Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar

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Websites/Multiple Documents

Title: Human Rights Watch Burma page
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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Title: Human Rights Watch World Reports Archive
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of entry/update: 2012-05-27
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Individual Documents

Title: Myanmar: End Lethal Force Against Protesters
Sub-title: UN Security Council Should Impose Targeted Sanctions, Arms Embargo
Description: "Myanmar’s military junta should order its security forces to end the use of excessive and lethal force against largely peaceful protesters, Human Rights Watch said today. On March 3, 2021, security forces fired live rounds at protesters, killing at least 38 and wounding more than 100 at demonstrations across the country, the United Nations reported. One of the deadliest incidents took place in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, where security forces opened fire on largely peaceful protesters. Security forces fired on some protesters as they attempted to rescue an injured man. Earlier in the day, police detained and brutally beat medical workers. Human Rights Watch reviewed an incident in which a man in custody appears to be shot in the back. “Myanmar’s security forces now seem intent on breaking the back of the anti-coup movement through wanton violence and sheer brutality,” said Richard Weir, crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The use of lethal force against protesters rescuing others demonstrates how little the security forces fear being held to account for their actions.” At a March 3 briefing, the United Nations special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, reported that 38 people had been killed during the day’s violence, bringing the tally of those killed since the protests began a month ago to more than 50. At least four of those killed were children, according to Save the Children. Through the analysis of 12 videos and 15 photographs, Human Rights Watch documented three incidents in which security forces apparently used live fire against protesters along the Thudhamma Road in Yangon on March 3. In a Facebook live video posted on March 3, Human Rights Watch identified a line of at least five military vehicles positioned on the overpass road that merges into the Airport Road near Okkala Thiri Park on Thudhamma Road. The video shows hundreds of protesters shielding and taking shelter from ongoing gunfire coming from the direction of the overpass..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-03-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-03-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Japan: Take Action Against Myanmar Coup
Sub-title: Join Targeted Economic Sanctions, Global Arms Embargo; Review Aid
Description: "The Japanese government should take urgent action to pressure the leaders of the military coup in Myanmar to restore the democratically elected government and respect human rights, Human Rights Now, Human Rights Watch, Japan International Volunteer Center, Justice For Myanmar, and Japan NGO Action Network for Civic Space said today. In a letter to Japan Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on February 25, 2021, the organizations urged the Japanese government to take joint action with other countries, including imposing targeted economic sanctions against the Myanmar military and companies that it controls, supporting a global arms embargo, and triggering human rights-based conditionals enshrined in Japan’s Official Development Assistance programs and charter. “As a major and influential donor, the Japanese government has a responsibility to take action to promote human rights in Myanmar,” said Teppei Kasai, Asia program officer. “It should urgently review and suspend any public aid that could benefit the Myanmar military.” The organizations also said in their letter that Japan should join other concerned governments in imposing targeted economic sanctions against the military-affiliated companies, including Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), while assisting Japanese companies with direct or indirect ties to the military to terminate their business relationships responsibly..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-02-25
Date of entry/update: 2021-02-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: UN Security Council: Impose Arms Embargo on Myanmar
Sub-title: Weapons Transfers Fuel Junta, Abuses
Description: "The United Nations Security Council should urgently impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar in response to the military coup and to deter the junta from committing further abuses, 137 nongovernmental groups from 31 countries said today in an open letter to council members. Governments that permit arms transfers to Myanmar – including China, India, Israel, North Korea, the Philippines, Russia, and Ukraine – should immediately stop the supply of any weapons, munitions, and related equipment. Since the February 1, 2021 coup, the Myanmar military has detained civilian leaders, nullified the November 2020 election results, and installed a junta, the State Administration Council, under a manufactured “state of emergency.” In the ensuing weeks, Myanmar security forces have used excessive and at times lethal force against demonstrators; arbitrarily detained activists, students, and civil servants; and imposed rolling internet shutdowns that put lives at risk. “Given the mass atrocities against the Rohingya, decades of war crimes, and the overthrow of the elected government, the least the UN Security Council can do is impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “Supplying any equipment to the military enables further abuses and bolsters the junta’s ability to repress Myanmar’s people.” The groups’ call reinforces UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s vow to “do everything we can to mobilize all the key actors and international community to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails.” The UN special rapporteur on Myanmar has called for a global arms embargo, while he and the deputy high commissioner for human rights have voiced support for targeted UN sanctions. Security Council members should draft a resolution that bars the direct and indirect supply, sale, or transfer to the junta of all weapons, munitions, and other military-related equipment, including dual-use goods such as vehicles and communications and surveillance equipment, as well as barring the provision of training, intelligence, and other military assistance, the groups said. This should be accompanied by a robust monitoring and enforcement mechanism, including close scrutiny of sales to third parties that may be likely to resell such items to Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-02-24
Date of entry/update: 2021-02-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Is Your Business Funding Myanmar Military Abuses?
Sub-title: Even Before Coup, Companies Should Have Cut Ties to Armed Forces
Description: "The military coup in Myanmar this week should sound alarm bells in corporate boardrooms around the world. Since Myanmar’s transition from decades of military dictatorship to a civilian government began in 2011, transnational businesses have cautiously reentered the country. But the coup highlights the question company directors should already have been asking: “Is our company directly or indirectly funding the Myanmar military?” The human rights, reputational, and legal risks of continuing to do business with Myanmar’s military are immense. The Tatmadaw, as it is known, has been accused of genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya Muslims, and war crimes against other ethnic minorities. And now it has overthrown a civilian government that won a massive re- election, with over 80 percent of the vote, in November 2020. Companies doing business in Myanmar have long had access to credible information about the military’s grave abuses and corruption. A 2019 United Nations report found that companies with commercial ties to the Myanmar’s military and its conglomerates, Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), “are contributing to supporting the Tatmadaw’s financial capacity.” The report said these companies are at “high risk of contributing to or being linked to, violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law.” The UN team’s recommendation was clear: companies operating or investing in Myanmar should not do business with “the security forces of Myanmar, in particular the Tatmadaw, or any enterprise owned or controlled by them, including subsidiaries, or their individual members.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-02-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-02-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Serious Rights Abuses Persist
Sub-title: No Justice for Ongoing Crimes Against Humanity, Apartheid
Description: "The Myanmar government has repeatedly violated basic civil and political rights, and failed to hold the country’s security forces accountable for atrocities against ethnic minorities, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2021. The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party overwhelmingly won the November 8, 2020, election, which was marred by serious problems. Prior to the vote the government prosecuted its critics, censored opposition party messages, and did not provide equal access to state media. Systemic problems include the continued ethnic Rohingya disenfranchisement, the 25 percent of assembly seats reserved for the military, and the lack of an independent and transparent Union Election Commission. The commission cancelled voting in 57 primarily ethnic minority townships for security reasons, but provided little or no consultation or explanation to affected political parties and candidates. “Aung San Suu Kyi and the ruling National League for Democracy have turned their backs on human rights concerns since taking power, betraying promises to Myanmar’s people to revoke repressive laws and break with abusive past practices,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “By winning a significant parliamentary majority, the NLD has an opportunity to introduce rights-respecting reforms that would protect everyone.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-01-13
Date of entry/update: 2021-01-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Kirin Should Sever Military Firm Ties
Topic: Business
Sub-title: Japanese Beverage Giant Should Release Investigation Report
Topic: Business
Description: "Japan-based Kirin Holdings Company, Ltd. should publish its investigation report on the military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. (MEHL) and swiftly cut ties with the company, Human Rights Watch said today. Kirin announced the conclusion of an investigation by Deloitte Tohmatsu Financial Advisory LLC on January 7, 2021, but declined to publish the report for confidentiality reasons. “Kirin should regain some trust of consumers, investors, and rights groups by releasing the details of its investigation into the operations of its Myanmar military business partner,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Kirin’s business association with MEHL raises serious human rights concerns that need urgent action, not further obfuscation behind an investigation whose results are kept secret.” In its January 7 statement, Kirin said the investigation by Deloitte was “inconclusive as a result of Deloitte being unable to access sufficient information required to make a definitive determination.” Kirin said the investigation aimed to determine the “destination of proceeds received by” MEHL from Myanmar Brewery Ltd. (MBL) and Mandalay Brewery Ltd. (MDL), and that it would provide a “further update” on its business activities in Myanmar by the end of April. Kirin owns a majority stake in Myanmar Brewery Ltd. and Mandalay Brewery Ltd. in partnership with the military-owned-and-operated MEHL. In 2015, Kirin bought 55 percent of Myanmar Brewery Ltd., 4 percent of which it later transferred to the military-owned firm. In 2017, Kirin acquired 51 percent of Mandalay Brewery Ltd. in a separate joint venture with the firm. Myanmar’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw, have been responsible over many years for numerous grave violations of human rights and war crimes against the country’s ethnic minority populations. These abuses culminated in the August 2017 campaign of ethnic cleansing against the ethnic Rohingya population in Rakhine State, including killings, sexual violence, and forced removal. Human Rights Watch found that Myanmar’s security forces committed crimes against humanity and genocidal acts in those 2017 operations against the Rohingya..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2021-01-08
Date of entry/update: 2021-01-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Human Rights Watch Statement: Impacts of Covid-19 on Internally Displaced People in Myanmar
Topic: Explosive Weapons in Civilian Areas , Landmines , Internally Displaced People
Sub-title: Statement of Manny Maung, Myanmar Researcher, Human Rights Watch Subcommittee on International Human Rights Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development
Topic: Explosive Weapons in Civilian Areas , Landmines , Internally Displaced People
Description: "Study of the Impacts of Covid-19 on Internally Displaced People in Myanmar Thank you to the Chairperson and Honorable Members of Parliament for inviting me to appear before this Committee to discuss the impacts of Covid-19 on internally displaced people in Myanmar. My name is Manny Maung and I am the Myanmar Researcher for Human Rights Watch. Decades of conflict have resulted in over 360,000 internally displaced peoples across the country. They are mainly members of ethnic minority communities spread across northern Myanmar, in Kachin and Shan States; in western Rakhine State; and in the southeast near the Myanmar-Thai border. Renewed conflict has created fresh displacements in 2020 in both Rakhine and Shan States. Humanitarian agencies reported that the government did not take measures to ensure that they could deliver emergency aid under the government-imposed travel restrictions to protect against the spread of Covid-19. In October, Human Rights Watch released a report, “An Open Prison without End,” on Myanmar’s detention of 130,000 Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State since 2012.[1] Human Rights Watch found that the squalid and oppressive conditions imposed on the interned Rohingya and Kaman Muslims amount to the crimes against humanity of persecution, apartheid, and severe deprivation of liberty. Starting in August 2017, a military campaign of killings, sexual violence, arson, and forced eviction of Rohingya in northern Rakhine State forced more than 700,000 to flee to Bangladesh. Human Rights Watch determined the Myanmar security forces committed ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide..."
