"The international community should call on the regime to take the necessary steps to make the commission a truly independent and effective mechanism On 5 September 2011, Burma?s regime announced that it had established a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) charged with promoting and safeguarding the fundamental rights of citizens in accordance with the 2008 Constitution. While the creation of a NHRC could be seen as a positive step, many welcomed the development with skepticism. We know very little about Burma?s new NHRC. No official information about the procedure, mandate, and responsibilities of the commission has been made accessible to the public and, in particular, victims of human rights violations. The information gathered is piecemeal, collected from a number of different statements and interviews. The entire process of establishing the NHRC has been everything but transparent, lending support to the argument that this is nothing more than an empty gesture designed to placate the international community at a time when the regime is seeking to have sanctions lifted..."