"This submission focuses on the human rights abuses that have occurred over the past four years in relation to oil and natural gas development projects in Myanmar, which is under the rule of a military regime known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Since the early 1990s, the areas around such development projects have been heavily militarized in order to protect the projects and the interests of the companies who finance them. As MAF soldiers flood the area, the local villagers are subjected to severe human rights abuses, including incidences of extrajudicial killings, forced labor, violations of freedom of movement, and land confiscations. As ERI and others have documented, this pattern of abuse has continued over the last four years. Although not the primary focus of this submission, similar abuses have occurred in relation to other development projects in Myanmar as well, such as mines and dams."