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Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-12-10
Date of entry/update: 2021-01-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: End World’s Longest Internet Shutdown
Sub-title: Lift Restrictions in Embattled Rakhine, Chin States
Description: "The Myanmar government should immediately lift all internet restrictions in eight townships in Rakhine and Chin States, Human Rights Watch said today. The mobile internet shutdown, which began on June 21, 2019, is affecting more than a million people living in a conflict zone. The internet shutdown, along with restrictions on access by aid agencies, has meant that people in some villages are unaware of the Covid-19 outbreak, humanitarian workers told Human Rights Watch. Local groups report that the shutdown has made it difficult to coordinate the distribution of aid to conflict-affected communities, and to communicate with their field teams to ensure staff safety. A local editor said the shutdown greatly impedes media coverage of the fighting between the Myanmar military and the ethnic Arakan Army, making it hard for villagers to get up-to-date information. “Myanmar should immediately end what is now the world’s longest government-enforced internet shutdown,” said Linda Lakhdhir, Asia legal adviser at Human Rights Watch. “With armed conflict between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army in Rakhine State amid a pandemic, it’s critical for civilians to get the information needed to stay safe.” The government first imposed restrictions on mobile internet communications in the townships of Buthidaung, Kyauktaw, Maungdaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Myebon, Ponnagyun, and Rathedaung in Rakhine State and Paletwa township in Chin State. The government temporarily lifted restrictions in five townships from September 2019 until February 2020, when they were reinstated. On May 2, the authorities lifted the restrictions in Maungdaw..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-06-19
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Kirin Should Cut Ties to Military
Sub-title: Japan Beverage Giant Pledges to Address Human Rights Concerns
Description: " Japan-based Kirin Holdings Company, Ltd. should end its partnership with Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. (MEHL) because of its connections to Myanmar’s abusive armed forces, Human Rights Now, Human Rights Watch, Japan Volunteer International Center, and Shapla Neer said today. The organizations wrote to Kirin on May 22, 2020, urging the global beverage company to terminate its partnership with the military conglomerate, and the company responded on June 12. “Kirin is putting money right into the pockets of Myanmar’s military, which is responsible for countless atrocities against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “Kirin should repair its damaged reputation by disentangling itself from the Myanmar military’s business conglomerate and its abusive armed forces.” Kirin currently owns a majority stake in Myanmar Brewery Ltd. (MBL) and Mandalay Brewery (MDL) in partnership with the military-owned MEHL. In 2015, Kirin bought 55 percent of Myanmar Brewery Ltd, 4 percent of which it later transferred to the military-owned firm. In 2017, Kirin acquired 51 percent of Mandalay Brewery in a separate joint venture with the firm. Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, have long been responsible for grave violations of human rights and the laws of war against the country’s ethnic minority populations. These abuses culminated in the August 2017 campaign of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, including killings, sexual violence, and forced removal, against the ethnic Rohingya population in Rakhine State..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-06-18
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Displacement Camps Are COVID-19 Tinderboxes
Sub-title: Lift Restrictions on Movement, Health Care, Internet, Aid
Description: " The Myanmar government should take urgent steps to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission among the estimated 350,000 people displaced by conflict and violence across the country, Human Rights Watch said today. Overcrowding, a mobile internet shutdown, blocks on humanitarian aid, and movement restrictions have left displaced communities in Rakhine, Kachin, Shan, Chin, and Karen States especially vulnerable to a virus outbreak. While concerns have been raised about Myanmar’s capacity to manage the coronavirus given its poor healthcare infrastructure, the country’s displaced populations face even greater risks. Most are trapped in dangerously overcrowded camps with severely substandard health care and inadequate access to clean water, sanitation, and other essential services. Many displaced people have underlying medical conditions and chronic diseases, putting them at high risk of suffering serious effects from the virus. State media announced the government was drafting a COVID-19 response plan for internally displaced persons (IDPs), but humanitarian workers told Human Rights Watch they had not been consulted on the draft or given guidance about responding to a potential spread. “Years of conflict, neglect, and abusive policies by Myanmar’s government and military have left hundreds of thousands of displaced people sitting in the path of a public health catastrophe,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “The authorities need to ensure these groups have access to information, humanitarian aid, and health services, including prompt testing and isolation for those who show symptoms.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-03-30
Date of entry/update: 2020-06-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Hundreds Jailed for Covid-19 Violations
Sub-title: Prison Time for Breaking Curfew, Quarantine Is Excessive and Unsafe
Description: "At least 500 people, including children, returning migrant workers, and religious minorities, have been sentenced to between one month and one year in prison in Myanmar since late March 2020 for violating curfews, quarantines, or other movement control orders, Human Rights Watch said today. Myanmar authorities should stop jailing people for Covid-19-related infractions. Most have been sentenced under the National Disaster Management Law, Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law, and various penal code provisions. Authorities have charged hundreds more in cases that are ongoing or resulted in fines. Imprisoning people for violating curfews, quarantine, and physical distancing directives is almost always disproportionate as well as counterproductive for reducing threats to public health. “Limiting public health risks through social distancing is crucial, but jailing people for being outside at night just adds to everybody’s risk,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Throwing hundreds behind bars in crowded, unhygienic prisons defeats the purpose of containing the spread of Covid-19.” In March and April, national, state, and local authorities announced several directives and restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of the coronavirus. Measures include a mandatory 28-day quarantine for foreign arrivals, nighttime curfews, a ban on gatherings over five people, and several township-level lockdowns. On March 28, government media announced that “those breaking public health order can face jail time.… The Covid-19 pandemic is also a natural disaster, and those who do not comply with the law can face fines and even prison time.” Local authorities oversee enforcement and criminalization of violations, with wide variations across the country..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-05-28
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Imagery Shows 200 Buildings Burned
Topic: Explosive Weapons in Civilian Areas Refugees and Migrants Crisis and Conflict Religious Freedom Refugee Rights Asylum Seekers Internally Displaced People
Sub-title: Independent Inquiry Needed in Embattled Rakhine State
Topic: Explosive Weapons in Civilian Areas Refugees and Migrants Crisis and Conflict Religious Freedom Refugee Rights Asylum Seekers Internally Displaced People
Description: "Satellite imagery shows that about 200 homes and other buildings were destroyed by fire on May 16, 2020, in Myanmar’s embattled Rakhine State, Human Rights Watch said today. An impartial investigation is urgently needed to determine responsibility for this mass destruction of residential property in the predominantly ethnic Rakhine village of Let Kar, Mrauk-U township. Since January 2019, fighting between the Myanmar military and the ethnic Rakhine Arakan Army has resulted in numerous civilian casualties and destruction of civilian property. The imagery of Let Kar bears a close resemblance to patterns of fires and widespread arson attacks by the Myanmar military on ethnic Rohingya villages in Rakhine State in 2012, 2016, and 2017, Human Rights Watch said. “The burning of Let Kar village has all the hallmarks of Myanmar military arson on Rohingya villages in recent years,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “A credible and impartial investigation is urgently needed to find out what happened, punish those responsible, and provide compensation to villagers harmed.” Satellite imagery recorded on May 16, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. shows no signs of damage in Let Kar. But at 2:12 p.m., an environmental satellite detected extensive fires burning there. The Human Rights Watch damage analysis of 200 buildings burned is most likely an underestimate as internal damage to buildings is not visible..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-05-26
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Bangladesh: Cyclone Endangers Rohingya on Silt Island
Sub-title: Refugees Allege Torture, Limited Health Care, Food on Bhasan Char Print
Description: "The Bangladesh government has kept over 300 Rohingya refugees confined on Bhasan Char, a remote silt island in the path of a “super cyclone” without adequate protections or safety measures, Human Rights Watch said today. Three people were reported killed in Bangladesh soon after the storm struck the coast. The authorities should take immediate steps to ensure safety and transfer the refugees, including nearly 40 children, to the camps in Cox’s Bazar as soon as possible. The United Nations refugee agency and other humanitarian organizations are there, prepared to provide them with critical services and reunite them with their families. “The Bangladesh government properly brought Rohingya refugees stranded at sea ashore, but holding them on a tiny island during a cyclone is dangerous and inhumane,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Our fear that Bhasan Char would become a ‘floating detention center’ has now turned into a fear of a submerged one.” Cyclone Amphan made landfall on the Bangladesh coast on the evening of May 20, 2020, though it shifted course slightly so Bhasan Char is no longer in its direct path. Bangladesh’s Land Ministry has previously reported that Bhasan Char could be submerged by a strong cyclone at high tide. About 300 Bangladesh security officials are also on the island..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-05-20
