime made no attempt in 2009 to engage in substantive political dialogue with the democratic opposition and ethnic groups. Both were disenfranchised by the National Convention process and flawed referendum in May 2008 on the new Constitution, which is designed to ensure continued military control of the country. The key event in Burma in 2010 will be elections, based on the Constitution, that form the final step in the military authorities? seven-step ?Roadmap? towards ?disciplined democracy?. Opposition and ethnic groups now have to decide whether to participate in a skewed electoral process, which offers them little prospect of any real power, or to stand aside. We expect further human rights abuses in 2010 as the regime maintains a tight grip on internal security in the months leading up to elections..."
Source/publisher: United Kingdom Foreign & Commonwealth Office
2010-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-04-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.01 MB
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Description: "...Planning this year to hold its first national and local elections since 1990, the Myanmar government has prepared itself in many ways, including, as Amnesty International?s findings indicate, by repressing ethnic minority political opponents and activists. While these human rights violations certainly preceded the February 2008 announcement that elections would be held—as the late 2007 crackdown on the Saffron Revolution showed—the coming elections have given the government new resolve in repressing political dissent in all of Myanmar?s seven ethnic minority states and among its ethnic minority peoples. This repression has included arbitrary arrests and detention; torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; unfair trials; rape; extrajudicial killings; forced labour; violations of freedom of expression, assembly, association, and religion; intimidation and harassment; and discrimination. This repression of political opponents and activists has also run completely contrary to the Myanmar government?s repeated claims since 2004, to be embarking and continuing on a ‘Roadmap to Democracy? and increasing the level of political participation in the country. With almost no exception, authorities and officials have enjoyed impunity for their violations. The repression of political opponents and activists has resulted in the violation of ethnic minorities? human rights, and the violation of international human rights and humanitarian law: Myanmar is bound by its legal obligations under the Conventions on the Rights of the Child and on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the 1949 Geneva Conventions; and customary international law. It is also obliged, as a member of the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to uphold the provisions of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ASEAN Charter..."
Source/publisher: Amnesty International
2010-02-16
Date of entry/update: 2010-02-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...Below are some excerpts from my interviews with inmates at Rangoon zoo. A nervous elephant, the only tusker in the zoo willing to talk to me, shivered as he remembered an incident on September 27, 2007:..."
Creator/author: Satya Sagar
Source/publisher: http://www2.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=16449&page=1
2009-08-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-12-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Two years ago the world watched in dismay as Myanmar?s military junta brutally crushed the so-called Saffron Revolution. It was the only show of mass opposition to have occurred inside the country in almost 20 years. Filmmaker Hazel Chandler entered the country undercover for People & Power to find out how Myanmar?s people are fairing, and to investigate disturbing claims that the regime may be trying to develop nuclear weapons."
Creator/author: Hazel Chandler
Source/publisher: Al Jazeera (People and Power)
2009-12-23
Date of entry/update: 2009-12-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...Under British Colonial rule, Burma was divided into two zones: the centrally located ‘Ministerial Burma?, which mostly consisted of the Buddhist Burman ethnic group, and the ‘Frontier Areas?, located in the mountainous regions situated along what are recognized today as Burma?s international borders. These Frontier Regions were where most of the ethnic minorities resided. While the British essentially destroyed the local government systems in Ministerial Burma and employed their own systems of administration and government, the area also received some development and investment. On the other hand, while the Frontier Areas retained their systems of governance and some autonomy, their natural resources were exploited by the British and they received little in regard to health, education, economic development, or political representation at the national level.1 Even though Burma has long been free of British rule, this system of exploitation and neglect continues to this day..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Docmentation Unit (HRDU)
2009-11-23
Date of entry/update: 2009-12-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 872.11 KB
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Description: "...SLORC is using the release of Aung San Suu Kyi to divert attention away from what is really happening in Burma right now: resumed and intensified offensives against ethnic peoples, further expansion of the army, intensified repression and clampdowns against people nationwide, and the further collapse of the economy. The human rights situation is rapidly worsening, with rapid increases in forced labour as military porters and servants, forced labour on development and infrastructure projects, extortion which is driving villagers further into destitution, land confiscation for military-run farms operated with forced labour, and other abuses connected with these activities such as killings, torture, rape, arbitrary detention, and abuse against children, women, and the elderly. The rural areas are being systematically targetted for further repression and extortion in order to support cosmetic and superficial "improvements" in urban areas - for example, more urban people are giving money in lieu of forced labour, causing more rural villagers to be taken for forced labour. Urban people are poorer than ever due to spiralling inflation, partly caused by foreign investment. Rural people are being hit the hardest due to spiralling demands for extortion money by military officers. Tens of millions of Kyat per month is stolen from rural villages and sent by officers to their families in the cities; their families can then set up urban businesses, and foreign visitors mistake this for economic improvement and open market reform. SLORC still rigidly controls the economy. Rural villages can no longer pay and are falling apart as people flee to avoid arrest for failure to pay money and crop quotas. Forced labour is increasing exponentially in some areas in hurried attempts to finish infrastructure in preparation for "Visit Myanmar Year 1996"..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG Articles & Papers)
