Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Websites/Multiple Documents
Description:
NOW CLOSED. SEE ARCHIVE TO OCTOBER 2016
Source/publisher:
Various sources via "BurmaNet News"
Date of entry/update:
2015-03-08
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
About 119,000 results (August 2017)
Source/publisher:
Various sources via Youtube
Date of entry/update:
2017-08-21
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
more
Description:
Advanced Search results for "Myanmar" Reports. (for Urgent Actions, Media etc. go to Library from the home page, use Advanced Search -- type in Myanmar, and check the item(s) you want. The site has reports on Myanmar from 7 November 1990 up to the present.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Useful articles, videos and links..."The AHRC Burmese-language blog is also updated constantly for Burmese-language readers, and covers the contents of urgent appeal cases, related news, and special analysis pieces..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Human Rights Commission
Date of entry/update:
2011-11-22
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Burma/Myanmar Human Rights blogs
Language:
Burmese
more
Description:
Very useful page...
"The AHRC Burmese-language blog is also updated constantly for Burmese-language readers, and covers the contents of urgent appeal cases, related news, and special analysis pieces..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Human Rights Commission
Date of entry/update:
2011-11-21
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Human rights organisations, networks: resources, training, methodology and other links, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
Burmese
more
Description:
304 documents (June 2011)
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International Deutschland
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
Deutsch, German
more
Description:
The Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law...Several written and oral statements on Burma to U. S. and U.N. bodies. Focus on international humanitarian law (laws of war, armed conflict. Keywords: Karen, Karenni, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, International law, violations of human rights law, violations of humanitarian law, armed conflict, Laws of War, Self-Determaination, United States Policy.
Karen Parker
Source/publisher:
The Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, International Humanitarian Law (reports of violations in Burma)
Language:
English
more
Description:
About 70 videos and audios from 19967
Source/publisher:
Democracy Now!
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-07
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Description:
Various reports on Burma, notably the reports of CSW vists to the border areas.
Source/publisher:
Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Last updated about 1998. Some docs in Spanish
Source/publisher:
Derechos
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Description:
Lots of good human rights, academic and other links. The Burma-specific links were dead, August 2001, but we can hope...
Source/publisher:
FDLAP
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Foundation of Fear.
Since 1992, the Karen Human Rights Group has
been documenting villagers? voices on the human
rights situation in southeast Myanmar. 25 years on,
KHRG presents this extensive review, an analysis
of villagers? current concerns seen in the light of 25
years of testimonies on human rights and abuse.
By revisiting these testimonies we can understand
ongoing obstacles to peace, security and freedom
for local community members in southeast Myanmar,
and prevent human rights abuses from being
forgotten, silenced and, crucially, from continuing
and being repeated..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2017-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-16
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) reports, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Village and urban resistance
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), Karen
Format :
pdf
Size:
4.77 MB
more
Description:
Contents:
1 Forced labour...
2 Freedom of speech and political freedom:
2.1 Trade Unions;
2.2 Freedom of the press...
3 Freedom of religion...
4 State-sanctioned torture and rape...
5 Children?s rights...
6 Cases...
7 Minorities...
8 See also...
9 References...
10 External links.
Source/publisher:
Wikipedia
Date of entry/update:
2012-08-14
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
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
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Refugees from Burma: general reports, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
more
Description:
"ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process...
The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims...
ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members? input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns...
Vision:
A peaceful, democratic and federal Burma that has acknowledged past human rights violations and has implemented measures to uphold the dignity of victims and guard against recurrence...
Mission:
Achieve government recognition, redress and guarantees of non-recurrence for victims of human rights violations...
Goal:
Produce high-quality data that ND-Burma and other human rights advocacy groups can use effectively.
Source/publisher:
ND-Burma
Date of entry/update:
2017-08-15
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Human rights organisations, networks: resources, training, methodology and other links
Language:
English, Burmese
more
Description:
About Progressive Voice:-
Vision:
"Progressive Voice envisions a federal democratic Myanmar that is free of discrimination and upholds the principles of peace, justice and human rights...
Mission:
Our mission is to amplify the voices from the ground for a principled, rights-based policy narrative on Myanmar at a local, national and international level through participatory research, analysis and advocacy...
Who We Are:
Progressive Voice is a participatory rights-based policy research and advocacy organization rooted in civil society, that maintains strong networks and relationships with grassroots organizations and community-based organizations throughout Myanmar. It acts as a bridge to the international community and international policymakers by amplifying voices from the ground, and advocating for a rights-based policy narrative.
Underpinning our work and identity is a commitment to human rights principles. We stand for the universality, inalienability and absolute nature of human rights, and do not discriminate against people on grounds of race, color, nationality, ethnicity, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, social standing, religion, political or other beliefs.
We maintain a gender-inclusive staffing policy that also draws strength from the ethnic and religious diversity of its staff while also aiming to foster and develop a young generation of people of Myanmar, particularly from marginalized communities, that will take the organization forward in years to come as well as contributing to the discourse and work towards democracy in Myanmar. Decision-making is principled, collective and consensus-orientated within Progressive Voice, ensuring the values of inclusivity and active participation.
Progressive Voice?s research is done ethically, following the principle of ?do no harm.? Based on this research, we produce independent and principled analysis that remains non-aligned and independent of any political parties and political and religious institutions.
Progressive Voice focuses on three main thematic policy areas:
(1) Governance Reforms, including political, democratic, constitutional, administrative and institutional reform;
(2) Rule of Law, including access to justice, legislative and judicial reform, strengthening the space and work of civil society and human rights defenders, and protecting religious minorities; and
(3) Sustainable Development, including labor rights, foreign investment, corruption, transparency and accountability.
Human rights is a central issue that is reflected in all analyses, publications and policy recommendations...
What We Do:
Working and cooperating with disenfranchised, disempowered and marginalized communities and civil society organizations, to amplify their voices, and concerns, thereby filling the gap between policy needs on the ground and the policy-makers themselves.
Conducting independent, participatory research and analysis to equip relevant stakeholders and decision-makers with principled, rights-based policy recommendations.
Advocating for institutional and structural reforms that comply with international human rights law and standards as well as Myanmar?s international commitments and obligations..."
Source/publisher:
Progresssive Voice
Date of entry/update:
2017-04-01
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Human rights organisations, networks: resources, training, methodology and other links, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
more
Description:
511 results, March 2004
Source/publisher:
Asian Human Rights Commission
Date of entry/update:
2004-03-12
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Reports, resolutions, press releases etc.
Source/publisher:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Resolutions of the General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights; reports by the Secretary-General and the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar; written statements by NGOs; reports with references to Myanmar by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Special Rapporteur on toxic wastes, Special Rapporteur on Torture, Report of the High Commissioner on human rights and mass exoduses, Report of the Secretary-General on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, Report of the Secretary-General on the national practices related to the right to a fair trial.
Source/publisher:
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Multilateral Relations of Burma/Myanmar, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Major online locations of books, reports and articles on Burma, The Secretary-General's reports on the situation of human rights in Myanmar (English)
Language:
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish
more
Source/publisher:
US Department of State
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs U.S. Department of State
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Individual Documents
Sub-title:
UN Special Envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, warned on Wednesday that the situation in the country challenges “the stability of the region” and could lead to a “real war”.
Description:
"Speaking at a virtual press conference, Ms. Burgener said the news out of Myanmar was shocking and, with the death of 38 people, marked the bloodiest day since the start of the coup on 1 February.
More than 1,200 people are under detention and many families do not know where their loved ones are or what condition they are in.
Ms. Schraner Burgener said that in discussions with the army, she warned that UN Member States and the Security Council might take “strong measures”, to which they responded: “We are used to sanctions and we survived the sanctions time in the past”.
She continued, “I also warned they will go in an isolation”, to which they said, “we have to learn to walk with only few friends”.
Chaos continues
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power and detained elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her National League for Democracy (NLD) leadership, who won a November election in a landslide, which the military said was fraudulent.
However, the election commission said the vote was fair.
The UN envoy said she remained in contact with the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), which represents the elected parliamentarians, and with all regional stakeholders, including leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
She noted that the Secretary-General condemned the coup and urged an end to the violence.
Stressing that every tool available was now needed to end the situation, she spelled out that the unity of the international community was essential..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of entry/update:
2021-03-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, The UN and Burma - news and commentary
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"More than 20 rights NGOs have urged the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, which was revamped in January and has been criticized as toothless, to focus on reported rights violations committed during the COVID-19 pandemic by military troops in conflicts in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan states.
In a joint statement issued Wednesday, the 22 rights groups contend that the MNHRC is failing to address widespread human rights violations committed amid the coronavirus pandemic, especially in conflict zones in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan states, home to ethnic conflicts of varying intensity.
“We haven’t seen any acknowledgement of human rights violations during the pandemic as we had seen before,” said Aung Myo Min, director of human rights education group Equality Myanmar.
“The commission has been particularly silent on rights violations related to COVID-19 outbreaks,” he said. “It has also been inactive in providing guidelines for preventing rights violations or acknowledging violations that have occurred.”
Aung Myo Min said that a government-imposed internet service ban in nine townships in northern Rakhine and Chin states is a violation of human rights because residents cannot access to information about the coronavirus pandemic and how to protect themselves from it..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia (RFA)" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Grassroots Karen Women Groups Call for Genuine Reforms and More Involvement in Burma Politics
Description:
"Karen women’s groups called for more women to be involved in Burma’s federal political and Karen National Union elections. The call was made in a statement issued after the 4th Grassroots Karen Women Seminar held during the last week of October, 2019.
The statement called for the abolishment of the 2018 Vacant Fellow and Virgin land law and for widespread land disputes to be settled fairly. The statement said women had to be included and involved in issues such as the enactment and enforcement of the women protection law, measure on refugee issue and support for cross-border aid, the abolishment of the 2008 constitution and amending to be a genuine federal constitution, to immediately stop large scale development projects in ethnic areas before genuine peace is achieved, to find solutions to overcome the deadlock on the current peace process, and to have free, fair and transparent elections with more women involved in the Burma’s 2020 general election and future KNU elections..."
Source/publisher:
KIC (Karen Information Center)
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Karen National Union (KNU), Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Political analysis of Burma and the region
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"As we approach the second anniversary of the Burmese military offensive against the Rohingya on 25th August 2017, in which thousands were killed and 700,000 fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, Burma Campaign UK today called on the British government, EU, USA and other governments to start implementing the recommendations on the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. To date not a single government anywhere in the world has done so.