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Thailand: Let UN Refugee Agency Screen Rohingya
Sub-title: End Inhumane Indefinite Detention of Asylum Seekers
Description: "Thai authorities should allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) unhindered access to Rohingya from Myanmar to determine whether they qualify for refugee status, Human Rights Watch said today. The government’s inhumane policy of holding Rohingya arriving in Thailand in indefinite detention should be immediately repealed. The latest group of Rohingya arrived in Thailand by land, crossing from Myanmar into Mae Sot district of Tak province on May 20, 2020. Thai authorities arrested at least 12 Rohingya and sent them to the Mae Sot immigration detention facility. Approximately 200 Rohingya are being held in immigration detention and other facilities across Thailand. “The Thai government should scrap its policy of summarily locking up Rohingya and throwing away the key, condemning them to indefinite detention in cramped and unhygienic detention centers now susceptible to a Covid-19 outbreak,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “The Rohingya have been brutally persecuted in Myanmar. Thailand should permit the UN refugee agency to screen all Rohingya arriving in Thailand to identify and assist those seeking refugee status.” Refugee screening is crucial for protecting Rohingya asylum seekers, Human Rights Watch said. The Myanmar government and military have long persecuted the Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority group who have lived in Myanmar’s Rakhine State for generations. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, who have been effectively denied citizenship in Myanmar, have fled repression and dire poverty. Human trafficking gangs have abused and exploited many of those who eluded death during their dangerous journey..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-05-21
Date of entry/update: 2020-05-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Civilians Caught in Surge of Fighting
Sub-title: Internet Shutdown, Aid Blockage Worsens Humanitarian Crisis in Rakhine State
Description: "A surge in fighting in Myanmar’s Rakhine State during February 2020 has killed and injured numerous civilians, adding to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the conflict-riven region, Human Rights Watch said today. The Myanmar military and the insurgent Arakan Army should safeguard civilians from the fighting, abide by the laws of war, and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. On February 29, five civilians were killed and at least eight others were injured in clashes between Myanmar forces and the Arakan Army near Mrauk-U town, according to media reports. An ethnic Rakhine nongovernmental organization estimated that at least 18 civilians were killed and 71 were injured during fighting in February, though the actual casualties could be higher because the government’s mobile internet blackout has slowed information-gathering. “The Myanmar military and the Arakan Army need to take immediate steps to minimize harm to civilians during the fighting and allow aid to reach all villages and communities in need,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “The government should immediately restore full internet access so that abuses can be reported, and aid agencies can do their jobs.” Since January 2019, fighting between the Myanmar military, called the Tatmadaw, and the Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine armed group, has resulted in numerous civilian casualties and destruction of civilian property. At least 21 children were injured on February 13, when artillery fire reportedly hit a school in Khamwe Chaung village, Buthidaung township..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-03-04
Date of entry/update: 2020-03-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Release Four Activists Jailed For Peaceful Protest
Description: "The Myanmar authorities should immediately and unconditionally release four activists who have been convicted and sentenced to one month in prison simply for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Civil Rights Defenders said today. On January 17, 2020, the Myawaddy Township court in Kayin/Karen State, south eastern Myanmar, sentenced four activists – Naw Ohn Hla, Maung U, U Nge (aka) Hsan Hlaing, and Sandar Myint – to one month in prison after finding them guilty of protesting without authorization under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law. The law officially only requires notification of a protest but in practice, authorities treat the notification requirement as a request for permission. It has frequently been used to target peaceful activists, in particular those campaigning for justice for communities affected by human rights violations and abuses. Police charged the four activists after they participated in a peaceful demonstration organized by residents of the Shwe Mya Sandi housing project in Kayin/Karen State on April 19, 2019. Residents had been protesting against demolition of their homes in February 2019, after the government declared that the land used for the project had been acquired unlawfully and began demolishing their homes. Protest organizers Maung U, U Nge (aka) Hsan Hlaing, and Sandar Myint had notified authorities of their intention to march along the Myawaddy road. Naw Ohn Hla was not involved in organizing the protest, however she joined in a show of solidarity..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-02-28
Date of entry/update: 2020-03-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Australia: Don’t Cozy Up to Myanmar’s Army
Sub-title: Suspend Military Ties; Press for Accountability
Description: "Australia should avoid dealings with Myanmar that play down its military’s egregious rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne. Human Rights Watch urged the Australian government to immediately end military ties with Myanmar. A meeting on January 29, 2020 between Australia’s ambassador to Myanmar, Andrea Faulkner, and Myanmar’s military commander-in-chief, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, overlooked the general’s responsibility for grave crimes committed against ethnic Rohingya Muslims since 2017. Min Aung Hlaing used the meeting to bolster his public image and to present a picture of normal relations between the Australian and Myanmar militaries that undercuts efforts by other governments to isolate a commander implicated in serious abuses. “Australia should be sanctioning Min Aung Hlaing, not taking photos and exchanging gifts with someone who should be investigated for mass atrocities,” said Elaine Pearson, Australia director at Human Rights Watch. “In its meetings with Myanmar officials, Australia should never give the impression that it’s business-as-usual with no repercussions for Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya.” In 2018, the United Nations-backed Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar recommended that Myanmar’s top military generals should be investigated for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. The UN report named six high-ranking military commanders, including Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-02-02
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Lift Internet Restrictions in Rakhine and Chin States
Sub-title: Mobile internet blackout in four townships in Rakhine State among the world’s longest running
Description: "We, the 29 undersigned organizations, call on the Government of Myanmar to immediately lift restrictions on mobile internet communications in eight townships in Rakhine State and one township in Chin State. We are particularly concerned by the Government of Myanmar’s recent reinstatement of restrictions on mobile internet access in five townships on February 3, 2020, after lifting restrictions in those townships earlier. We call on the Government of Myanmar to release publicly the justification for the internet shutdown and all information related to the process by which these restrictions were imposed. The government first imposed restrictions on mobile internet communications on June 21, 2019 in Buthidaung, Kyauktaw, Maungdaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Myebon, Ponnagyun, and Rathedaung townships in Rakhine State and Paletwa Township in Chin State. On September 1, the government lifted restrictions in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Myebon, Paletwa, and Rathedaung townships. On February 3, 2020, a telecommunications provider reported that the Myanmar Ministry of Transport and Communications ordered the reinstatement of the restrictions in those five townships. The company published a statement on its website saying that the Ministry referenced “security requirement and public interest” in issuing the order..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-02-13
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar Again Cuts Rakhine State’s Internet
Sub-title: Restore Telecommunications, Allow Aid to Conflict Areas
Description: "Myanmar authorities have issued a surprise order reinstating the shutdown of mobile internet traffic in five townships in Myanmar’s northwestern Rakhine and Chin States. Added to four other Rakhine State townships where mobile internet service has been blocked since June 2019, this leaves nine townships unable to get online, causing an information blackout that affects approximately one million people. The Ministry of Transport and Communications’ directive to internet and telecommunications providers cited security requirements and public interest as the reasons for re-imposing the shutdown, which had been lifted in the five townships in September. The Norwegian Telenor Group issued a statement to inform the public of the directive, and said it was seeking further clarification from the ministry. This communications shutdown places civilians at risk as the fighting between the ethnic-Rakhine Arakan Army and Myanmar’s military intensifies. About 106,000 civilians have been displaced by the conflict. Blocking local communities’ ability to communicate makes it harder for civilians to obtain help when needed, and significantly more difficult for humanitarian agencies to assist vulnerable populations. The Rakhine State government has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis by imposing restrictions on aid access in eight townships..."
