Description:
"Burma, with an estimated population of 56 million, is ruled by a highly
authoritarian military regime dominated by the majority ethnic Burman group. The
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), led by Senior General Than Shwe,
was the country?s de facto government. Military officers wielded the ultimate
authority at each level of government. In 1990 prodemocracy parties won more
than 80 percent of the seats in a general parliamentary election, but the regime
continued to ignore the results. In 2008 the regime held a referendum on its draft
constitution and declared the constitution had been approved by 92.48 percent of
voters, a figure no independent observers believed was valid. The government held
parliamentary elections on November 7, the first elections since 1990. The
government-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) claimed an
overwhelming majority of seats in the national parliament and state/regional
assemblies. Democracy activists and the international community widely criticized
both the constitutional referendum and the elections process as seriously flawed.
Parliament was scheduled to convene on January 31, 2011, with a special joint
session of the upper and lower houses to follow within 15 days. The constitution
was to go into effect when that joint session was convened. The constitution
specifies that the SPDC will continue to rule until a new government is formed.
The regime continued to abridge the right of citizens to change their government
and committed other severe human rights abuses. Government security forces were
responsible for extrajudicial killings, custodial deaths, disappearances, rape, and
torture. The government detained civic activists indefinitely and without charges.
In addition regime-sponsored mass-member organizations engaged in harassment
and abuse of human rights and prodemocracy activists. The government abused
prisoners and detainees, held persons in harsh and life-threatening conditions,
routinely used incommunicado detention, and imprisoned citizens arbitrarily for
political motives. The army continued its attacks on ethnic minority villagers,
resulting in deaths, forced relocation, and other serious abuses. The government
routinely infringed on citizens? privacy and restricted freedom of speech, press,
assembly, association, religion, and movement. The government did not allow
domestic human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to function
independently, and international NGOs encountered a difficult environment.
Violence and societal discrimination against women continued, as did recruitment
of child soldiers, discrimination against ethnic minorities, and trafficking in
persons, particularly of women and girls. Workers? rights remained restricted.
Forced labor, including that of children, also persisted. The government took no
significant actions to prosecute or punish those responsible for human rights
abuses.
Ethnic armed groups and some cease-fire groups (armed ethnic guerillas) allegedly
committed human rights abuses, including forced labor and recruitment of child
soldiers.
The government released Aung San Suu Kyi--general secretary of the National
League for Democracy (NLD)--from house arrest on November 13, the date her
sentence (for allegedly having violated the terms of her confinement) expired..."
Source/publisher:
US State Dept, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Date of Publication:
2011-04-08
Date of entry:
2011-04-28
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English
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Format:
pdf
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228.87 KB