The United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar was created by the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish the facts of what has been taking place in Rakhine State against the Rohingya, and in Kachin and Shan States. In a report published 18th September 2018, it concluded that the Burmese military were responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and made a series of recommendations, including referring the situation in Burma to the International Criminal Court.
The Mission also called for a UN mandated global arms embargo, targeted sanctions on military companies, and a review of support for the 2020 election in Burma, if the Rohingya continue to be disenfranchised.
To date, rather than take these measures, the few governments which have taken any action have mostly only introduced bans on a small number of military personnel taking holidays in their countries..."
Source/publisher:
"Progressive Voice" via Burma Campaign UK
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"ASEAN member states must impose targeted financial sanctions against all Myanmar Army-owned companies and anyone contributing or benefiting economically from them, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today.
“It is shameful that companies in Southeast Asia are providing economic benefit to an army that stands accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. ASEAN has been unable to take any meaningful measures to respond to the Tatmadaw’s international crimes, but this is one step that member states and private business can and must take,” said Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament in Malaysia and APHR Board Chair.
“These companies run the risk of contributing to the human rights abuses perpetrated by the military in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states. It is simple; no businesses in the region should enter into any commercial relationship with the Myanmar Army, or any enterprise owned or controlled by them.”
On Monday, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (IFFM) on Myanmar issued a report on “The economic interests of the Myanmar military,” highlighting the foreign companies with commercial ties to the Myanmar Army. According to the report, 15 foreign companies have joint ventures and at least 44 have other forms of commercial ties with Myanmar Army businesses. Several of them are domiciled in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. In addition, a firm based in the Philippines sold military equipment to the Myanmar Army well-after the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people..."
Source/publisher:
"ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights"
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ASEAN-Burma relations, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Tatmadaw is responsible for systemic persecution and violence and has compromised post-2015 election democracy and free market transition, says a UN report
Description:
"The United Nations Human Rights Council, charged last year with investigating the Myanmar army’s (Tatmadaw) business empire as the biggest single corporate owner amid findings of abuses and war crimes in three states, presented a complex construct of domestic and investor ties to be rolled back and unwound altogether under diplomatic and commercial imperatives.
The report focuses on widespread violations in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states, the first two with longstanding independence movements in gem-producing regions, and the last the source of the 850,000 Rohingyas’ escape to Bangladesh after company-supported “cleansing operations” that may fit the universal genocide definition. Senior generals leading the two main Myanmar Economic Holdings (MEHL) and Cooperation (MEC) conglomerates are already under personal international sanctions and asset freezes, and the UN Council’s work, to be debated at the September General Assembly, is designed to reinforce the military’s isolation..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times"
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, General/Strategic
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"In late December 2018, amid ongoing and heavy armed conflict in Kachin and Shan states, the Burma army declared a four-month unilateral ceasefire in northern and north-eastern Burma. The announcement of the Burma army’s first ever truce was met with cautious optimism by ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) and welcomed as a constructive gesture by many observers and analysts of the peace process.
However, despite this overture, the Burma army has continued to engage in armed clashes with EAOs in Kachin and Shan states, while establishing new military camps throughout the region. Indiscriminate gunfire, artillery attacks and aerial bombardments by Burma army soldiers against EAO positions over the initial four-month ceasefire and its renewal have led to villager deaths, injuries, displacement and increasing militarisation by Burma army forces.
During this period, ND-Burma organisations documented numerous human rights abuses against civilians, including extrajudicial killings; arbitrary arrest, detention and torture; sexual violence; landmine incidents; and indiscriminate aerial and mortar campaigns in civilian areas by Burma army soldiers, as well as violations against civilians by EAOs.
These ongoing offensives by the Burma army in Shan and Kachin states as well as the exclusion of the Arakan Army from the ceasefire despite heavy fighting in Rakhine and Chin states and the urging of their inclusion by its Northern Alliance allies, have marred the ceasefire’s implementation and undermined meaningful dialogue meant to reinvigorate Burma’s floundering peace process.
Without a sincere commitment to overtures of peace such as the northern ceasefire or other peace-related activities by the Burma army, there will be no genuine progress towards peace and an end to hostilities in Burma. The Burma army must keep their word for trust building to occur, and this extends to guarantees of non-recurrence of human rights violations towards conflict- affected communities. Without a sincere effort on the part of the Burma army, there will be no trust and no concrete progress in the peace process..."
Source/publisher:
"Progressive Voice" via Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
457.61 KB
more
Description:
"As representatives of the international community, we stand together in expressing deep concern about ongoing and undue restrictions on religious freedom, including those on members of minority ethnic and religious groups, in Burma/Myanmar. We call on authorities to uphold the rights protected by Burma/Myanmar’s own Constitution “to freely profess and practice religion” and pursue accountability for those who have denied others these rights. Many of Burma/Myanmar’s religious and ethnic minorities – including Rohingya and other Muslims, Christians in Kachin and Chin States, and Hindus – face discrimination because of their beliefs.
We are appalled by the horrific acts of violence and ethnic cleansing of Rohingya in northern Rakhine State, where Burmese security forces engaged in shocking and brutal violence that caused more than 740,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh and many others to be displaced within Burma/Myanmar. The government continues to commit abuses in Rakhine State and restrict access to citizenship and freedom of movement for the majority of Rohingya who remain in Rakhine State, especially for the more than 127,000 Rohingya in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in central Rakhine State. We are also troubled by the widespread reports of human right violations and abuses committed by the military in Kachin and Shan States, which have contributed to the displacement of more than 106,000 civilians. In other regions, authorities and armed actors have detained religious leaders on account of their faith, unduly restricted travel and religious practice, destroyed religious property and texts, denied or failed to approve permits for religious buildings and renovations, transferred lands away from minority communities without proper and transparent process, and discriminated on the basis of religion and ethnicity in public employment..."
Source/publisher:
Progressive Voice via "Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom"
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
106.04 KB
more
Description:
"When the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Myanmar completed a 444-page report last year documenting atrocities committed by security forces against Myanmar’s ethnic Rohingya minority, its experts reported to the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly, the Security Council, and a global audience via the media. Last month, the mission’s Experts took it upon themselves to report to the Rohingya themselves.
On a May 5 visit to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, FFM Chairman Marzuki Darusman and Expert member Christopher Sidoti met with scores of refugees – the majority of whom had fled an explosion of violence in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine State two years ago.
Among those present were witnesses, survivors and community leaders who had contributed vital testimony to the report. The meeting marked the first time the Experts were able to formally brief them, and the first time the Rohingya were able to pose questions of their own.
Most of those present asked about the slow pace of justice and said they were desperate to return home. Trapped inside a vast network of camps that have become the largest refugee settlement in the world (900,000 people), they complained they were being excluded from discussions over their future by governments and humanitarian organizations.
One man stood up to ask about some of the greatest challenges the exiled Rohingya now face: access to education, and jobs. “Our concern is what’s going to happen to the next generation,” he said. “If we’re stuck here … what will happen to them?”
A few minutes later, a woman stood up to thank the Experts for taking the time to listen. “In Myanmar we never had the chance to speak about our rights and our demands,” she said, “and even here in the camps women especially don’t have that opportunity.”
The woman said the FFM’s report had helped inform the world about the “indescribable violence” the Rohingya community had experienced. She added: “we would like to know, how can this type of suffering be stopped from happening again?”
A Unique Opportunity
Investigative missions established by the Human Rights Council report primarily to UN member States in Geneva and New York. But because the FFM’s mandate was extended an additional year – it expires in September 2019 – the Experts had the opportunity to go back and meet with those they reported on.
“For us, this was the most important report back we’ve done,” Sidoti said. “Our report was the product of what they told us. Theirs are the stories we told. So we wanted to ensure that after their cooperation with us we had an opportunity to tell them what we found and what we recommended and what’s going to happen from here.”
“I hope very much that as a result of our experience this will become standard for Human Rights Council investigations,” Sidoti said, shortly after FFM staff handed out summarized copies of their 2018 findings. “The mandate given to the investigative teams should require a report, not just to UN mechanisms, but also to the affected communities.”
During their visit, the Experts held two meetings in the refugee camps, one exclusively with women. They also met with Rohingya on the Bangladeshi side of a strip of land at Konarpara, which straddles the Myanmar frontier, and heard new testimony from recent arrivals.
The trip was part of a 10-day journey through the region that began May 3 and ended with the Experts urging the international community to cut all financial ties to Myanmar’s military, saying its commanders needed to be “isolated” and brought before a credible court to answer charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide..."
Source/publisher:
UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Date of publication:
2019-06-03
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The massacre of ethnic groups in Myanmar’s Rakhine state hasn’t ended, according to a new report by Amnesty International. Now the group wants the UN Security Council to refer the crimes to the International Criminal Court.
The report claims that since January the Myanmar military has launched random attacks killing or wounding people.
“The new operations in Rakhine State show an unrepentant, unreformed and unaccountable military terrorising civilians and committing widespread violations as a deliberate tactic,” says Nicholas Bequelin, regional director for East and Southeast Asia at Amnesty International.
News of the killings comes just days after a report by Reuters found that the soldiers jailed for the slaughter of 10 Rohingya during a 2017 military crackdown had be set free. The military members served less than one year of a 10-year prison sentence..."
Nicholas Bequelin
Source/publisher:
Al Jazeera
Date of publication:
2019-06-04
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Amnesty International reports on Burma/Myanmar, Armed conflict in Burma -- offensives
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar: cooperation with UN needed, UN must put rights up front (UN statement)
MARCH 12, 2018
The ICJ today delivered a statement at the UN Human Rights Council calling on Myanmar to cooperate with UN mechanisms and for all UN agencies in the country to make human rights central to their approach.
The statement, made in the interactive dialogue with the international Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar, and the Special Rapporteur, read as follows:
“The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes the update of the Independent International Fact Finding Mission. In relation to crimes under international law, the ICJ encourages the experts to continue to develop further specific recommendations for securing criminal accountability and providing redress.
The ICJ also welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur, and strongly supports the renewal of her mandate and tenure.
As a UN Member State, the Government of Myanmar should fully cooperate with all the organs and mechanisms of the UN, in accordance with its obligations under the UN Charter.