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Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-02-05
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Title: Myanmar: Government Rohingya Report Falls Short
Sub-title: War Crimes Admitted, but Full Findings Not Released
Description: "Myanmar’s investigation of its 2017 “clearance operations” contains selective admissions of military wrongdoing but does not begin to address the massive violations by government security forces against Rohingya Muslims, Human Rights Watch said today. Myanmar’s donors and concerned governments should be clear that the Independent Commission of Enquiry’s report falls well short of creating the conditions for justice and accountability or the safe return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh. The 15-page executive summary released by the Office of the President on January 21, 2020 acknowledged that members of Myanmar’s security forces committed war crimes and serious human rights violations against “Muslims” in northern Rakhine State. Yet it found “no evidence of gang rape committed by Myanmar’s security forces,” despite extensive documentation of widespread rape against Rohingya women and girls by the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar and human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch. The summary found no evidence of genocidal intent and did not address alleged crimes against humanity. The government has yet to release the full report..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-01-23
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar: Seeking International Justice for Rohingya
Sub-title: Crackdown on Free Expression Tightens
Description: "The Myanmar government faced increasing pressure during 2019 for international justice for its human rights violations against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2020. Respect for free expression and assembly also declined sharply during the year as the authorities escalated their use of repressive criminal laws. “Myanmar’s failure to hold its military accountable for atrocities against the Rohingya is finally turning the wheels of international justice,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “Two international courts are now examining whether Myanmar committed genocide and who should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity against the Rohingya.” In the 652-page World Report 2020, its 30th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in nearly 100 countries. In his introductory essay, Executive Director Kenneth Roth says that the Chinese government, which depends on repression to stay in power, is carrying out the most intense attack on the global human rights system in decades. He finds that Beijing’s actions both encourage and gain support from autocratic populists around the globe, while Chinese authorities use their economic clout to deter criticism from other governments. It is urgent to resist this assault, which threatens decades of progress on human rights and our future..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2020-01-14
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Bangladesh: Rohingya Children Denied Education
Sub-title: Unlawful Restrictions on Schooling Risk Creating a Lost Generation
Description: "The government of Bangladesh is blocking aid groups from providing any meaningful education to Rohingya children in refugee camps and banning the children from attending schools outside the camps, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The government should urgently lift the restrictions that unlawfully deprive almost 400,000 Rohingya refugee children of their right to education. The 81-page report, “‘Are We Not Human?’: Denial of Education for Rohingya Refugee Children in Bangladesh,” documents how Bangladesh prohibits aid groups in the refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar district from providing Rohingya children with accredited or formal education. There is no secondary-level education, and groups are barred from teaching the Bengali language and using the Bangladesh curriculum. Rohingya children have no opportunity to enroll in or continue their education at private or public schools outside the refugee camps. “Bangladesh has made it clear that it doesn’t want the Rohingya to remain indefinitely, but depriving children of education just compounds the harm to the children and won’t resolve the refugees’ plight any faster,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The government of Bangladesh saved countless lives by opening its borders and providing refuge to the Rohingya, but it needs to end its misguided policy of blocking education for Rohingya children.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-12-02
Date of entry/update: 2019-12-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Gambia Brings Genocide Case Against Myanmar
Sub-title: International Court of Justice to Address Atrocities Against Rohingya
Description: "The Gambia’s case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for violating the Genocide Convention, filed on November 11, 2019, will bring the first judicial scrutiny of Myanmar’s campaign of murder, rape, arson, and other atrocities against Rohingya Muslims, 10 nongovernmental organizations said. States that are party to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide agreed that genocide “whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish” and, by extension, have an obligation not to commit it. The convention permits member states to bring a dispute before the ICJ alleging another state’s breach of the convention, and states can seek provisional measures to stop continuing violations. Myanmar became a party to the Genocide Convention in 1956..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-11-11
Date of entry/update: 2019-11-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Japan: Hold Myanmar to Account for Atrocities
Sub-title: Oppose Investments Harming Ethnic Rohingya, Benefiting Military
Description: "The Japanese government should publicly hold Myanmar to account for military atrocities committed against Rohingya and other ethnic minorities, Human Rights Watch said today. It should discourage Japanese investment that would benefit the military or at the expense of minority groups. On October 21, 2019, Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader, is slated to speak in Tokyo at a conference sponsored by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) to promote investment and business opportunities in Myanmar. When she has spoken at previous investment forums in Japan, Aung San Suu Kyi has downplayed or ignored the military’s serious abuses against the Rohingya. “The Japanese government has been pitifully reluctant to speak out against abuses by Myanmar’s military, so officials should use Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to raise these issues directly,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Japan’s recent re-election to the UN Human Rights Council should encourage the government to improve its human rights foreign policy, including by calling on Japanese companies not to contribute to rights violations in Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-10-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Myanmar: Rohingya Jailed for Traveling
Sub-title: End Arbitrary Restrictions on Persecuted Muslim Minority
Description: "Myanmar authorities should immediately release 30 Rohingya Muslims detained for attempting to travel from Rakhine State to the city of Yangon, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should lift all travel restrictions on ethnic Rohingya and repeal discriminatory regulations that limit their right to freedom of movement. Police arrested the group of Rohingya on September 26, 2019. A week later, a court sentenced 21 of them to two years in prison, and sent eight children to a child detention center. The youngest, a 5-year-old, is being held at Pathein prison with his mother. “Myanmar authorities seem intent on persecuting Rohingya whether they stay at home or try to travel freely in the country,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “These 30 men, women, and children are being punished for simply seeking an escape from the daily brutality they’ve been subjected to for years.” The authorities apprehended the group for traveling without official permits and documentation after they arrived in Ayeyarwady Region via boat from Sittwe township in central Rakhine State. The group was en route to Yangon, where they planned to seek work or attempt to continue onward to Malaysia, according to media reports..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-10-08
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Critics of Myanmar Government Facing Prison Time
Sub-title: Civilian Officials’ Intolerance of Criticism Rivaling Military’s
Description: "Speech critical of the government is under increasing attack in Myanmar. While the military has long been intolerant of criticism, members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) are not far behind. In the past two weeks, NLD officials have filed several criminal defamation charges against government critics. On September 18, the NLD’s Mandalay region office filed defamation charges against Aung Pyae San Win and Swam Ka Bar for posting memes on a satirical Facebook page about the Mandalay chief minister. The same week, the chairman of the NLD’s Maubin township branch filed a criminal complaint against cartoonist Naing Zaw Oo (known as “Ahtee”), alleging that he defamed the NLD and its local branch in social media posts criticizing the local party’s record. All of these cases were filed under section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Act, which as amended in August 2017 provides for up to two years in prison for anyone who “defames” any person using a telecommunications network. Both the Myanmar military and the NLD have repeatedly used the provision to silence their critics. Others currently facing charges include the editor of local media outlet The Irrawaddy, members of a group that put on a satirical thangyat (slam poetry) performance critical of the military, and filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, who has already been sentenced to a year in prison at hard labor under a provision of the penal code for criticizing the military’s role in politics on Facebook..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of publication: 2019-09-23
Date of entry/update: 2019-09-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Title: Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children
Description: "International Women’s Health Coalition and Human Rights Watch welcome the opportunity to provide input to the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children on the topic of safeguards for the protection of the rights of children born from surrogacy arrangements. We appreciate the Special Rapporteur’s attention to new issues arising from innovations around assisted reproduction. We share the view that these developments raise important human rights issues. International Women’s Health Coalition and Human Rights Watch have decades of experience examining issues relevant to this topic in countries around the world. IWHC has a long history advocating to advance sexual and reproductive rights at the global and regional levels. The organization currently supports grantee partners’ advocacy on these issues in Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, Egypt, Fiji, India, Kenya, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, South Africa, Turkey and Uruguay. We are also currently doing documentation work on the impact of the global gag rule in Nepal, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, as well as documentation on the impact of refusals to provide care on the ground of conscience in Chile. Human Rights Watch has extensive experience documenting human rights abuses including trafficking of children and women, sexual exploitation of children and women, violations of the sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls, and criminalization of sexual and reproductive actions and decisions. We have conducted research on these topics in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Indonesia, Ireland, Mauritania, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Poland, South Africa, Sierra Leone, the United States of America and Zimbabwe. The issue of surrogacy arrangements, particularly compensated surrogacy arrangements, requires careful consideration of several sets of intersecting rights, and the interests of multiple rights holders. This is particularly important given that human rights analysis around surrogacy is relatively nascent and given the key principles of universality and interdependence of human rights. We have reviewed the Special Rapporteur’s previous work on this issue and appreciate the strong focus that work has brought to the rights and interests of children born of surrogacy arrangements. Our goal, in this submission, is to highlight the other rights and rights holders also essential to this discussion. We are concerned by any over-broad view of the applicability of the prohibition on the sale of children to surrogacy that would unnecessarily, disproportionately or in a discriminatory fashion limit the options of surrogacy as a means of founding a family and exercising reproductive rights. The optional protocol prohibits “any act or transaction whereby a child is transferred by any person or group of persons to another for remuneration or any other consideration.” People acting as surrogates may do so for no remuneration (money paid for work or a service) or no consideration (money in exchange for benefits, goods, or services), and in other cases may receive compensation that constitutes fair recompense for lost wages and other opportunity costs, health care and nutrition expenses, and restitution for the significant burdens and risks associated with pregnancy. We submit that such arrangements do not and should not in and of themselves constitute sale of children under the optional protocol. In this submission we outline our recommendations regarding: 1) relevant human rights that should inform discussions around surrogacy; 2) relevant rights holders who should be part of discussions regarding surrogacy; and 3) longstanding human rights principles that should guide and inform legal and policy framework development on this issue..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2019-06-03
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: “Give Us a Baby and We’ll Let You Go” Trafficking of Kachin “Brides” from Myanmar to China
Description: "Seng Moon’s family fled fighting in Myanmar’s Kachin State in 2011 and wound up struggling to survive in a camp for internally displaced people. In 2014, when Seng Moon was 16 and attending fifth grade, her sister-in-law said she knew of a job as a cook in China’s neighboring Yunnan province. Seng Moon did not want to go, but the promised wage was far more than she could make living in the IDP camp, so her family decided she shouldn’t pass it up. In the car, Seng Moon’s sister-in-law gave her something she said prevented car sickness. Seng Moon fell asleep immediately. “When I woke up my hands were tied behind my back,” she said. “I cried and shouted and asked for help.” By then, Seng Moon was in China, where her sister-in-law left her with a Chinese family. After several months her sister-in-law returned and told her, “Now you have to get married to a Chinese man,” and took her to another house. Said Seng Moon: My sister-in-law left me at the home. …The family took me to a room. In that room I was tied up again. …They locked the door—for one or two months.… Each time when the Chinese man brought me meals, he raped me…After two months, they dragged me out of the room. The father of the Chinese man said, “Here is your husband. Now you are a married couple. Be nice to each other and build a happy family.” My sister-in-law left me at the home. …The family took me to a room. In that room I was tied up again. …They locked the door—for one or two months.… Each time when the Chinese man brought me meals, he raped me…After two months, they dragged me out of the room. The father of the Chinese man said, “Here is your husband. Now you are a married couple. Be nice to each other and build a happy family.”