1995-09-05
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...Mr. Chairman, Many dictatorial regimes argue that human rights take second place to economic development, that as long as government figures claim some kind of "economic growth" the world should ignore serious and systematic human rights abuses. [In reality, economic growth is meaningless without an improvement in the lives of the people, and there can be no such improvement where systematic human rights abuses prevail.] Some regimes claiming to create peace and economic stability actually carry out abuses which destroy the economic, social and cultural fabric of the country. For several years the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs has been following the situation in Burma, where the ruling military junta, known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council or SLORC, is such a regime..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG Articles & Papers)
1996-04-14
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "..."Things are getting more difficult every day. Even the Burmese leaders capture each other and put each other in jail. If they can capture and imprison even the people who have authority, then how are the villagers supposed to tolerate them? That?s why the villagers are fleeing from Burma." - Dta La Ku elder (M, 44) from Dooplaya district (Report #98-09) There is no doubt that life is currently becoming worse for the vast majority of people in Burma, in both urban and rural areas. In urban areas, people are plagued by high inflation, rapidly increasing prices for basic commodities such as rice and basic foodstuffs, the tumbling value of the Kyat, wages which are not enough to feed oneself, corruption by all arms of the military and civil service, and the ever-present fear of arbitrary arrest for the slightest act or statement that betrays opposition to the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) junta..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Right Group (KHRG #98-C2)
1998-11-24
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : html
Size: 23.63 KB
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Description: "On July 29th the Karen Human Rights Group released our 300th report. Though this is a milestone for the organisation, we see this as cause for reflection rather than celebration, on how the situation and our work have evolved in the 14 years since our formation in 1992..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Right Group Commentaries (KHRG #2006-C3)
2006-08-01
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Villagers in northern Pa?an District of central Karen State say their livelihoods are under serious threat due to exploitation by SPDC military authorities and by their Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) allies who rule as an SPDC proxy army in much of the region. Villages in the vicinity of the DKBA headquarters are forced to give much of their time and resources to support the headquarters complex, while villages directly under SPDC control face rape, arbitrary detention and threats to keep them compliant with SPDC demands. The SPDC plans to expand Dta Greh (a.k.a. Pain Kyone) village into a town in order to strengthen its administrative control over the area, and is confiscating about half of the village?s productive land without compensation to build infrastructure which includes offices, army camps and a hydroelectric power dam - destroying the livelihoods of close to 100 farming families. Local villagers, who are already struggling to survive under the weight of existing demands, fear further forced labour and extortion as the project continues..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2006-F1)
2006-02-11
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Attacks on villages in Toungoo and other northern Karen districts by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) since late 2005 have led to extensive displacement and some international attention, but little of this has focused on the continuing lives of the villagers involved. In this report KHRG?s Karen researchers in the field describe how these attacks have been affecting local people, and how these people have responded. The SPDC?s forced relocation, village destruction, shoot-on-sight orders and blockades on the movement of food and medicines have killed many and created pervasive suffering, but the villagers? continued refusal to submit to SPDC authority has caused the military to fail in its objective of bringing the entire civilian population under direct control. This is a struggle which SPDC forces cannot win, but they may never stop trying..."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2006-F8)
2006-08-15
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Witnesses Panel: The Honorable Kurt M. Campbell Assistant Secretary Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs U.S. Department of State... Mr. Tom Malinowski Advocacy Director Human Rights Watch... Chris Beyrer, M.D., MPH Professor of Epidemiology, International Health, and Health, Behavior, and Society Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health... Mr. Aung Din Executive Director U.S. Campaign for Burma
Source/publisher: U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
2009-10-21
Date of entry/update: 2009-10-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Any hope that the July 1995 release of opposition leader and Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi might be a sign of human rights reforms by the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) government were destroyed during 1996 as political arrests and repression dramatically increased and forced labor, forced relocations, and arbitrary arrests continued to be the daily reality for millions of ordinary Burmese. The turn for the worse received little censure from Burma's neighbors, who instead took the first step towards granting the country full membership in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and welcomed SLORC as a member of the Asian Regional Forum, a security body.