At this session, the government asked for ‘concrete evidence’ of alleged human rights violations, and committed to taking action against perpetrators, but permission to enter the country is still refused to the Fact Finding Mission, to the Special Rapporteur and to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
To demonstrate a genuine commitment to truth and accountability, the Government must allow them full access to areas of concern, particularly to Rakhine State and to conflict areas in Kachin State and Shan State.
Humanitarian actors and independent media must also be immediately allowed full and unimpeded access, particularly to Rakhine State, as recommended by the government’s own Advisory Commission...''
Source/publisher:
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Date of publication:
2018-03-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms, Human rights organisations, networks: resources, training, methodology and other links, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''“The creation of this evidence-gathering mechanism is a welcome concrete step towards justice,” said Matt Pollard, Senior Legal Adviser for the ICJ.
“But this is a stopgap measure, effectively creating a prosecutor without a court, that only underscores the urgent need for the Security Council to refer the entire situation to the International Criminal Court, which was created for precisely such circumstances,” he added.
The Council’s decision follows on conclusions and recommendations by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFM).
The FFM’s 444-page full report described large-scale patterns of grave human rights violations against minority groups in the country, particularly in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States.
It also highlighted the need for criminal investigations and prosecutions for crimes under international law, something the FFM concluded that national courts and commissions within Myanmar could not deliver.
“National justice institutions within Myanmar lack the independence, capacity and often also the will to hold perpetrators of human rights violations to account, particularly when members of security forces are involved. The latest government-established inquiry in Rakhine State also seems designed to deter and delay justice,” Pollard said...''
Source/publisher:
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Date of publication:
2018-09-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms, Human Rights Reporting (global, regional and Myanmar), Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''The statement, delivered during an interactive dialogue with the UN International Fact Finding Mission, read as follows:
“The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has monitored justice and human rights in Myanmar for more than five decades. The ICJ has an established presence in the country supporting justice actors to protect human rights through the rule of law.
With this experience, the ICJ views the Independent International Fact Finding Mission’s conclusions as painting an authoritative picture of the general situation in Myanmar, particularly in its highlighting of the pervasive damage of military impunity upon human rights, rule of law and the nascent democratic process.
The rule of law cannot be established, let alone flourish, without accountability for perpetrators of human rights violations and redress for victims and their families.
The Fact Finding Mission’s findings of crimes under international law, including crimes against humanity in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states, and the identification of alleged perpetrators, necessitate immediate action...''
Source/publisher:
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Date of publication:
2018-09-18
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms, Racial or ethnic discrimination: ethical and legal standards, Human Rights Reporting (global, regional and Myanmar)
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"On December 9, the KPSN joined prominent international human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in condemning the conviction and jailing of these three activists. Their statement argues ‘the jailing of these activists is designed to silence criticism of the military,’ but reiterates KPSN’s firm belief that it will not succeed in suppressing the voices of Burma’s ethnic minorities. ‘Ethnic people will stand united for our rights, for peace, and for our freedom.’
KPSN demanded that the NLD use its constitutional power to immediately release all political prisoners and repeal section 500 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes defamation..."
Karen News
Source/publisher:
Karen News
Date of publication:
2018-12-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Kachin (economic, social, cultural, political)
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Burma Campaign UK Revives ‘Dirty List’ Following Recent Atrocities
Description:
"This is the first time Burma Campaign UK has published a ‘Dirty List’ since the country purportedly began its democratic transition in 2011.
It comes in response to sustained human rights abuses perpetrated by Burma’s military (the Tatmadaw), which is currently under investigation by the International Criminal Court for ethnic cleansing committed against the Rohingya population in Rakhine State. These atrocities have continued unabated despite the landslide election of Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD in 2015. Mark Farmaner, the Director of Burma Campaign UK, argues “companies which supply equipment to the military or do business with the military, are complicit in the human rights violations committed by them..."
Karen News
Source/publisher:
Kane News
Date of publication:
2018-12-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
"The women discussed issues for two days and decided to form the new Grassroots Women’s Network. At the conclusion of the seminar the attendees jointly endorsed the following resolutions:
We call on the Burma Army to stop their military operations in all ethnic areas.
We want the 2008 constitution to be abolished and call on the Burma Government to begin a process whereby a genuine federal constitution can be drawn up.
We also call on all stakeholders to stop mega development projects in all ethnic areas until there is genuine peace and a political settlement.
There must be no forced repatriation of refugees.
We also call on the international community and donors to continue to support
humanitarian aid to refugees and IDPs according to international standards until peace is restored in the country..."
The Karen Women’s Organisation
Source/publisher:
Karen Women's Organisation
Date of publication:
2018-03-30
Date of entry/update:
2018-12-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Women and Politics in Burma/Myanmar, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Karen and other refugees from Burma in Thailand - general reports and articles, Karen National Union (KNU)
Language:
Sgaw Karen, Burmese ျမန္မာဘာသာ, English
Format :
pdf
Size:
336.17 KB
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Description:
"(Yangon ? 16 October, 2018) Victims of human rights violations desire government reparations and deserve to see justice for what they have suffered, said the Reparations Working Group initiated by the Network for Human Rights Documentation Burma (ND-Burma) in a new report released today. The report, which is the first ever needs assessment of victims of human rights violations in Burma, offers preliminary recommendations for action that must be taken for victims of human rights violations to rebuild their lives, including justice and accountability for the abuses they have suffered and guarantees of non-recurrence.
The new report, You cannot ignore us: Victims of human rights violations from 1970 ? 2017 outline their desires for justice, is based on interviews with 170 individuals in 11 states and regions. The cases present the testimonies of survivors from Burma?s 70-year civil war, former political prisoners, and land grab victims. The majority of interviewees have experienced either the repression of the 1988 student-led protests against the military-run Burmese Socialist Programme Party, the military operation during the 1991 Bogalay crisis in Irrawaddy Region, or the ongoing armed conflict in northern Shan and Kachin states. Victims and their families have suffered a range of human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest, torture, killing, disappearance, rape, forced relocation, and arbitrary taxation..."
Source/publisher:
ND-Burma via "Progressive Voice"
Date of publication:
2018-10-16
Date of entry/update:
2018-10-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"ND-Burma?s biannual report on the human rights situation has found that intense conflict between the military and ethnic armed organisations has been accompanied by a spike in the number of human rights violations recorded. In Kachin and northern Shan states the military committed human rights violations against civilians during armed conflict, including: indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombing of civilian areas; looting and destruction of property; and using those fleeing conflict as human shields and minesweepers.
As part of the military?s ongoing campaign against ethnic armed organisations, soldiers have continued to arbitrarily arrest and torture ethnic nationality civilians accused of supporting insurgents. A 41-year-old man interviewed for the report was tortured for four days by Burma army soldiers after being accused of providing rice to the Kachin Independence Army, telling ND-Burma that soldiers beat him ?as if they were pounding sticky rice to become powder.”..."
Source/publisher:
ND-Burma via Progressive Voice
Date of publication:
2018-09-11
Date of entry/update:
2018-09-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"We, the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN), welcome the August 27 report of the UN Independent International Fact Finding Mission, which called for six top Burmese military leaders including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to be investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide against Rohingya Muslims, and for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Arakan, Shan and Kachin States.
We also welcome the ruling by the ICC last week that it has jurisdiction over crimes committed in Burma, even though Burma is not a member state of the ICC. This is clearly the right decision, and will go down in history as such.
Burma Army crimes detailed by the Fact Finding Mission include imprisonment, enforced disappearance, torture, rape, and burning of villages. These crimes have all also been committed against the people of Karenni State..."
Source/publisher:
Karenni Civil Society Network via "Progressive Voice"
Date of publication:
2018-09-16
Date of entry/update:
2018-09-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"(Geneva, September 10, 2018) ? The United Nations Human Rights Council should act to preserve evidence and create a path to justice for victims of atrocities in Myanmar, Human Rights Watch said today in issuing a question and answer document. The Human Rights Council is expected to adopt a resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar as part of its 39th session, which starts on September 10, 2018.
The session follows the report in August by the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, which detailed crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide by Myanmar?s security forces in Rakhine State. The council created the panel in March 2017 to document violations by Myanmar?s security forces and non-state armed groups ?with a view to ensuring full accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims.” The report also examined abuses in Shan and Kachin States.
?The Human Rights Council should demonstrate its resolve to bring Myanmar?s generals to justice for their heinous crimes,” said John Fisher, Geneva director at Human Rights Watch. ?The council should underline the UN Security Council?s responsibility to refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court and create an evidence-gathering body to prepare case files for future trials.”..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch via "Progressive Voice"
Date of publication:
2018-09-10
Date of entry/update:
2018-09-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The situation in Myanmar has deteriorated dramatically in the last year, and across the country the military has committed wide-ranging human rights violations. The severity of the situation cannot be understated. Myanmar today increasingly ? and alarmingly ? resembles the Myanmar of old. The civilian government, while holding no formal power over the military, has failed to curb the violence, and instead has often fostered rather than challenged impunity and discrimination. The country risks regressing still further unless there is a major change in course. This not only necessitates a fundamental change from Myanmar?s civilian and military authorities, but also much more effective action from the international community. At the upcoming session, the UN Human Rights Council must send a clear message to Myanmar?s leaders that human rights violations ? both past and ongoing ? will not go unpunished."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/7915/2018)
Date of publication:
2018-02-16
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Amnesty International reports on Burma/Myanmar, Written statements on Myanmar by NGOs to regular sessions of the Human Rights Council, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
200.76 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"By now, the main contours of the recent events in Rakhine State, in western Myanmar, are well-known. On August 25, an insurgent group calling itself the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) (previously Harakah al-Yaqin) attacked police posts in northern Rakhine, eliciting a broad counterinsurgency response from the Myanmar military that has displaced over 400,000 Rohingya people into Bangladesh. As in previous cycles of violence, the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, has reportedly targeted civilians in its ?clearance operations,” leading to allegations of killings, rape, and the burning of villages. The UN?s human rights body has referred to this latest outbreak of violence as ?a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”
The crisis in, and now, beyond, Rakhine is part of a much longer story of Rohingya oppression and persecution in Myanmar. This history has almost certainly contributed to the growth of the ARSA insurgency. In contrast to its own claims and those of the Myanmar government and media, ARSA comes across as a poor, small, and desperate movement, staging its attacks in a haphazard manner with homemade weapons like knives, swords, and sticks. The Myanmar government and Burmese media, however, have painted ARSA— and in many ways, Rohingya people more broadly— as part of global Islamist networks. In government communications, ?extremist Bengali terrorists” is the favored term for the military?s current foe in Rakhine. Notably, the current crisis is unfolding under the government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She is Myanmar?s long-time opposition leader, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD). The NLD swept into power in the country?s nationwide elections of late 2015, the first open national elections in generations..."