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2019-03-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-06-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar Must Provide Justice in Decades-Old Land Grab Cases: HRW
Description: "Myanmar should move quickly to settle decades-old claims by farmers forced from their land by the country’s military, a rights group said on Tuesday, adding that the country’s new civilian-led government has largely failed in its pledges to provide justice for those dispossessed. The government should also put new laws in place to protect farmers and other small landholders from further land grabs in the future, Human Rights Watch said in a report, “Nothing For Our Land: Impact of Land Confiscation on Farmers in Myanmar.” Those deprived of their land have been refused adequate compensation, cut off from the only work they know, and denied access to basic services such as health care, schooling, and education, HRW says in its 33-page report, prepared from interviews conducted with farmers, workers, and land-rights activists from October 2016 to March 2017. “Many farmers have [also] faced criminal prosecution for protesting the lack of redress and refusing to leave or cease work on the land that was taken from them,” HRW said in its report, which described the “devastating effects” of confiscations in Myanmar’s southern Shan state and Ayeyarwady and Yangon regions. “Once deprived of the ability to cultivate land and to sell crops, people are commonly forced into manual labor jobs that pay far less and ultimately diminish access to sources of food,” HRW said. “Widespread land confiscations across Myanmar have harmed rural communities in profound ways for decades,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch in a statement tied to the release of the report. “Aung San Suu Kyi’s government should promptly address illegal land confiscations, compensate aggrieved parties, and reform laws to protect people against future abuses,” Robertson said. 'They just took it' Government figures confirm that hundreds of thousands of acres of land have been taken over the last 30 years, though activists believe the true number of acres seized may be in the millions, HRW said in its report, adding that “confiscations often occurred with little or no compensation,” creating a “profoundly harmful” impact on those forced from their land. Confiscations often occurred with little or no warning given, HRW said. “I didn’t know, they just took it,” said one 61-year-old farmer in Ayeyarwady named Thein Win, who was forced to dig fish ponds on the land that was seized and was threatened with jail for complaining, according to the report. “We got nothing. We literally got nothing for our land,” Thein Win said. Meanwhile, in Shan state, Myanmar’s military seized thousands of acres in one village to create plots for military veterans to farm, forcing one family that remained to pay rent for five years on the land they had just lost. “When the land was taken from them, there was no offer to compensate and no other land was given to them,” HRW said. “After years of filing complaints to all levels of the government, they still have received nothing, and the military claims the right to retain ownership of the land..."
Creator/author: Richard Finney
Source/publisher: Radio Free Asia (RFA)
Date of publication: 2018-07-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-05-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar: Women, Girls Trafficked as ‘Brides’ to China - (video)
Description: "The Myanmar and Chinese governments have failed to stem the trafficking of ethnic Kachin women and girls as “brides” to families in China. Trafficking survivors said that trusted people, including family members, promised them jobs in China, but instead sold them for the equivalent of US$3,000 to $13,000 to Chinese families. In China, they were typically locked in a room and raped so they would become pregnant..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2019-03-21
Date of entry/update: 2019-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Kachin
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Title: Myanmar: Investigate Police Use of Force in Karenni State
Description: ''The Myanmar authorities should immediately investigate the alleged excessive use of force by police against protesters in Karenni State and hold those responsible for abuses to account, Human Rights Watch said today. On February 12, 2019, police fired rubber bullets and water cannon at ethnic Karenni youth who attempted to move beyond police barricades, injuring more than 20 protesters. Since February 1, police have arrested 55 people in the Karenni state capital for protesting against the installation of a statue of Gen. Aung San, the father of Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Gen. Aung San is considered the founder of modern-day Myanmar and of the Myanmar army, the Tatmadaw. On February 12, an agreement was reached between protest leaders and the Karenni state government to drop all charges in exchange for promises to suspend further protests for one month while the opposing sides discuss the fate of the statue...''
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2019-02-15
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar: Peaceful Critics Prosecuted
Description: ''Myanmar’s first democratically elected civilian government in decades has prosecuted large numbers of peaceful critics in violation of basic human rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Concerned governments should press Myanmar to protect the rights to expression and assembly, and reform laws penalizing peaceful speech to bring them in line with international standards. The 87-page report, “Dashed Hopes: The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Myanmar,” documents the use of broad and vaguely worded laws against activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy-led government. While discussion of a wide range of topics now flourishes in the media and online, those speaking critically of the government, military, or their officials, as well as abuses in Rakhine or Kachin States, are frequently subject to arrest and prosecution...''
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2019-01-31
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Rohingya Refugees Caught Between India and a Hard Place
Description: ''Recently, 31 Rohingya refugees who had fled atrocities in Myanmar found themselves trapped at the border between India and Bangladesh. Neither Indian nor Bangladeshi border guards were willing to accept them. The Indians insisted that the refugees were attempting an illegal entry from Bangladesh, while Bangladeshi authorities said that the refugees were being forcibly pushed out of India. One thing was certain: Going back to Myanmar was not an option. Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims are among the most persecuted communities in the world. Long denied citizenship rights in Myanmar, subjected to pervasive discrimination and targeted in violent attacks, many have fled or been expelled. In their desperation, these refugees have walked long distances, swum across rivers to safety, or paid human smugglers for a place on flimsy boats to carry them across treacherous seas...''
Creator/author: Meenakshi Ganguly
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2019-02-02
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Massacre by the River
Description: ''On August 30, 2017, Hassina Begum, a 20-year-old ethnic Rohingya woman, was among the few survivors of a massacre of unspeakable brutality. Just days after a deadly attack by Rohingya militants against Burmese security forces, hundreds of Burmese soldiers in uniform, along with ethnic Rakhine villagers armed with machetes and wooden sticks, attacked the village of Tula Toli, officially known as Min Gyi, in Maungdaw Township in Burma’s Rakhine State, also known as Arakan State. The advancing soldiers trapped several hundred unarmed Rohingya Muslim villagers, including Hassina, on the large bank of the river, which surrounds Tula Toli on three sides. As they approached, some fired at the crowd, others toward people trying to flee. While some Rohingya managed to escape, swimming across the fast-moving river or dashing to the surrounding hills, many terrified villagers could not run away or swim. Families with young children had no chance to flee...''
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2018-12-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar: Disband Panel on Crimes Against Rohingya
Description: ''(New York) – Myanmar should disband its commission of inquiry into abuses in Rakhine state because it is clearly unwilling to seriously investigate alleged grave crimes against ethnic Rohingya, Human Rights Watch said today. At a news conference on December 12, 2018, Rosario Manalo, chair of the Independent Commission of Enquiry, stated that the commission had found “no evidence” to support allegations of human rights abuses in the four months since it officially opened its investigation. Her statement shows that the commission is disregarding evidence and testimony collected by United Nations fact-finders, the United States State Department, and international human rights organizations since violence broke out in Rakhine State in 2016...''
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2018-12-19
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Myanmar: Rights Catastrophe Deepens
Description: ''(New York) – The Myanmar government committed grave abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minorities throughout 2018, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2019. Democratic space diminished in the face of increasing government actions to stifle free speech and peaceful assembly. A United Nations investigation found that the Myanmar military had committed the “gravest crimes under international law” in operations in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan States since 2011, calling for senior military officials to face investigation and prosecution for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes...''