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
1997-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-01-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: There were signs of a political thaw early in the year and, for the first time in years, hopes that the government might lift some of its stifling controls on civil and political rights. By November, however, the only progress had been limited political prisoner releases and easing of pressures on some opposition politicians in Rangoon. There was no sign of fundamental changes in law or policy, and grave human rights violations remained unaddressed.....Human Rights Developments... Defending Human Rights... The Role of the International Community
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2002-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-01-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Burma?s deplorable human rights record received widespread international attention in 2007 as anti-government protests in August and September were met with a brutal crackdown by security forces of the authoritarian military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Denial of basic freedoms in Burma continues, and restrictions on the internet, telecommunications, and freedom of expression and assembly sharply increased in 2007. Abuses against civilians in ethnic areas are widespread, involving forced labor, summary executions, sexual violence, and expropriation of land and property......Violent Crackdown on Protests...Lack of Progress on Democracy...Human Rights Defenders...Continued Violence against Ethnic Groups...Child Soldiers...Humanitarian Concerns, Internal Displacement, and Refugees...Key International Actors.
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2008-01-31
Date of entry/update: 2009-01-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Burma?s already dismal human rights record worsened following the devastation of cyclone Nargis in early May 2008. The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) blocked international assistance while pushing through a constitutional referendum in which basic freedoms were denied. The ruling junta systematically denies citizens basic freedoms, including freedom of expression, association, and assembly. It regularly imprisons political activists and human rights defenders; in 2008 the number of political prisoners nearly doubled to more than 2,150. The Burmese military continues to violate the rights of civilians in ethnic conflict areas and extrajudicial killings, forced labor, land confiscation without due process and other violations continued in 2008....Cyclone Nargis...Constitutional Referendum...Human Rights Defenders...Child Soldiers...Continuing Violence against Ethnic Groups...Refugees and Migrant Workers...Key International Actors
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2009-01-14
Date of entry/update: 2009-01-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Contents: SPECIAL EDITION: SAFFRON REVOLUTION IMPRISONED, LAW DEMENTED... Foreword: Dual policy approach needed on Burma Basil Fernando... Introduction: Saffron Revolution imprisoned, law demented Editorial board, article 2... Ne Win, Maung Maung and how to drive a legal system crazy in two short decades, Burma desk, Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong... Ten case studies in illegal arrest and imprisonment..... APPENDIX: Nargis: World?s worst response to a natural disaster, Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong.
Source/publisher: Article 2 (Vol. 7, No. 3)
2008-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Abstract" "This research was framed by a human rights approach to development as pursued by Amartya Sen. Freedoms are not only the primary ends of development but they are the principle means of development. The research was informed by international obligations to human rights and was placed within a context of global pluralism and recognition of universal human dignity. The first research aim was to study the State Peace and Development Council military regime confiscation of land and labour of farmers in villages of fourteen townships in Rangoon, Pegu, and Irrawaddy Divisions and Arakan, Karenni, and Shan States. Four hundred and sixty-seven individuals were interviewed to gain understanding of current pressures facing farmers and their families. Had crops, labour, household food, assets, farm equipment been confiscated? If so, by whom, and what reason was given for the confiscation? Were farmers compensated for this confiscation? How did family households respond and cope when land was confiscated? In what ways were farmers contesting the arbitrary confiscation of their land? A significant contribution of this research is that it was conducted inside Burma with considerable risk for all individuals involved. People who spoke about their plight, who collected information, and who couriered details of confiscation across the border into Thailand were at great risk of arrest. Interviews were conducted clandestinely in homes, fields, and sometimes during the night. Because of personal security risks there are inconsistent data sets for the townships. People revealed concerns of health, education, lack of land tenure and livelihood. Several farmers are contesting the confiscation of their land, but recognise that there is no rule by law or independent judiciary in Burma. Farmers and their family members want their plight to be known internationally. When they speak out they are threatened with detention. Their immediate struggle is to survive. The second aim was to analyse land laws and land use in Burma from colonial times, independence in 1948, to the present military rule by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The third aim was to critically review international literature on land tenure and land rights with special focus on research conducted in post-conflict, post-colonial, and post-socialist nations and how to resolve land claims in face of no documentation. We sought ideas and practices which could inform creation of land laws, land and property rights, in democratic transition in Burma."