Soe Lin Aung
Source/publisher:
TEACIRCLEOXFORD
Date of publication:
2017-09-27
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Ethnic Cleansing, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra?ad al-Hussein announced on December 20, 2017 that he wouldn?t be seeking a second mandate, due to the ?appalling climate for advocacy” in the current geopolitical system. This comes as a worrying warning regarding the inability of the UN system to respond to multiplying conflicts across the globe, from Syria to Yemen, and from Myanmar to Iraq, with acts amounting to crimes against humanity.
His nomination in 2014— which was unanimously approved by all 193 member states of the UN General Assembly— was at the time perceived as a positive sign, showing a political will to strengthen human rights within the UN system.
The former professional diplomat, who has acquired a strong reputation as a fierce defender of human rights, never shied away from speaking truth even to the most powerful states within the UN. He was especially vocal in his criticism of Russian support to the Syrian government, and regularly denounced the Trump administration?s faux pas, from the travel bans against citizens from Muslim majority countries to the administration?s reaction to the demonstrations organized by white supremacists in Virginia..."
Morgane Dussud
Source/publisher:
Teacircleoxford
Date of publication:
2018-01-05
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Ethnic Cleansing, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"ND-Burma?s update (English Burmese) has found that grave human rights violations such as killings and torture are ongoing in conflict areas. Sadly, impunity for abuses continues to be the norm: all 24 cases recorded over the period January ? June 2017 remain uninvestigated and unpunished.
Some of the key findings include:
ND-Burma recorded 24 human rights violations over the period January ? June 2017. 23 of these violations were recorded in Shan State and one in Kachin State. There were a total of 76 victims.
The most common human rights violation was torture, with 14 cases recorded. The second was killing, with 6 cases recorded.
17 out of 24 human rights violations were committed by government security forces. Three were committed by ethnic armed organizations and four by unknown perpetrators.
Impunity for human rights violations continues to be the norm. None of the perpetrators in the 24 cases in our update have faced any formal justice mechanisms for their actions..."
Source/publisher:
ND-Burma
Date of publication:
2017-08-15
Date of entry/update:
2017-08-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.98 MB 2.33 MB
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Description:
Executive Summary:
*2016 has seen a dramatic increase in the number of human rights violations
with 154 being recorded over the course of the year. This is almost double the
number of Human rights violations recorded throughout 2015 (84 ).
*The most common human rights violation continues to be torture, with 67
cases recorded in 2016. There has also been a large increase in the number of
killings, with 28 cases recorded, compared to 11 in 2015.
*The large increase in human rights violations can be ascribed to an escalation
in conflict in northern Shan, Kachin and Rakhine states in Burma/Myanmar.
*More than half of human rights violations took place in Shan State ? a region
that makes up just over 10% of Burma/Myanmar?s population.
*A large number of human rights violations recorded have been committed by
Burma/Myanmar government forces, namely the military, BGF, militia and
police, with the rest being committed by EAOs.
*The number of political prisoners in jail and awaiting trial has significantly
decreased since 2015. However, the government?s extensive use of Article
66(d) of the Telecommunications Law has begun to push the numbers up
again.
*Under the 2008 Constitution, the army retains a firm grip on state power,
complete autonomy over its own affairs and legal immunity. This has allowed
government forces to continue to commit human rights violations under the
NLD-led government.
*Two notable exceptions are the sentencing of seven Burma/Myanmar army
soldiers for killing civilians in Shan state and the sentencing of a Burma/
Myanmar army soldier for killing a Kachin student. ND-Burma believes such
cases show there are increasing opportunities to seek justice for victims of
human rights violations.
Source/publisher:
ND-Burma
Date of publication:
2017-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2017-02-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
299.44 KB 8.06 MB
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Description:
"The year 2015 will be remembered as a momentous year for Burma/Myanmar as the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, clinched an emphatic victory in the 8 November polls. However, the main challenges that impede a full and genuine democratic transition remain. Impunity remains deeply entrenched in the key institutions and structures of governance and the Burma/Myanmar Army- the main perpetrator of pervasive human rights violations and abuses in the country for decades- remain untouched and still wield far-reaching powers despite the bruising electoral loss by the Army backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
No amount of optimism or plaudits can hide or gloss over the gross human rights situation that has admittedly worsened this past year, particularly in ethnic areas. Despite the on-going peace process, which includes the signing of the non-inclusive ?Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement? (NCA) in October 2015, and the Union Peace Conference (UPC) in January 2016, the Burma/Myanmar Army continues to commit gross human rights violations that may constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the routine use of torture, sexual violence and extra-judicial killings, in both ceasefire and non-ceasefire areas. The escalation of conflict, particularly around the NCA signing and General Elections, now includes the regular use of aerial firepower and has led to a continuation of forced displacement of civilians in ethnic minority areas."
Source/publisher:
Burma Partnership, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Date of publication:
2016-03-02
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
851.78 KB
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Description:
Conclusions: "The above findings demonstrate some of the human rights violations that continue
to be perpetrated by the Government of Burma against their own people. Despite
the changes that have happened in the country since the quasi-civilian government
took power, the research carried out by ND-Burma members demonstrates how little
actual progress has been made that impacts civilians. The experiences recorded by
ND-Burma field researchers shows the continuing suffering these grave violations of
people?s basic rights have caused.
The following recommendations are based on the combined experiences of NDBurma
members, their researchers and the people who discussed their experiences.
These recommendations seek to outline ways in which the Government of Burma can
begin to make amends for the crimes of the past and account for the harm caused
throughout years of brutal military rule. The experiences of the people of Burma at
the hands of government forces are essential to formulating effective and appropriate
measures of reparations..."
Source/publisher:
ND-Burma
Date of publication:
2015-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2015-06-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
4.67 MB
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Description:
Introduction: "Throughout the period from July to December 2014, ND-Burma documented 107 human
rights violations across Burma. The violations documented during these six months occurred
in areas of armed conflict but also in areas covered by ceasefires. Each violation is a specific
incident, but it may involve any number of victims, from one victim of killing, to forced labor
involving many victims, to the forced displacement of an entire village. ND-Burma?s findings
demonstrate that, despite progress in reaching ceasefire agreements with non-state armed
groups, the government has made little progress protecting the human rights of its citizens.
Furthermore, continued arrests of human rights defenders demonstrate that the government
is not serious about working with civil society to protect human rights.
During this period, people in Burma, especially activists, communities, and victim?s families
have dared to raise the issue and demand the truth of what actually happened to their loved
ones. For instance Ko Aung Kyaw Naing, also known as Ko Par Gyi, was a freelance journalist
who went missing while he was in Mon State. In October, the Burma Army announced that Ko
Par Gyi was fatally shot when he attempted to grab a weapon and flee while being investigated
in military custody.1 Later Ma Thandar, an activist and wife of Ko Par Gyi, tried to demand
that the Burma Army state the truth regarding what happened to Ko Par Gyi. Finally the
Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) agreed to investigate the case,
however the commission?s report was unsatisfactory to the victim?s family and activists who
had seen Ko Par Gyi?s body and believed that he was killed following brutal torture."
Source/publisher:
Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND - Burma)
Date of publication:
2014-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2015-04-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.85 MB
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Description:
"Wartime Abuses in Kachin State, ?Ethnic Cleansing? in Rakhine State, Tens of Thousands Denied Access to Aid
...The United Nations General Assembly should adopt a strong and comprehensive resolution on the situation of human rights in Myanmar to promote much-needed human rights reform in the country, Fortify Rights said today. When it considers a forthcoming resolution on Myanmar, the UN General Assembly should condemn the wide range of ongoing human rights violations by the government and armed forces of Myanmar and provide clear benchmarks for measurable improvement, including establishing the presence of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Myanmar.
?Positive political changes have come to Myanmar but the human rights situation is deeply concerning,? said Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights. ?The pending resolution should acknowledge Myanmar?s political progress but shouldn?t gloss over the immense amount of work that remains to be done.?..."
Source/publisher:
Fortify Rights
Date of publication:
2013-10-09
Date of entry/update:
2014-05-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
This is an article from Journal of the British Section of Amnesty International No. 48 Dec/Jun 1990/1... Myanmar, once known as a green and gentle land of golden pagodas, is now a country of blood and terror...
Source/publisher:
The British Section of Amnesty International
Date of publication:
1990-12-31
Date of entry/update:
2012-07-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
123.72 KB
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Description:
Extract on Burma/Myanmar
Source/publisher:
United Kingdom Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Date of publication:
2012-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2012-07-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
82.25 KB
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Description:
While Aung San Suu Kyi?s freedom marks a step towards normality, the fallout from ethnic conflict remains
Donna Jean Guest
Source/publisher:
Al Jazeera
Date of publication:
2012-06-22
Date of entry/update:
2012-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dialogue/reform/transition in Burma/Myanmar - analyses and statements, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
"Burma?s people go to the polls on May 27, 1990, in the first election to be held in the country in thirty years. However, human rights violations are so widespread and restrictions on political expression so severe as to render impossible a free and fair election. An Asia Watch mission to Burma and Thailand in April 1990 confirmed that the Burmese military authorities continue to engage in a consistent pattern of gross human rights abuses both in the interior and along the border. In Rangoon and other major cities, political dissidents have been jailed or placed under house arrest, torture of political detainees is widespread, martial law remains in effect throughout most of the country, criticism of the military is banned, and hundreds of thousands have been forcibly relocated to outlying areas lacking basic amenities. In its recent offensive against ethnic minority guerrilla forces on the Thai border, the Burmese army has indiscriminately killed or wounded hundreds of civilians and looted or burned homes and private property. Thousands of civilians have been compelled to serve as porters for the army. As such, they are brutally mistreated and are forced to carry supplies or to serve as human mine-sweepers. Porters have been shot or beaten for trying to escape, and those who become exhausted or ill are routinely left to die..."
James A. Goldston
Source/publisher:
Asia Watch (A Committee of Human Rights Watch)
Date of publication:
1990-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2012-06-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
504.66 KB
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Description:
"Amid myriad changes taking place in Myanmar, Amnesty International concluded its first official visit to the country in nearly a decade on May 23.