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2019-01-17
Date of entry/update: 2019-01-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Burma: Dismantle Infrastructure of Repression - Repeal or Amend Laws Criminalizing Speech and Assembly
Description: (Rangoon) ? Burma?s new government should use its parliamentary majority to repeal or amend the many military and colonial-era laws used to criminalize peaceful speech and assembly, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. ?Successive Burmese governments have enacted broad, vaguely worded laws to control and criminalize basic freedoms, creating thousands of political prisoners,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. ?The new government, led by the National League for Democracy, has moved quickly to release many of those imprisoned for peaceful expression or protest and to drop charges against others. But it?s crucial that the legal infrastructure of repression be dismantled so that there is no chance Burma will ever hold political prisoners again.” The 113-page report, ??They Can Arrest You at Any Time?: The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Burma,” documents the use and abuse of a range of broad and vaguely worded laws to criminalize peaceful expression, including debates on matters of public interest, and provides specific recommendations for the repeal or amendment of those laws..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2016-06-29
Date of entry/update: 2016-06-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English (available also in العربية 简体中文 Français 日本語 )
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Title: Myanmar should dismantle laws blocking free speech - Human Rights Watch
Description: "Myanmar?s government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi?s National League for Democracy (NLD), should amend and abolish laws that threaten freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Wednesday. Laws covering areas from telecommunications to defamation have been used to arrest at least 70 people this month, said the report?s author, Linda Lakhdhir. The arrests come despite reforms by former President Thein Sein and the NLD, which won the November election in a landslide, giving it control of both houses of parliament and installing Suu Kyi as the country?s de facto leader..."
Creator/author: Soe Zeya Tun, Timothy Mclaughlin, Aung Hla Tun
Source/publisher: Reuters UK
Date of publication: 2016-06-29
Date of entry/update: 2016-06-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: "They Can Arrest You at Any Time" - The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Burma
Description: Summary: "While the country is more open than before, the people?s rights are being neglected. They can arrest you at any time under these laws. There is no guarantee. ?Pang Long, attorney, Rangoon, January 2016 The past five years have been a time of liberalization and change in Burma. The abolition of prior censorship and a loosening of licensing requirements has led to a vibrant press, and the shift from formal military rule has emboldened civil society. The change has not been without conflict, however, and, under President Thein Sein, those who embraced the new freedoms to vocally criticize the government or military too often found themselves arrested and in prison. The backlash against critics was facilitated by a range of overly broad and vaguely worded laws that violate internationally protected rights to expression and peaceful assembly, some dating from the British colonial era, some enacted under successive military juntas, and others the products of reform efforts, or ostensible reform efforts, by the Thein Sein government. This report examines how Burmese governments have used and abused these laws and the ways in which the laws themselves fall far short of international standards. It sets forth a series of concrete recommendations to the new Burmese government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi?s National League for Democracy (NLD), aimed at dismantling the inherited legal infrastructure of repression..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2016-06-29
Date of entry/update: 2016-06-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Title: HRW Letter to President U Htin Kyaw Re: Human Rights Priorities for the New Government (English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Description: "Human Rights Priorities for the New Myanmar Government: 1. Release All Political Prisoners ...2. Reform Laws that Violate Basic Rights: *Right to Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Act, Article 4; *Penal Code, Section 124(a) (sedition); *Telecommunications Act, section 66(d); *News Media Law, Section 9; *Electronic Transactions Act, Section 33; *Contempt of Courts Act; *Official Secrets Act 1923, Section 3; *Printing and Publishing Enterprise Law, Article 8; *Emergency Provisions Act 1950, and the *State Protection Act 1975; *Unlawful Associations Act 1908. ...3. Protect and Facilitate the Work of Civil Society Organizations...4. Reform National Human Rights Commission...5. Invite the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to Open an Office with a Full Mandate and Adequate Staff...6. Protect and Promote Women?s Rights...7. Protect and Promote Land Rights...8. Protect and Promote the Right to Health...9. End Persecution of Rohingya and Other Muslims...10. Amend Myanmar?s 1982 Citizenship Law...11. Press the Military to End Human Rights Violations in Conflict Areas...12. End All Recruitment and Use of Children as Soldiers...13. Accountability for Past and Ongoing Abuses...14. Constitutional Reform: *Section 6(f); *Section 20; *Section 59(f);*Section 232(b) [ii, ii]; *Chapter 7; *Chapter 8; *Section 436."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2016-05-04
Date of entry/update: 2016-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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Title: HUMAN RIGHTS IN ASEAN: Briefing Materials for the US-ASEAN Summit: Sunnylands Estate, California, February 15-16, 2016
Description: SUMMARY: "When US President Barack Obama first articulated his administration?s goal of a diplomatic rebalance to Asia, he outlined three areas in which the US government would focus its attentions: increased strategic and military ties, better economic integration, and greater attention to promoting democracy and human rights. Obama outlined the last prong of the rebalance in a speech in Australia on November 17, 2011: -Every nation will chart its own course. Yet it is also true that certain rights are universal; amongthem, freedom of speech, freedom ofthe press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and the freedom of citizens to choose their own leaders. -These are not American rights ... or Western rights. These are human rights. They stir in every soul, as we?ve seen in the democracies that have succeeded here in Asia. Other models have been tried and they have failed - fascism and communism, rule by one man or rule by committee. And they failed for the same simple reason: they ignore the ultimate source of power and legitimacy - the will ofthe people. On February 15-16, 2016, President Obama will host 10 government leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) fora summit at the Sunnylands estate in California. For decades, the United States government has viewed ASEAN as an important economic, security, and political partner, and has forged closer ties with ASEAN countries as they have undergone major economic and political changes. In recent years, some countries, such as the Philippines and Indonesia, have made steady though uneven progress toward becoming democratic states with increasing respect for basic human rights. Most recently, in November 2015 the military junta in Burma allowed the opposition to contest elections and accepted the landslide victory of Aung San Suu Kyi?s National League for Democracy— though it still maintains broad constitutional powers and de facto control over security forces and large parts ofthe economy. Many ASEAN countries, however, continue to be plagued by deep-seated political and economic problems. As the chapters below outline, most of ASEAN?s 10 members have extraordinarily poor human rights records. Beyond the lack of basic freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly in many countries, problems across ASEAN include restrictions on civil society, failures on women?s rights, the political use of courts, high-level corruption, lack of protection of refugees and asylum seekers, human trafficking, and abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. For President Obama, the February 2016 US-ASEAN summit represents another chapter in the continuing efforts to rebalance attention to the Asia region. For many of ASEAN?s leaders—in particular those who have not come to power through free and fair elections— the summit represents an unearned diplomatic reward: a robust US reaffirmation of their sought-for legitimacy as leaders ofthe 615 million people who live in ASEAN. One particularly egregious example is the invitation to the summit for Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha, who took power in a 2014 military coup, dismantled democratic institutions, and has led a relentless crackdown on critics and dissidents. Prayut has consistently delayed the date for a return to democratic rule, making it clear that he expects the army to manage the country?s affairs even after a vote for a new parliament is held. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam and President Choummaly Sayasone of Laos preside over one-party authoritarian states that deny basic freedoms and use censorship, detention, and torture to maintain their party?s hold on power. The communist party of each country has been in power since 1975 and have shown no interest in moving towards pluralism or genuine elections. The sultan of Brunei, Hassal Bolkiah, is one ofthe world?s few remaining hereditary government leaders and has imposed a near complete ban on freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. He plans to increase the imposition of Islamic law punishments, including whipping and stoning, foradultery, sex between unmarried persons, and homosexual activity. The prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, retained power in 2014 after a deeply flawed electoral process in which his party, which has been in power since 1967, lost the popular vote. Implicated in a major corruption scandal, he has engaged in a broad crackdown on Malaysia?s political opposition, civil society organizations, and media..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2016-02-16
Date of entry/update: 2016-03-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 5.6 MB 14.8 MB
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Title: World Report 2016: Burma: Events of 2015
Description: "The transition from military to civilian rule in Burma that started in 2011 slowed down and reversed in some sectors in 2015. Despite a significantly improved environment for freedom of expression and media, in key areas the government?s commitment to improving its human rights faltered or failed. The landslide victory of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) in November elections, the first relatively open national elections in 25 years, seemed poised to reenergize reforms in some areas, but it was too early to gauge at time of writing."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2016-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-02-24
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf
Size: 1.47 MB
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Title: World Report 2013: Burma (events of 2012)
Description: "Burma?s human rights situation remained poor in 2012 despite noteworthy actions by the government toward political reform. In April, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party won 43 of 44 seats it contested in a parliamentary by-election; the parliament consists of 224 seats in the upper house and 440 in the lower house, the majority of which remain under the control of military representatives or former military officers. President Thein Sein welcomed back exiles during the year, and released nearly 400 political prisoners in five general prisoner amnesties, although several hundred are believed to remain in prison. Freed political prisoners face persecution, including restrictions on travel and education, and lack adequate psychosocial support. Activists who peacefully demonstrated in Rangoon in September have been charged with offenses. In August 2012, the government abolished pre-publication censorship of media and relaxed other media restrictions, but restrictive guidelines for journalists and many other laws historically used to imprison dissidents and repress rights such as freedom of expression remain in place. Armed conflict between the Burmese government and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) continued in Kachin State in the north, where tens of thousands of civilians remain displaced. The government has effectively denied humanitarian aid to the displaced Kachin civilians in KIA territory. In conflict areas in Kachin and Shan States, the Burmese military carried out extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, torture, forced labor, and deliberate attacks on civilian areas, all which continue with impunity. Ceasefire agreements in ethnic conflict areas of eastern Burma remain tenuous. Deadly sectarian violence erupted in Arakan State in June 2012 between ethnic Arakanese Buddhists and ethnic Rohingya Muslims, a long-persecuted stateless minority of approximately one million people. State security forces failed to protect either community, resulting in some 100,000 displaced, and then increasingly targeted Rohingya in killings, beatings, and mass arrests while obstructing humanitarian access to Rohingya areas and to camps of displaced Rohingya around the Arakan State capital, Sittwe. Sectarian violence broke out again in 9 of the state?s 17 townships in October, including in several townships that did not experience violence in June, resulting in an unknown number of deaths and injuries, the razing of entire Muslim villages, and the displacement of an additional 35,000 persons. Many of the displaced fled to areas surrounding Sittwe, where they also experienced abuses, such as beatings by state security forces. Despite serious ongoing abuses, foreign governments—including the United States and the United Kingdom—expressed unprecedented optimism about political reforms and rapidly eased or lifted sanctions against Burma, while still condemning the abuses and violence..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2013-02-01
Date of entry/update: 2013-02-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: "BURMA (MYANMAR): WORSENING REPRESSION"
Description: Arrests of Opposition Party Leaders and Candidates... The Ruling Against Aung San Suu Kyi... Restrictions on Freedom of Speech and Assembly... Forced Relocations of Civilians... Restrictions on Freedom of the Press... The Border Conflict... Forced Porterage... Student Refugees in Thailand... U.S. Policy... RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM ASIA WATCH
Source/publisher: Human Right Watch/ Asia
Date of publication: 1990-03-11
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 88.87 KB
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Title: "BURMA: POST-ELECTION ABUSES"
Description: BURMA: POST-ELECTION ABUSES... Background... Recent Demonstrations... Arrest and Torture of Political Prisoners Since the Elections... Execution of Political Prisoners... Continued Detention of Political Prisoners... Abuses of Civil Liberties... Abuses Against Refugees Returning from Thailand... Recommendations...