Creator/author: Dr. Nancy Hudson-Rodd; Sein Htay
Source/publisher: The Burma Fund
2008-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2008-03-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 11.22 MB
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Description: "The violent crushing of protests led by Buddhist monks in Burma/Myanmar in late 2007 has caused even allies of the military government to recognise that change is desperately needed. China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have thrown their support behind the efforts by the UN Secretary-General's special envoy to re-open talks on national reconciliation, while the U.S. and others have stepped up their sanctions. But neither incomplete punitive measures nor intermittent talks are likely to bring about major reforms. Myanmar's neighbours and the West must press together for a sustainable process of national reconciliation. This will require a long-term effort by all who can make a difference, combining robust diplomacy with serious efforts to address the deep-seated structural obstacles to peace, democracy and development. The protests in August-September and, in particular, the government crackdown have shaken up the political status quo, the international community has been mobilised to an unprecedented extent, and there are indications that divergences of view have grown within the military. The death toll is uncertain but appears to have been substantially higher than the official figures, and the violence has profoundly disrupted religious life across the country. While extreme violence has been a daily occurrence in ethnic minority populated areas in the border regions, where governments have faced widespread armed rebellion for more than half a century, the recent events struck at the core of the state and have had serious reverberations within the Burman majority society, as well as the regime itself, which it will be difficult for the military leaders to ignore. While these developments present important new opportunities for change, they must be viewed against the continuance of profound structural obstacles. The balance of power is still heavily weighted in favour of the army, whose top leaders continue to insist that only a strongly centralised, military-led state can hold the country together. There may be more hope that a new generation of military leaders can disown the failures of the past and seek new ways forward. But even if the political will for reform improves, Myanmar will still face immense challenges in overcoming the debilitating legacy of decades of conflict, poverty and institutional failure, which fuelled the recent crisis and could well overwhelm future governments as well. The immediate challenges are to create a more durable negotiating process between government, opposition and ethnic groups and help alleviate the economic and humanitarian crisis that hampers reconciliation at all levels of society. At the same time, longer-term efforts are needed to encourage and support the emergence of a broader, more inclusive and better organised political society and to build the capacity of the state, civil society and individual households alike to deal with the many development challenges. To achieve these aims, all actors who have the ability to influence the situation need to become actively involved in working for change, and the comparative advantages each has must be mobilised to the fullest, with due respect for differences in national perspectives and interests..."
Source/publisher: International Crisis Group (Asia Report N°144)
2008-01-31
Date of entry/update: 2008-03-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Table of Contents: Acronyms and Abbreviations... Maps... Map of Burma Showing Protest Locations... Map of Rangoon... I Executive Summary... II Government by Exploitation: The Burmese Way to Capitalism?... Macroeconomic Policy... Fiscal Policy... Monetary Policy... The Economic Cost of Militarization... The Straw that Broke the Camel?s Back... III Growing Discontent: The Economic Protests... Early Signs of Dissatisfaction... Protesting the Fuel Price Rise....... IV The Saffron Revolution... The SPDC and the Sangha... Interdependence of the Monastic and Lay Communities... Pakokku and the Call of Excommunication... Nationwide Protests Declared... V Crackdown on the Streets... Wednesday, 26 September 2007... Shwedagon Pagoda... Downtown Rangoon... Thakin Mya Park... Yankin Post Office... Thursday, 27 September 2007... South Okkalapa Township... Sule Pagoda... Pansodan Road Bridge... Thakin Mya Park... Tamwe Township State High School No3... Friday, 28 September 2007... Pansodan Road... Pazundaung Township... Latha Township ... Saturday, 29 September 2007, onwards... VI The Monastery Raids... Invitations to ‘Breakfast? ... Maggin Monastery ... Ngwe Kyar Yan Monastery ... Additional Raids in Okkalapa ... Thaketa Township... Raids in Other Locations around the Country...Arakan State Mandalay Division... Kachin State... Continued Raids... VII A Witch Hunt... Night Time Abductions... Arrested for Harbouring... Arrests in Lieu Of Others... Collective Punishment of Entire Neighbourhoods... Release of Detainees... Continuing Arrest and Detention of Political Activists... VIII Judicial Procedure and Conditions of Detention... Prolonged Detention without Charge... Judicial Procedure... Conditions of Detention... Interrogation and Torture of Detainees.... Denial of Medical Care... Deaths in Custody... Treatment of Monks... IX Analysis of the Crackdown: Intent to Brutalise, Cover Up and Discredit... Hired Thugs... Targeted and Intentional Killings... Removal of the Dead and Wounded... Treatment of the Injured... Secret Cremations... Suppression of Information... The Internet... Telephone Networks Severed... The National Press... Deliberate Targeting of Journalists... Providing Information to the Media... Defamation of the Sangha... The Pro-SPDC Rallies... X Conclusion... XI Recommendations.