Our two-week mission consisted of a diverse collection of 49 meetings with government officials, political parties and their members of parliament; members of the diplomatic community; lawyers and other civil society actors; ethnic minority activists; former political prisoners as well as the families of current political prisoners; and a representative of the National Human Rights Commission.
The mission provided a preliminary opportunity to assess Myanmar?s current human-rights situation, which Amnesty International has monitored for the past 25 years. What has improved since the new government came into power a little more than a year ago? What human rights violations have persisted or even worsened? And what new human-rights challenges have the country?s recent reform efforts engendered or brought to the fore?...Our delegation was sometimes reminded that "Rome wasn?t built in a day". To the extent that the only thing less desirable than a lack of legal reform is legal reform poorly done, this reminder was well-received. The same is true to varying degrees on matters of accountability; the full realization of social, economic, and cultural rights; and the determination of who is a political prisoner and who is not. Capacity is limited and the development of certain "human-rights infrastructure" is advisable before particular changes are made.
But insofar as prisoners of conscience can be readily identified and set free, and as attacks against civilians can stop in response to clear orders, it takes less than a day to undertake some important human-rights changes. Myanmar should continue to improve its human-rights record accordingly."
Benjamin Zawacki, Donna Jean Guest
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International via "Asia Times Online"
Date of publication:
2012-05-25
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
68.58 KB
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Description:
"The periodic report of the Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND-Burma) documents the human rights situation in Burma from March 2011 - March 2012 the period marking President Thein Sein and his government being in office. The ND-Burma periodic report provides up-to-date information on human rights violations (HRVs) and highlights pressing issues and trends within the country. The information gathered covers 16 categories of human rights violations (HRV?s), documented in all 14 states and regions across Burma...There is still a serious concern for the human rights situation in Burma. The ongoing civil war in ethnic areas has directly resulted in killings, land confiscation, forced labour, child soldiers, forced relocation, torture and ill treatment. Fighting in Karen State intensified after the 2010 election, until a ceasefire agreement was reached between the KNU and the government?s peace negotiation team in January 2012. The Burmese armed forces continue to launch offensives against the Shan State Army (south) and the Shan State Army (North) even though a ceasefire agreement was signed more than four months ago. Finally, a seventeen year ceasefire agreement between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burmese armed forces fell apart when the military attacked a strategic KIA post on June 9 2011, despite President Thein Sein ordering the army to haft offensives in Kachin State..."
Source/publisher:
Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND-Burma)
Date of publication:
2012-02-29
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
382.07 KB 1.59 MB
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Description:
This report describes some of the human rights violations which have taken place in Myanmar between May and September 1990, including the arrest of political activists and ill-treatment of political prisoners. It reports the continuing detention of members and leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD), namely: Aung San Suu Kyi, Tin U, Kyi Maung, Chit Kaing, Ohn Kyaing, Thein Dan, Ye Myint Aung, Sein Kla Aung, Kyi Hla, Sein Hlaing, Myo Myint Nyein, and Nyan Paw. Three leaders of the Democratic Party for a New Society have also been arrested: Kyi Win, Ye Naing, Ngwe Oo.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/28/90)
Date of publication:
1990-11-01
Date of entry/update:
2012-05-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Amnesty International reports on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
9.53 KB
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Description:
Profile of Myanmar... The iron road... War on the borders... Silencing the democracy movement... Prisoner of conscience... Cultural activists imprisoned... Prisoner of conscience... The vocabulary of torture... ?See how we deal with insurgents?... Riding a motor-cycle... ?Nothing but an ambush?... ?Nothing but an ambush?... The soldiers
gave no warning... Laws restricting basic rights... Martial law summary justice... Recommendations... Information
from Amnesty International...
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/09/90)
Date of publication:
1990-09-30
Date of entry/update:
2012-03-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.91 MB
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Description:
"Amnesty International?s written statement to the 19th session of the UN Human
Rights Council (27 February ? 23 March 2012)
Over the past year, Myanmar?s human rights situation has improved notably in some respects but has
significantly worsened in others. Freedoms of assembly and expression remain restricted; there still are
hundreds of political prisoners and many prisoners of conscience. In several ethnic minority areas
the army continues to commit violations of international human rights and humanitarian law against
civilians, including acts that may constitute crimes against humanity or war crimes..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
2012-02-13
Date of entry/update:
2012-02-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Oral statements on Myanmar by NGOs to regular sessions of the Human Rights Council
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
108.23 KB
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Description:
"This briefing document summarises research conducted by KHRG regarding the service history of Tatmadaw Brigadier General Myint Naung, and documented incidents of abuse reported to have been perpetrated by units Brigadier General Myint Naung may have commanded as Operation Commander of Tatmadaw Military Operation Command (MOC) #4. This information raises serious questions and concerns regarding the background of the current Myanmar Ambassador U Myint Naung. The South Africa government should therefore seek to obtain further information from the Myanmar government that can clarify the Ambassador?s service record in the Tatmadaw, and follow up with inquiries regarding any specific incidents of serious abuse perpetrated by units under his command. Such steps are within South Africa?s rights under international law governing diplomatic relations, and consistent with all states? duty under customary international humanitarian law to ensure respect for international humanitarian law erga omnes. KHRG believes that such an inquiry would contribute to raising opportunity costs for potential perpetrators of serious abuse in Burma as well as supporting domestic reforms, potentially precipitating positive changes in abusive Tatmadaw practices that could ultimately reduce the frequency with which certain abuses occur, while supporting the strategies used by local communities in Burma to claim their human rights on a day-to-day basis. This document was compiled by KHRG in response to queries by journalists and advocacy organisations in South Africa regarding the background of the Myanmar Ambassador."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2011-11-25
Date of entry/update:
2012-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Humanitarian Law (reports of violations in Burma), Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
"Since a new quasi-parliamentary government led by former army officers began work in Burma (Myanmar) earlier this year, some observers have argued that the government is showing a commitment to bring about, albeit cautiously, reforms that will result in an overall improvement in human rights conditions. The question remains, though, as to whether the new government constitutes the beginning of a real shift from the blinkered despotism of its predecessors to a new form of government, or simply to a type of semi-enlightened and market-oriented despotism, the sort of which has been more common in Asia than the type of outright military domination experienced by Burma for most of the last half-century. "
Source/publisher:
Asian Human Rights Commission
Date of publication:
2011-12-10
Date of entry/update:
2011-12-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Tenure insecurity in Burma (including land grabbing)
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
457.43 KB
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Description:
BURMA: Government by confusion & the un-rule of law:
"The first elections held in Burma for two decades on 7 November 2010 ended as most people thought they would, with the military party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, taking a vast majority in the national parliament through rigged balloting. Almost a week later, after days of disgruntlement and debate about the outcome of the elections, the military regime released the leader of the National League for Democracy, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, from house arrest.
Although Aung San Suu Kyi?s release was expected, since November 13 was the deadline on the period of imprisonment imposed through a fraudulent criminal case against her in 2009, it perplexed many foreign observers, who asked questions about why the military would acquiesce to her release at a time that it may provoke and create unnecessary problems during the planned transition from full-frontal army dictatorship to authoritarian clique in civilian garb.
What most of these persons have not yet understood about the nature of the state in Burma is that government by confusion is an operating principle. For them, as military strategists and planners who think in terms of threats and enemies, the most effective strategies and plans are those where both outside observers and as many people in the domestic population as possible are left uncertain about what has happened and why, what may or may not happen next, and what it all means.
This principle of government by confusion underpins the un-rule of law in Burma to which the Asian Human Rights Commission has pointed, described and analyzed through careful study of hundreds of cases and attendant information over the last few years. Whereas the rule of law depends upon a minimum degree of certainty by which citizens can organize their lives, the un-rule of law depends upon uncertainty. Whereas rule of law depends upon consistency in how state institutions and their personnel operate, the un-rule of law depends upon arbitrariness. Whereas rule of law is intimately connected to the protection of human rights, the un-rule of law is associated with the denial of rights, and with the absence of norms upon which rights can even by nominally established. In this annual report, the AHRC points more explicitly to the links between this operating principle and the un-rule of law..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC-SPR-002-2010)
Date of publication:
2010-12-09
Date of entry/update:
2011-01-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Legal studies and articles, 7-Step Roadmap (Step 5): Holding of free and fair elections for Pyithu Hluttaws (Legislative bodies) according to the new constitution (news and commentary)
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
"Events of 1996" ..... More than 1,000 people involved in opposition political activities, including 68 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison throughout the year. Almost 2,000 people were arrested for political reasons, including at least 23 prisoners of conscience. Although most were released, 45 were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after unfair trials and 175 were still detained without charge or trial at the end of the year. Political prisoners were ill-treated and held in conditions that amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Members of ethnic minorities continued to suffer human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions and ill-treatment during forced labour and portering, and forcible relocations. Seven people were sentenced to death.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International USA
Date of publication:
1996-12-31
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
(This report covers the period January-December 1997) ..... More than 1,200 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including 89 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison throughout the year. Hundreds of people were arrested for political reasons; although most were released, 31 – five of them prisoners of conscience – were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after unfair trials. Political prisoners were ill-treated and held in conditions that amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Members of ethnic minorities continued to suffer human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions and ill-treatment during forced labour and portering, and forcible relocations. Two people were sentenced to death.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
1997-12-31
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
This report covers the period January to December 1998. .....
More than 1,200 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including 89 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison throughout the year. Hundreds of people were arrested for political reasons. Political prisoners were tortured and ill-treated, and held in conditions that amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Members of ethnic minorities continued to suffer human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, torture, ill-treatment during forced portering, and other forms of forced labour and forcible relocations. Six political prisoners were sentenced to death. No executions were known to have taken place.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
1998-12-31
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
Hundreds of people, including more than 200 members of political parties and young activists, were arrested for political reasons. Ten others were known to have been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after unfair trials. At least 1,500 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including more than 100 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were placed under de facto house arrest after being prevented by the military from travelling outside Yangon to visit other NLD members. Prison conditions constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and torture of political prisoners was reported. The military continued to seize ethnic minority civilians for forced labour duties and to kill members of ethnic minorities during counter-insurgency operations in the Shan, Kayah, and Kayin states. Five people were sentenced to death in 2000 for drug trafficking.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR)
Date of publication:
2001-06-01
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Amnesty International annual reports (Myanmar section) from 1994
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
General Assembly, Fifty-first session.