Source/publisher: "Human Right Watch/ Asia"
Date of publication: 1990-08-14
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 67.12 KB
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Title: "BURMA: TIME FOR SANCTIONS"
Description: BURMA: TIME FOR SANCTIONS... Introduction... Recommendations... APPENDIX I... Arrest and Torture of NLD officials and other dissidents... Arrest of Diplomatic Staff... List of other NLD National Assembly representatives arrested... APPENDIX II... Continuing Detention of Opposition Leaders... RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM ASIA WATCH
Source/publisher: Human Right Watch/ Asia
Date of publication: 1991-02-15
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 270.67 KB
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Title: "CHANGES IN BURMA?"
Description: CHANGES IN BURMA?... I. INTRODUCTION... II. CHANGES AT THE TOP... III. RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS... IV. FAMILY VISITS ALLOWED FOR AUNG SAN SUU KYI... V. PLANNING MEETINGS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION... The Meetings... VI. SITUATION ON THE BURMA-BANGLADESH BORDER... The Repatriation Agreement... The Aftermath... Effect on Refugees... Deteriorating Conditions and Ongoing Abuses... Ongoing Negotiations... VII. SLORC?S SUSPENDED FIGHTING WITH THE KAREN... VIII. ACADEMIC FREEDOM... X. INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE... United States... Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)... Japan... Australia/Canada... Poland... United Nations... XL CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS... United Nations... The United States, On ASEAN:, On Investment:, On Trade:, On China:... Japan... APPENDIX A: Members of Parliament recently released from prison:... APPENDIX A: Members of Parliament (MPs) still known to be in prison:... APPENDIX C: Disqualified MPs by the General Election Commission of SLORC:... RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM ASIA WATCH
Source/publisher: Human Right Watch/ Asia
Date of publication: 1992-09-06
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 204.75 KB
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Title: "Testimony of Holly Burkhalter, Asia Watch"
Description: Testimony of Holly Burkhalter, Asia Watch... before the Asia and Pacific Affairs and Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittees...
Source/publisher: Human Right Watch/ Asia
Date of publication: 1989-09-13
Date of entry/update: 2012-07-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 411.49 KB
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 2011 - Events of 2010: Burma section (English and Burmese)
Description: "Burma?s human rights situation remained dire in 2010, even after the country?s first multiparty elections in 20 years. The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) continued to systematically deny all basic freedoms to citizens and sharply constrained political participation. The rights of freedom of expression, association, assembly, and media remained severely curtailed. The government took no significant steps during the year to release more than 2,100 political prisoners being held, except for the November 13 release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Calls mounted for an international commission of inquiry into serious violations of international law perpetrated by all parties to Burma?s ongoing civil conflict. The Burmese military was responsible for ongoing abuses against civilians in conflict areas, including widespread forced labor, extrajudicial killings, and forced expulsion of the population. Nonstate armed ethnic groups have also been implicated in serious abuses such as recruitment of child soldiers, execution of Burmese prisoners of war, and indiscriminate use of antipersonnel landmines around civilian areas..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Date of publication: 2011-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 42.93 KB 58.29 KB
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 2012 - Events of 2011: Burma section
Description: "Burma?s human rights situation remained dire in 2011 despite some significant moves by the government which formed in late March following November 2010 elections. Freedoms of expression, association, and assembly remain severely curtailed. Although some media restrictions were relaxed, including increased access to the internet and broader scope for journalists to cover formerly prohibited subjects, official censorship constrains reporting on many important national issues. In May and October the government released an estimated 316 political prisoners in amnesties, though many more remain behind bars. Ethnic conflict escalated in 2011 as longstanding ceasefires with ethnic armed groups broke down in northern Burma. The Burmese military continues to be responsible for abuses against civilians in conflict areas, including forced labor, extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, the use of ?human shields,? and indiscriminate attacks on civilians. Despite support from 16 countries for a proposed United Nations commission of inquiry into serious violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to Burma?s internal armed conflicts, no country took leadership at the UN to make it a reality. Foreign government officials expressed their optimism about government reforms despite abundant evidence of continuing systematic repression..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Date of publication: 2012-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 63.94 KB
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Title: World Report 2004 - Human Rights and Armed Conflict
Description: This report, covering human rights and armed conflict, has no specific Burma section, but there are a number of references to the country, which can be found with the pdf search.
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Date of publication: 2004-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2012-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Burma?s Continuing Human Rights Challenges
Description: "One year ago Burma conducted tightly controlled elections that transferred power from a ruling military council to a nominally civilian government in which the president and senior government officials are all former generals. In 2011 the new government has taken a number of positive actions, enacted new laws that purport to protect basic rights, and promised important policy changes. The real test, however, will be in the implementation of new laws and policies and how the government reacts when Burmese citizens try to avail themselves of their rights. Meanwhile, the main elements of Burma?s repressive security apparatus, and the laws underpinning it, remain in place. In ethnic areas, the human rights situation remains dire. While there are grounds for hope that fundamental change will come to Burma, it is too early to conclude that it has in fact begun..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2011-11-07
Date of entry/update: 2011-11-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 105.24 KB
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 2005 - Events of 2004: Burma section
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
Date of publication: 2005-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 105.28 KB
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 2010 - Events of 2009: Burma section
Description: "Burma's human rights record continued to deteriorate in 2009 ahead of announced elections in 2010. The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) systematically denies citizens basic freedoms including freedom of expression, association, and assembly. More than 2,100 political prisoners remain behind bars. This, and the politically-motivated arrest and trial of Aung San Suu Kyi only to send her back to house arrest for another 18 months, confirmed that Burma's military rulers are unwilling to allow genuine political participation in the electoral process. The Burmese military continues to perpetrate violations against civilians in ethnic conflict areas, including extrajudicial killings, forced labor, and sexual violence..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2010-01-20
Date of entry/update: 2010-01-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 1997 - Events of 1996: Burma section
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
Date of publication: 1997-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-01-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 2002 - Events of 2001: Burma section
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
Date of publication: 2002-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-01-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 2008 - Events of 2007: Burma section
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
Date of publication: 2008-01-31
Date of entry/update: 2009-01-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 2009 - Events of 2008: Burma section
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
Date of publication: 2009-01-14
Date of entry/update: 2009-01-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 2006 - Events of 2005: Burma section
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
Date of publication: 2006-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2007-03-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 2007 - Events of 2006: Burma section
Description: Events of 2006..."Burma?s international isolation deepened during 2006 as the authoritarian military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), continued to restrict basic rights and freedoms and waged brutal counterinsurgency operations against ethnic minorities. The democratic movement inside the country remained suppressed, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political activists continued to be detained or imprisoned. International efforts to foster change in Burma were thwarted by the SPDC and sympathetic neighboring governments..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2007-01-11
Date of entry/update: 2007-03-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 2003 - Events of 2002: Burma section
Description: With the release of opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in May after nineteen months of de facto house arrest, hope arose that the military junta might take steps to improve its human rights record. However, by late 2002, talks between Suu Kyi and the government had ground to a halt and systemic restrictions on basic civil and political liberties continued unabated. Ethnic minority regions continued to report particularly grave abuses, including forced labor and the rape of Shan minority women by military forces. Government military forces continued to forcibly recruit and use child soldiers.....Human Rights Developments...Defending Human Rights... The Role of the International Community
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2003-01-15
Date of entry/update: 2003-08-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 89.04 KB
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 1989 - Events of 1988: Burma section
Description: Events of 1988... "The Bush administration's stance on Burma (Myanmar) was generally positive, although the U.S. embassy in Thailand has been slow to respond to requests for refugee status by Burmese students fleeing repression. The human rights situation in Burma continued to deteriorate sharply throughout 1989, following the bloody end in September 1988 of Burma's pro-democracy demonstrations, when at least 3000 students and other largely unarmed civilians on the streets of the capital and other cities were massacred. The Reagan administration was quick to suspend its small military and economic aid program, and the Bush administration continued to speak out against Burmese rights violations. As one diplomat in Rangoon told the Washington Post in March, "Since there are no U.S. bases and very little strategic interest, Burma is one place where the United States has the luxury of living up to its principles." ..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 1989-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 1990 - Events of 1989: Burma section
Description: Events of 1989... "The military government in Burma, known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC, intensified political repression in the wake of the opposition's landslide victory in elections for a new National Assembly held in May 1990. Soon after taking power in September 1988, following an unprecedented nationwide uprising against the 26-year-old rule of General Ne Win and his Burma Socialist Programme Party in which security forces are believed to have killed an estimated 3,000 to 10,000 protestors, SLORC promised to deliver power to a civilian government as soon as elections could be organized..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 1990-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 1992 - Events of 1991: Burma section