Source/publisher: Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU)
2008-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2008-03-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 4.75 MB
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Description: Executive summary" "The situation in Burma after the ?Saffron Revolution” is unprecedented. The September 2007 peaceful protests and the violent crackdown have created new dynamics inside Burma, and the country?sfuture is still unknown. This led the FIDH and the ITUC to conduct a joint mission along the Thai-Burma border between October 13th-21st 2007 to investigate the events and impact of the September crackdown, and to inform our organizational strategies and political recommendations. The violence and bloodshed directed at the monks and the general public who participated in the peace walks and protests have further alienated the population from its current military leaders. The level of fear, but also anger amongst the general population is unprecedented, as even religious leaders are now clearly not exempt from such violence and repression. This is different from the pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988, when monks were not directly targeted. In present-day Burma, all segments of the population have grown hostile to the regime, including within the military?s own ranks. The desire for change is greater than ever. Every witness -from ordinary citizens to monks, and Generation ‘88 leaders- told mission participants the movement was not over, despite the fear of reprisals and further repression. The question is what will happen next, and when? The future will depend of three factors: the extent to which the population will be able to organize new rounds of a social movement, the reaction of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), and the influence the international community can exert on the junta. What happened in Burma since the crackdown has proven that the international community has influence on the regime. The UN Secretary General's Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari?s good offices mission was accepted. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Sergio Pinheiro was allowed access to the country for the first time in four years, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were given permission to meet with each other for the first time since Daw Suu was placed under renewed house arrest, in May 2003. Yet these positive signs are still weak: a genuine process of political change has not started yet. Such a process, involving the democratic parties and ethnic groups, is fundamental to establishing peace, human rights and development in Burma. To achieve that, the international community must keep its focus on Burma, and maximise its efforts and capacity to help bring about political transition..."
Source/publisher: Federation Internationale des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH)
2007-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2007-12-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 388.2 KB
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Description: Summary: "In August and September 2007, Burmese democracy activists, monks and ordinary people took to the streets of Rangoon and elsewhere to peacefully challenge nearly two decades of dictatorial rule and economic mismanagement by Burma?s ruling generals. While opposition to the military government is widespread in Burma, and small acts of resistance are an everyday occurrence, military repression is so systematic that such sentiment rarely is able to burst into public view; the last comparable public uprising was in August 1988. As in 1988, the generals responded this time with a brutal and bloody crackdown, leaving Burma?s population once again struggling for a voice. The government crackdown included baton-charges and beatings of unarmed demonstrators, mass arbitrary arrests, and repeated instances where weapons were fired shoot-to-kill. To remove the monks and nuns from the protests, the security forces raided dozens of Buddhist monasteries during the night, and sought to enforce the defrocking of thousands of monks. Current protest leaders, opposition party members, and activists from the ?88 Generation students were tracked down and arrested ? and continue to be arrested and detained. The Burmese generals have taken draconian measures to ensure that the world does not learn the true story of the horror of their crackdown. They have kept foreign journalists out of Burma and maintained their complete control over domestic news. Many local journalists were arrested after the crackdown, and the internet and mobile phone networks, used extensively to send information, photos, and videos out of Burma, were temporarily shut down, and have remained tightly controlled since. Of course, those efforts at censorship were only partially successful, as some enterprising and brave individuals found ways to get mobile phone video footage of the demonstrations and crackdown out of the country and onto the world?s television screens. This provided a small window into the violence and repression that the Burmese military government continues to use to hold onto power..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2007-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2007-12-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Events of 2005..."Despite promises of political reform and national reconciliation, Burma?s authoritarian military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), continues to operate a strict police state and drastically restricts basic rights and freedoms. It has suppressed the democratic movement represented by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, under detention since May 30, 2003, and has used internationally outlawed tactics in ongoing conflicts with ethnic minority groups. Hundreds of thousands of people, most of them from ethnic minority groups, continue to live precariously as internally displaced people. More than two million have fled to neighboring countries, in particular Thailand, where they face difficult circumstances as asylum seekers or illegal immigrants. The removal of Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt in October 2004 has reinforced hard-line elements within the SPDC and resulted in increasing hostility directed at democracy movements, ethnic minority groups, and international agencies..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2006-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2007-03-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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