The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of the General Assembly the interim
report on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, prepared by Judge Rajsoomer Lallah, Special
Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, in accordance with Commission resolution 1996/80 of
23 April 1996.
Mr. Rajsoomer Lallah
Source/publisher:
United Nations (A/51/466)
Date of publication:
1996-11-08
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Reports to the GA by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar (English), Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to nationality, citizenship and immigration (commentary)
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
Special issue of the magazine. Several articles
Source/publisher:
New Internationalist
Date of publication:
1996-05-31
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
Testimony of Karen Parker J.D. before the Foreign Operations Sub-Committee Senate Appropriations Committee. " The three features of the situation of human rights in Burma described in my 1993 statement are still valid today: (1) the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) regime is illegitimate yet continues in power; (2) the regime continues to be particularly brutal; and (3) armed conflict continues, primarily involving the ethnic nationalities who have been fighting against the SLORC regime and its predecessor governments. Violations of armed conflict law, as set out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and all customary humanitarian law, continue to be violated. Thus, the SLORC regime continues to commit grave war crimes..." Keywords: Karen, Karenni, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, International law, violations of human rights law, violations of humanitarian law, armed conflict, Laws of War, United States Policy.
Karen Parker
Source/publisher:
The Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law
Date of publication:
1995-07-25
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, International Humanitarian Law (reports of violations in Burma)
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
Testimony of Karen Parker J. D. before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Asian and Pacific Affairs. Main headings: Illegitimacy of SLORC; G
ross violatoins of human rights; Armed Conflict; The NDF/DAB-SLORC War; The Karenni-SLORC War; U.S. Policy. "I am pleased to have this opportunity to provide the Sub- Committee with information regarding Burma and my views on what United States policy should be towards that country... This statement will set out the situation in Burma from the point of view of international law norms. It will also present actions taken at the United Nations and its human rights bodies, including a review of Aung San Suu Kyi?s case at the Working Group. It will conclude with recommendations regarding United States policy.
There are three salient features of the situation of human rights in Burma: (1) the current regime is illegitimate; (2) the regime is particularly brutal; and (3) there is wide scale armed conflict, primarily involving the ethnic nationalities who have been fighting against the SLORC regime and its predecessor governments..."
Karen Parker
Source/publisher:
The Karen Parker Home Page for Humanitarian Law
Date of publication:
1992-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, International Humanitarian Law (reports of violations in Burma)
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Events of 1999" .... Scores of people were arrested for political reasons and 200 people, some of them prisoners of conscience, were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. More than 1,200 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including 89 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced in May that it had begun to visit prisons and other places of detention. The military continued to seize ethnic minority civilians for forced labour duties and to kill members of ethnic minorities not taking an active part in hostilities, during counter-insurgency operations, particularly in the Kayin State. Forcible relocation continued to be reported in the Kayin State, and the effects of massive forcible relocation programs in previous years in the Kayah and Shan States continued to be felt as civilians were still deprived of their land and livelihood and subjected to forced labour and detention by the military.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International USA
Date of publication:
1999-12-31
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
"Events of 2001" ...... In January the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Myanmar announced that a confidential dialogue had been taking place since October 2000 between the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). The dialogue was believed to have continued for most of 2001. However, Aung San Suu Kyi remained under de facto house arrest, although international delegations were permitted to visit her. Some 1,600 political prisoners arrested in previous years remained in prison. Almost 220 people were released. Three people were sentenced to death for drug trafficking. Extrajudicial executions and forced labour continued to be reported in the ethnic minority states, particularly Shan and Kayin states.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR)
Date of publication:
2002-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Amnesty International annual reports (Myanmar section) from 1994
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
Covering events from January - December 2000
..... Hundreds of people, including more than 200 members of political parties and young activists, were arrested for political reasons. Ten others were known to have been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after unfair trials. At least 1,500 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including more than 100 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were placed under de facto house arrest after being prevented by the military from travelling outside Yangon to visit other NLD members. Prison conditions constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and torture of political prisoners was reported. The military continued to seize ethnic minority civilians for forced labour duties and to kill members of ethnic minorities during counter-insurgency operations in the Shan, Kayah, and Kayin states. Five people were sentenced to death in 2000 for drug trafficking.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International USA
Date of publication:
2000-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
Events of 2002 "...Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was released from de facto house arrest in May. There was no reported progress in confidential talks about the future of the country, begun in October 2000, between the ruling military government – the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) – and Aung San Suu Kyi. However, over 300 political prisoners were released during the year, bringing the total of those released since January 2001 to over 500. Some 1,300 political prisoners arrested in previous years remained in prison and some 50 people were arrested for political reasons, despite the SPDC?s stated commitment to release political prisoners as part of their undertaking to work with the NLD. Extrajudicial executions and forced labour continued to be reported in most of the seven ethnic minority states, particularly the Shan and Kayin states. Civilians continued to be the victims of human rights violations in the context of the SPDC?s counter-insurgency tactics in parts of the Shan and Kayin states..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR)
Date of publication:
2003-05-28
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Amnesty International annual reports (Myanmar section) from 1994, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
Berichtszeitraum 1. Januar bis 31. Dezember 2001
Source/publisher:
ai Deutschland
Date of publication:
2002-05-28
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Amnesty International annual reports (Myanmar section) from 1994
Language:
Deutsch, German
Local URL:
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Description:
Covering events from January - December 2004...
"In October the Prime Minister was placed under house arrest and replaced by another army general. Despite the announcement of the release of large numbers of prisoners in November, more than 1,300 political prisoners remained in prison, and arrests and imprisonment for peaceful political opposition activities continued. The army continued to commit serious human rights violations against ethnic minority civilians during counter-insurgency operations in the Mon, Shan and Kayin States, and in Tanintharyi Division. Restrictions on freedom of movement in states with predominantly ethnic minority populations continued to impede farming, trade and employment. This particularly impacted on the Rohingyas in Rakhine State. Ethnic minority civilians living in all these areas continued to be subjected to forced labour by the military..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR)
Date of publication:
2005-05-25
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Amnesty International annual reports (Myanmar section) from 1994
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
Summary;
1. Introduction;
2. Itinerary;
3. Personnel;
4. Aid;
5. Religious Persecution;
6. Cultural Genocide;
7. Forced Labour;
8. Economic oppression;
9. Political oppression and torture of political detainees;
10. Health Care;
11. The Kachin;
12. Refugees in India;
13. The Chin Diaspora;
14. Conclusions and Recommendations;
15. Bibliography...
APPENDIX: Testimony of a Defector.
Source/publisher:
Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Date of publication:
2004-03-19
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
Events of 2004..."Burma remains one of the most repressive countries in Asia, despite promises for political reform and national reconciliation by its authoritarian military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The SPDC restricts the basic rights and freedoms of all Burmese. It continues to attack and harass democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, still under house arrest at this writing, and the political movement she represents. It also continues to use internationally outlawed tactics in ongoing conflicts with ethnic minority rebel groups.
Burma has more child soldiers than any other country in the world, and its forces have used extrajudicial execution, rape, torture, forced relocation of villages, and forced labor in campaigns against rebel groups. Ethnic minority forces have also committed abuses, though not on the scale committed by government forces.
The abrupt removal of Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt, viewed as a relative moderate, on October 19, 2004, has reinforced hardline elements of the SPDC. Khin Nyunt?s removal damaged immediate prospects for a ceasefire in the decades-old struggle with the Karen ethnic minority and has been followed by increasingly hostile rhetoric from SPDC leaders directed at Suu Kyi and democracy activists.
Thousands of Burmese citizens, most of them from the embattled ethnic minorities, have fled to neighboring countries, in particular Thailand, where they face difficult circumstances, or live precariously as internally displaced people..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2004-12-31
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
105.28 KB
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Description:
Press statement at end of AI?s first visit to Burma. "After its first ever visit to Myanmar, Amnesty International called upon the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC, Myanmar?s military government), to release immediately and unconditionally all prisoners of conscience still held throughout the country.
"The continued imprisonment of between 1200 - 1300 political prisoners, many of whom we believe are prisoners of conscience, held solely for their peaceful political activities, was one of the key issues discussed with the local authorities," Amnesty International said during a press conference held today in Bangkok, Thailand.
The organization, which had been requesting access to Myanmar since 1988, welcomed the efforts made by the government officials in Myanmar to accommodate the delegation?s requests and the frank discussions it held with Ministers, police and prison officials...."
Publisher, translator of Japanese version: Burma Coordination Team of Amnesty International - Japan
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/007/2003)
Date of publication:
2003-02-10
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English, Francais
Local URL:
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Description:
"The violent suppression by the Myanmar authorities of peaceful demonstrations in 66 cities country-wide from mid-August through September 2007 provoked international condemnation. Amnesty International continues to document serious human rights violations. The situation has not returned to normal. Based on numerous first-hand accounts from victims and eye-witnesses, this briefing paper outlines some key human rights abuses committed since the start of the crackdown."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/037/2007)
Date of publication:
2007-11-09
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Events of 2007 and their consequences: "The Saffron Revolution" and its aftermath, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English, Francais, Espanol
Local URL:
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Description:
"...In February and March 2002 Amnesty International interviewed some 100 migrants from
Myanmar at seven different locations in Thailand. They were from a variety of ethnic groups,
including the Shan; Lahu; Palaung; Akha; Mon; Po and Sgaw Karen; Rakhine; and Tavoyan
ethnic minorities, and the majority Bamar (Burman) group. They originally came from the Mon,
Kayin, Shan, and Rakhine States, and Bago, Yangon and Tanintharyi Divisions.(1) What follows
below is a summary of human rights violations in some parts of eastern Myanmar during the last
18 months which migrants reported to Amnesty International. One section of the report also
examines several cases of abuses of civilians by armed opposition groups fighting against the
Myanmar military. Finally, this document describes various aspects of a Burmese migrant
worker?s life in Thailand..." ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: forced labour, refugees, land confiscation, forced
relocation, forced removal, forced resettlement, forced displacement, internal displacement, IDP, extortion, torture,
extrajudicial killings, forced conscription, child soldiers, porters, forced portering, house
destruction, eviction, Shan State, Wa, USWA, Wa resettlement, Tenasserim, abuses by armed opposition
groups.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
2002-07-17
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Karen and other refugees from Burma in Thailand - general reports and articles, Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Policies towards Burmese migrants and refugees
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
Testimony of Chris Beyrer MD, MPH
Professor of Epidemiology and International Health
Director, Center for Public Health and Human Rights
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health...