Description: Events of 1991..." Refusing to respect the results of the 1990 general elections, Burma's military leaders intensified their crackdown on political dissent throughout the country in 1991. Repression was worse than any other time in recent years, marked by a complete lack of basic freedoms and the continuing imprisonment of thousands of suspected opponents of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). By the middle of the year, the crackdown extended beyond members of the main opposition parties to include a massive purge of those employed in the civil service, schools and universities. In late 1990 and early 1991, SLORC also heightened its offensive against ethnic minority insurgent groups, resulting in widespread civilian casualties and the displacement of tens of thousands of people along Burma's borders. The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi helped to focus attention on SLORC's disastrous human rights record. The crackdown on members and supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was especially severe..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 1992-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 1993 - Events of 1992: Burma section
Description: Events of 1992...Human Rights Developments Burma (Myanmar) in 1992 remained one of the human rights disasters in Asia. Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi continued under house arrest, and an unknown number of political dissidents remained in prison. Reports of military abuses against members of ethnic minority groups were frequent. Certain positive measures were taken by Burma's military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (slorc), such as the release of several hundred alleged political prisoners and slorc's accession to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. But the changes were largely superficial, and human rights violations persisted unchecked. ..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 1993-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 1994 - Events of 1993: Burma section
Description: Events of 1993... "The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council or SLORC continued to be a human rights pariah, despite its cosmetic gestures to respond to international criticism. Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, was permitted visits from her family but remained under house arrest for the fifth year. SLORC announced the release of nearly 2,000 political prisoners, but it was not clear that the majority had been detained on political charges, nor could most of the releases be verified. At least one hundred critics of SLORC were detained during the year, and hundreds of people tried by military tribunals between 1989 and 1992 remained in prison. Torture in Burmese prisons continued to be widespread. Foreign correspondents were able to obtain visas for Burma more easily, but access by human rights and humanitarian organizations remained tightly restricted. A constitutional convention met throughout the year, but over 80 percent of the delegates were hand-picked by SLORC..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 1994-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 1995 - Events of 1994: Burma section
Description: Events of 1994..."The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), a military body established as a temporary government in Burma after the pro-democracy uprising in 1988, continued to be responsible for forced labor, especially on infrastructure projects; arbitrary detention; torture; and denials of freedom of association, expression, and assembly. Fighting with armed ethnic groups along the Thai and Chinese borders continued to diminish, as the SLORC reached a cease-fire agreement with the Kachin Independence Organization in February and opened talks with others. Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the democratic opposition, remained under house arrest but for the first time since her detention in July 1989 was permitted to meet with visitors outside her family. On September 21, as the U.N. General Assembly opened in New York, she was allowed out of her house for a televised meeting with the chair and secretary-1 of the SLORC, Senior General Than Shwe and Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt. A second meeting took place on October 28..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 1995-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 1996 - Events of 1995: Burma section
Description: Events of 1995..."The most significant human rights event in Burma in 1995 was the release on July 10 of Nobel laureate and opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi after six years of house arrest. Paradoxically, the governing military State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) took an increasingly hard-line stance during the year, and there was no overall improvement in the human rights situation. In some areas abuses increased, notably in the Karen, Karenni and Shan States where there was fighting, while throughout the country thousands of civilians were forced to work as unpaid laborers for the army. The SLORC continued to deny basic rights such as freedom of speech, association and religion and the right of citizens to participate in the political process..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 1996-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 1998 - Events of 1996-1997: Burma section
Description: Events December 1996-November 1997..." Respect for human rights in Burma continued to deteriorate relentlessly in 1997. The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) continued to be a target of government repression. NLD leaders were prevented from making any public speeches during the year, and over 300 members were detained in May when they attempted to hold a party congress. There were no meetings during the year of the government's constitutional forum, the National Convention, which last met in March 1996; the convention was one of the only fora where Rangoon-based politicians and members of Burma's various ethnic movements could meet. The government tightened restrictions on freedom of expression, refusing visas to foreign journalists, deporting others and handing down long prison terms to anyone who attempted to collect information or contact groups abroad. Persecution of Muslims increased. Armed conflict continued between government troops and ethnic opposition forces in a number of areas, accompanied by human rights abuses such as forced portering, summary executions, rape, and torture. The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) continued to deny access to U.N. Special Representative to Burma Rajsoomer Lallah. Despite its human rights practices, however, Burma was admitted as a full member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 1998-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 1999 - Events of 1997-98: Burma section
Description: Events December 1997-early November 1998..."Ten years after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising was crushed by the army, Burma continued to be one of the world?s pariah states. A standoff between the government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, general secretary of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), and other expressions of nonviolent dissent resulted in more than 1,000 detentions during the year. Many were relatively brief, others led eventually to prison sentences. Human rights abuses, including extrajudicial executions, rape, forced labor, and forced relocations, sent thousands of Burmese refugees, many of them from ethnic minority groups, into Thailand and Bangladesh. The change in November 1997 from the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to the gentler-sounding State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) had little impact on human rights practices and policies; the SPDC?s euphemism for continued authoritarian control—?disciplined democracy?— indicated no change. In addition to pervasive human rights violations, an economy in free fall made life even more difficult for the beleaguered population..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 1999-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 2000 - Events of 1999: Burma section
Description: Events of November 1998-October 1999)..."The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) offered no signs during the year that fundamental change was on the horizon. The SPDC's standoff with the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) continued. No progress was made on ending forced labor. Counterinsurgency operations by the Burmese military in several ethnic minority areas, accompanied by extrajudicial executions, forced relocation, and other abuses, led to the displacement of thousands inside Burma and the flight of yet more refugees across the border into Thailand. In one of the few positive developments during the year, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reopened its office in Rangoon in May and was able to visit Burmese prisons on a regular basis. Bilateral and multilateral policies towards Burma remained largely unchanged during the year, with sanctions in place from much of the industrialized world. Various governments tried combinations of diplomatic carrots and economic sticks to improve human rights and encourage negotiations between the SPDC and the opposition, but none had succeeded by late October. Arrests and intimidation of supporters of the NLD continued, part of a campaign that began in August 1998 after the NLD announced its intention to convene a parliament in line with the 1990 election result. This was foiled by mass arrests, and the NLD subsequently established a ten-member Committee Representing People's Parliament (CRPP), a kind of parallel parliamentary authority whose creation was seen as a direct challenge to the government. Some sixty parliamentarians remained under detention while thousands of NLD registered voters were forced to resign their party membership..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2000-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Title: Human Rights Watch World Report 2001 - Events of 2000: Burma section
Description: Events November 1999-October 2000..."The Burmese government took no steps to improve its dire human rights record. The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) continued to pursue a strategy of marginalizing the democratic opposition through detention, intimidation, and restrictions on basic civil liberties. Despite international condemnation, the system of forced labor remained intact. In the war-affected areas of eastern Burma, gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law continued. There, the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), and Karen National Union (KNU), as well as some other smaller groups, continued their refusal to agree to a cease-fire with the government, as other insurgent forces had done, but they were no longer able to hold significant territory. Tens of thousands of villagers in the contested zones remained in forced relocation sites or internally displaced within the region. Human Rights Developments The SPDC continued to deny its citizens freedom of expression, association, assembly, and movement. It intimidated members of the democratic opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) into resigning from the party and encouraged crowds to denounce NLD members elected to parliament in the May 1990 election but not permitted to take their seats. The SPDC rhetoric against the NLD and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, became increasingly extreme. On March 27, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, in his Armed Forces Day address, called for forces undermining stability to be eliminated. It was a thinly veiled threat against the NLD. On May 2, a commentary in the state-run Kyemon (Mirror) newspaper claimed there was evidence of contact between the NLD and dissident and insurgent groups, an offense punishable by death or life imprisonment. In a May 18 press conference, several Burmese officials pointed to what they said were linkages between the NLD and insurgents based along the Thai-Burma border, and on September 4 the official Myanmar Information Committee repeated this charge in a press release after Burmese security forces raided the NLD headquarters in Rangoon..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
Date of publication: 2001-01-00
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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