Source/publisher:
U. S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Date of publication:
2009-10-21
Date of entry/update:
2010-11-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
"...The human rights situation in Burma continued
its downward trend in 2009. Daily life in Burma
continues to be characterised by the denial of almost
all fundamental rights, and a pervasive military and
security presence. Expressions of opposition to the
regime often result in arrest and extended detention
without trial. Despite international pressure, the regime
made no attempt in 2009 to engage in substantive
political dialogue with the democratic opposition
and ethnic groups. Both were disenfranchised by the
National Convention process and flawed referendum in
May 2008 on the new Constitution, which is designed
to ensure continued military control of the country. The
key event in Burma in 2010 will be elections, based
on the Constitution, that form the final step in the
military authorities? seven-step ?Roadmap? towards
?disciplined democracy?. Opposition and ethnic groups
now have to decide whether to participate in a skewed
electoral process, which offers them little prospect of
any real power, or to stand aside. We expect further
human rights abuses in 2010 as the regime maintains a
tight grip on internal security in the months leading up
to elections..."
Source/publisher:
United Kingdom Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Date of publication:
2010-02-28
Date of entry/update:
2010-04-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.01 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
"...Planning this year to hold its first national and local elections since 1990, the
Myanmar government has prepared itself in many ways, including, as Amnesty
International?s findings indicate, by repressing ethnic minority political opponents
and activists. While these human rights violations certainly preceded the February
2008 announcement that elections would be held—as the late 2007 crackdown on
the Saffron Revolution showed—the coming elections have given the government
new resolve in repressing political dissent in all of Myanmar?s seven ethnic minority
states and among its ethnic minority peoples. This repression has included
arbitrary arrests and detention; torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading
treatment; unfair trials; rape; extrajudicial killings; forced labour; violations of
freedom of expression, assembly, association, and religion; intimidation and
harassment; and discrimination. This repression of political opponents and activists
has also run completely contrary to the Myanmar government?s repeated claims
since 2004, to be embarking and continuing on a Roadmap to Democracy? and
increasing the level of political participation in the country. With almost no
exception, authorities and officials have enjoyed impunity for their violations.
The repression of political opponents and activists has resulted in the violation of
ethnic minorities? human rights, and the violation of international human rights and
humanitarian law: Myanmar is bound by its legal obligations under the Conventions
on the Rights of the Child and on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women; the 1949 Geneva Conventions; and customary international law. It
is also obliged, as a member of the United Nations and the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), to uphold the provisions of both the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and the ASEAN Charter..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
2010-02-16
Date of entry/update:
2010-02-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
7-Step Roadmap (Step 5): Holding of free and fair elections for Pyithu Hluttaws (Legislative bodies) according to the new constitution (news and commentary), Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"...Below are some excerpts from my interviews with inmates at Rangoon zoo.
A nervous elephant, the only tusker in the zoo willing to talk to me, shivered as he remembered an incident on September 27, 2007:..."
Satya Sagar
Source/publisher:
http://www2.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=16449&page=1
Date of publication:
2009-07-31
Date of entry/update:
2009-12-26
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"Two years ago the world watched in dismay as Myanmar?s military junta brutally crushed the so-called Saffron Revolution. It was the only show of mass opposition to have occurred inside the country in almost 20 years.
Filmmaker Hazel Chandler entered the country undercover for People & Power to find out how Myanmar?s people are fairing, and to investigate disturbing claims that the regime may be trying to develop nuclear weapons."
Hazel Chandler
Source/publisher:
Al Jazeera (People and Power)
Date of publication:
2009-12-23
Date of entry/update:
2009-12-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Nuclear, Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc), Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Events of 2007 and their consequences: "The Saffron Revolution" and its aftermath, Burma/Myanmar's alleged nuclear weapons programme
Language:
English
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"...Under British Colonial rule, Burma was divided into two zones: the centrally located Ministerial
Burma?, which mostly consisted of the Buddhist Burman ethnic group, and the Frontier Areas?,
located in the mountainous regions situated along what are recognized today as Burma?s
international borders. These Frontier Regions were where most of the ethnic minorities resided.
While the British essentially destroyed the local government systems in Ministerial Burma and
employed their own systems of administration and government, the area also received some
development and investment. On the other hand, while the Frontier Areas retained their
systems of governance and some autonomy, their natural resources were exploited by the
British and they received little in regard to health, education, economic development, or political
representation at the national level.1 Even though Burma has long been free of British rule, this
system of exploitation and neglect continues to this day..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Docmentation Unit (HRDU)
Date of publication:
2009-11-23
Date of entry/update:
2009-12-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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"...SLORC is using the release of Aung San Suu Kyi to divert attention away from what is really happening in Burma right now: resumed and intensified offensives against ethnic peoples, further expansion of the army, intensified repression and clampdowns against people nationwide, and the further collapse of the economy.
The human rights situation is rapidly worsening, with rapid increases in forced labour as military porters and servants, forced labour on development and infrastructure projects, extortion which is driving villagers further into destitution, land confiscation for military-run farms operated with forced labour, and other abuses connected with these activities such as killings, torture, rape, arbitrary detention, and abuse against children, women, and the elderly.
The rural areas are being systematically targetted for further repression and extortion in order to support cosmetic and superficial "improvements" in urban areas - for example, more urban people are giving money in lieu of forced labour, causing more rural villagers to be taken for forced labour. Urban people are poorer than ever due to spiralling inflation, partly caused by foreign investment. Rural people are being hit the hardest due to spiralling demands for extortion money by military officers. Tens of millions of Kyat per month is stolen from rural villages and sent by officers to their families in the cities; their families can then set up urban businesses, and foreign visitors mistake this for economic improvement and open market reform. SLORC still rigidly controls the economy. Rural villages can no longer pay and are falling apart as people flee to avoid arrest for failure to pay money and crop quotas. Forced labour is increasing exponentially in some areas in hurried attempts to finish infrastructure in preparation for "Visit Myanmar Year 1996"..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG Articles & Papers)
Date of publication:
1995-09-05
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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"...Mr. Chairman,
Many dictatorial regimes argue that human rights take second place to economic development, that as long as government figures claim some kind of "economic growth" the world should ignore serious and systematic human rights abuses. [In reality, economic growth is meaningless without an improvement in the lives of the people, and there can be no such improvement where systematic human rights abuses prevail.] Some regimes claiming to create peace and economic stability actually carry out abuses which destroy the economic, social and cultural fabric of the country. For several years the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs has been following the situation in Burma, where the ruling military junta, known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council or SLORC, is such a regime..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG Articles & Papers)
Date of publication:
1996-04-14
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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English
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"..."Things are getting more difficult every day. Even the Burmese leaders capture each other and put each other in jail. If they can capture and imprison even the people who have authority, then how are the villagers supposed to tolerate them? That?s why the villagers are fleeing from Burma." - Dta La Ku elder (M, 44) from Dooplaya district (Report #98-09)
There is no doubt that life is currently becoming worse for the vast majority of people in Burma, in both urban and rural areas. In urban areas, people are plagued by high inflation, rapidly increasing prices for basic commodities such as rice and basic foodstuffs, the tumbling value of the Kyat, wages which are not enough to feed oneself, corruption by all arms of the military and civil service, and the ever-present fear of arbitrary arrest for the slightest act or statement that betrays opposition to the State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) junta..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Right Group (KHRG #98-C2)
Date of publication:
1998-11-24
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Food Security and militarisation in Burma, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
Format :
html
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23.63 KB
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"On July 29th the Karen Human Rights Group released our 300th report. Though this is a milestone for the organisation, we see this as cause for reflection rather than celebration, on how the situation and our work have evolved in the 14 years since our formation in 1992..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Right Group Commentaries (KHRG #2006-C3)
Date of publication:
2006-08-01
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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English
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Description:
"Villagers in northern Pa?an District of central Karen State say their livelihoods are under serious threat due to exploitation by SPDC military authorities and by their Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) allies who rule as an SPDC proxy army in much of the region. Villages in the vicinity of the DKBA headquarters are forced to give much of their time and resources to support the headquarters complex, while villages directly under SPDC control face rape, arbitrary detention and threats to keep them compliant with SPDC demands. The SPDC plans to expand Dta Greh (a.k.a. Pain Kyone) village into a town in order to strengthen its administrative control over the area, and is confiscating about half of the village?s productive land without compensation to build infrastructure which includes offices, army camps and a hydroelectric power dam - destroying the livelihoods of close to 100 farming families. Local villagers, who are already struggling to survive under the weight of existing demands, fear further forced labour and extortion as the project continues..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2006-F1)
Date of publication:
2006-02-11
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Land rights, Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Karen (Kayin) State, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
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Description:
"Attacks on villages in Toungoo and other northern Karen districts by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) since late 2005 have led to extensive displacement and some international attention, but little of this has focused on the continuing lives of the villagers involved. In this report KHRG?s Karen researchers in the field describe how these attacks have been affecting local people, and how these people have responded. The SPDC?s forced relocation, village destruction, shoot-on-sight orders and blockades on the movement of food and medicines have killed many and created pervasive suffering, but the villagers? continued refusal to submit to SPDC authority has caused the military to fail in its objective of bringing the entire civilian population under direct control. This is a struggle which SPDC forces cannot win, but they may never stop trying..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2006-F8)
Date of publication:
2006-08-15
Date of entry/update:
2009-11-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Education rights: reports of violations in Burma, Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Karen (Kayin) State, Forced relocation of Karen
Language:
English
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Description:
Witnesses Panel:
The Honorable Kurt M. Campbell
Assistant Secretary
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
U.S. Department of State...
Mr. Tom Malinowski
Advocacy Director
Human Rights Watch...
Chris Beyrer, M.D., MPH
Professor of Epidemiology, International Health, and Health,
Behavior, and Society
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health...
Mr. Aung Din
Executive Director
U.S. Campaign for Burma
Source/publisher:
U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Date of publication:
2009-10-21
Date of entry/update:
2009-10-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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English
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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:
1996-12-31
Date of entry/update:
2009-01-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
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Description:
There were signs of a political thaw early in the year and, for the first time in years, hopes that the government might lift some of its stifling controls on civil and political rights. By November, however, the only progress had been limited political prisoner releases and easing of pressures on some opposition politicians in Rangoon. There was no sign of fundamental changes in law or policy, and grave human rights violations remained unaddressed.....Human Rights Developments...
Defending Human Rights...
The Role of the International Community
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2001-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2009-01-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
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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
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
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Description:
Burma?s already dismal human rights record worsened following the devastation of cyclone Nargis in early May 2008. The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) blocked international assistance while pushing through a constitutional referendum in which basic freedoms were denied.
The ruling junta systematically denies citizens basic freedoms, including freedom of expression, association, and assembly. It regularly imprisons political activists and human rights defenders; in 2008 the number of political prisoners nearly doubled to more than 2,150. The Burmese military continues to violate the rights of civilians in ethnic conflict areas and extrajudicial killings, forced labor, land confiscation without due process and other violations continued in 2008....Cyclone Nargis...Constitutional Referendum...Human Rights Defenders...Child Soldiers...Continuing Violence against Ethnic Groups...Refugees and Migrant Workers...Key International Actors
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2009-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2009-01-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
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Description:
Contents:
SPECIAL EDITION: SAFFRON REVOLUTION
IMPRISONED, LAW DEMENTED...
Foreword: Dual policy approach needed on Burma
Basil Fernando...
Introduction: Saffron Revolution imprisoned, law demented
Editorial board, article 2...
Ne Win, Maung Maung and how to drive a legal system
crazy in two short decades,
Burma desk, Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong...
Ten case studies in illegal arrest and imprisonment.....
APPENDIX:
Nargis: World?s worst response to a natural disaster,
Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong.
Source/publisher:
Article 2 (Vol. 7, No. 3)
Date of publication:
2008-08-31
Date of entry/update:
2008-11-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Events of 2007 and their consequences: "The Saffron Revolution" and its aftermath
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English
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Abstract"
"This research was framed by a human rights approach to development as pursued by Amartya
Sen. Freedoms are not only the primary ends of development but they are the principle means of
development. The research was informed by international obligations to human rights and was placed
within a context of global pluralism and recognition of universal human dignity. The first research aim
was to study the State Peace and Development Council military regime confiscation of land and labour of
farmers in villages of fourteen townships in Rangoon, Pegu, and Irrawaddy Divisions and Arakan,
Karenni, and Shan States. Four hundred and sixty-seven individuals were interviewed to gain
understanding of current pressures facing farmers and their families. Had crops, labour, household food,
assets, farm equipment been confiscated? If so, by whom, and what reason was given for the
confiscation? Were farmers compensated for this confiscation? How did family households respond and
cope when land was confiscated? In what ways were farmers contesting the arbitrary confiscation of their
land?
A significant contribution of this research is that it was conducted inside Burma with considerable
risk for all individuals involved. People who spoke about their plight, who collected information, and who
couriered details of confiscation across the border into Thailand were at great risk of arrest. Interviews
were conducted clandestinely in homes, fields, and sometimes during the night. Because of personal
security risks there are inconsistent data sets for the townships. People revealed concerns of health,
education, lack of land tenure and livelihood. Several farmers are contesting the confiscation of their
land, but recognise that there is no rule by law or independent judiciary in Burma. Farmers and their
family members want their plight to be known internationally. When they speak out they are threatened
with detention. Their immediate struggle is to survive.
The second aim was to analyse land laws and land use in Burma from colonial times,
independence in 1948, to the present military rule by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
The third aim was to critically review international literature on land tenure and land rights with special
focus on research conducted in post-conflict, post-colonial, and post-socialist nations and how to resolve
land claims in face of no documentation. We sought ideas and practices which could inform creation of
land laws, land and property rights, in democratic transition in Burma."
Dr. Nancy Hudson-Rodd; Sein Htay
Source/publisher:
The Burma Fund
Date of publication:
2008-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2008-03-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agricultural land confiscation/grabbing, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Land rights
Language:
English
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11.22 MB
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"The violent crushing of protests led by Buddhist monks in
Burma/Myanmar in late 2007 has caused even allies of the
military government to recognise that change is desperately
needed. China and the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) have thrown their support behind the
efforts by the UN Secretary-General's special envoy
to re-open talks on national reconciliation, while the U.S.
and others have stepped up their sanctions. But neither
incomplete punitive measures nor intermittent talks
are likely to bring about major reforms. Myanmar's
neighbours and the West must press together for a
sustainable process of national reconciliation. This will
require a long-term effort by all who can make a difference,
combining robust diplomacy with serious efforts to address
the deep-seated structural obstacles to peace, democracy
and development.
The protests in August-September and, in particular, the
government crackdown have shaken up the political status
quo, the international community has been mobilised
to an unprecedented extent, and there are indications that
divergences of view have grown within the military. The
death toll is uncertain but appears to have been substantially
higher than the official figures, and the violence has
profoundly disrupted religious life across the country.
While extreme violence has been a daily occurrence
in ethnic minority populated areas in the border regions,
where governments have faced widespread armed rebellion
for more than half a century, the recent events struck at the
core of the state and have had serious reverberations within
the Burman majority society, as well as the regime itself,
which it will be difficult for the military leaders to ignore.
While these developments present important new
opportunities for change, they must be viewed against
the continuance of profound structural obstacles. The
balance of power is still heavily weighted in favour of
the army, whose top leaders continue to insist that only
a strongly centralised, military-led state can hold the
country together. There may be more hope that a new
generation of military leaders can disown the failures
of the past and seek new ways forward. But even if the
political will for reform improves, Myanmar will still
face immense challenges in overcoming the debilitating
legacy of decades of conflict, poverty and institutional
failure, which fuelled the recent crisis and could well
overwhelm future governments as well.
The immediate challenges are to create a more durable
negotiating process between government, opposition
and ethnic groups and help alleviate the economic and
humanitarian crisis that hampers reconciliation at all levels
of society. At the same time, longer-term efforts are
needed to encourage and support the emergence of a
broader, more inclusive and better organised political
society and to build the capacity of the state, civil society
and individual households alike to deal with the many
development challenges. To achieve these aims, all actors
who have the ability to influence the situation need to
become actively involved in working for change, and the
comparative advantages each has must be mobilised to
the fullest, with due respect for differences in national
perspectives and interests..."
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group (Asia Report N°144)
Date of publication:
2008-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2008-03-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Events of 2007 and their consequences: "The Saffron Revolution" and its aftermath
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English
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Table of Contents: Acronyms and Abbreviations...
Maps...
Map of Burma Showing Protest Locations...
Map of Rangoon...
I Executive Summary...
II Government by Exploitation: The Burmese Way to Capitalism?...
Macroeconomic Policy...
Fiscal Policy...
Monetary Policy...
The Economic Cost of Militarization...
The Straw that Broke the Camel?s Back...
III Growing Discontent: The Economic Protests...
Early Signs of Dissatisfaction...
Protesting the Fuel Price Rise.......
IV The Saffron Revolution...
The SPDC and the Sangha...
Interdependence of the Monastic and Lay Communities...
Pakokku and the Call of Excommunication...
Nationwide Protests Declared...
V Crackdown on the Streets...
Wednesday, 26 September 2007...
Shwedagon Pagoda...
Downtown Rangoon...
Thakin Mya Park...
Yankin Post Office...
Thursday, 27 September 2007...
South Okkalapa Township...
Sule Pagoda...
Pansodan Road Bridge...
Thakin Mya Park...
Tamwe Township State High School No3...
Friday, 28 September 2007...
Pansodan Road...
Pazundaung Township...
Latha Township ...
Saturday, 29 September 2007, onwards...
VI The Monastery Raids...
Invitations to Breakfast? ...
Maggin Monastery ...
Ngwe Kyar Yan Monastery ...
Additional Raids in Okkalapa ...
Thaketa Township...
Raids in Other Locations around the Country...Arakan State
Mandalay Division...
Kachin State...
Continued Raids...
VII A Witch Hunt...
Night Time Abductions...
Arrested for Harbouring...
Arrests in Lieu Of Others...
Collective Punishment of Entire Neighbourhoods...
Release of Detainees...
Continuing Arrest and Detention of Political Activists...
VIII Judicial Procedure and Conditions of Detention...
Prolonged Detention without Charge...
Judicial Procedure...
Conditions of Detention...
Interrogation and Torture of Detainees....
Denial of Medical Care...
Deaths in Custody...
Treatment of Monks...
IX Analysis of the Crackdown: Intent to Brutalise, Cover Up and Discredit...
Hired Thugs...
Targeted and Intentional Killings...
Removal of the Dead and Wounded...
Treatment of the Injured...
Secret Cremations...
Suppression of Information...
The Internet...
Telephone Networks Severed...
The National Press...
Deliberate Targeting of Journalists...
Providing Information to the Media...
Defamation of the Sangha...
The Pro-SPDC Rallies...
X Conclusion...
XI Recommendations.
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU)
Date of publication:
2008-02-29
Date of entry/update:
2008-03-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Events of 2007 and their consequences: "The Saffron Revolution" and its aftermath
Language:
English
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4.75 MB
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Executive summary"
"The situation in Burma after the ?Saffron Revolution” is unprecedented. The September
2007 peaceful protests and the violent crackdown have created new dynamics inside
Burma, and the country?sfuture is still unknown. This led the FIDH and the ITUC to
conduct a joint mission along the Thai-Burma border between October 13th-21st 2007 to
investigate the events and impact of the September crackdown, and to inform our
organizational strategies and political recommendations.
The violence and bloodshed directed at the monks and the general public who
participated in the peace walks and protests have further alienated the population from its
current military leaders. The level of fear, but also anger amongst the general population
is unprecedented, as even religious leaders are now clearly not exempt from such
violence and repression. This is different from the pro-democracy demonstrations in
1988, when monks were not directly targeted. In present-day Burma, all segments of the
population have grown hostile to the regime, including within the military?s own ranks.
The desire for change is greater than ever. Every witness -from ordinary citizens to
monks, and Generation 88 leaders- told mission participants the movement was not over,
despite the fear of reprisals and further repression. The question is what will happen next,
and when? The future will depend of three factors: the extent to which the population will
be able to organize new rounds of a social movement, the reaction of the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), and the influence the international community can exert
on the junta.
What happened in Burma since the crackdown has proven that the international
community has influence on the regime. The UN Secretary General's Special Envoy
Ibrahim Gambari?s good offices mission was accepted. The UN Special Rapporteur on
Human Rights, Sergio Pinheiro was allowed access to the country for the first time in
four years, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the National League for
Democracy (NLD) were given permission to meet with each other for the first time since
Daw Suu was placed under renewed house arrest, in May 2003. Yet these positive signs
are still weak: a genuine process of political change has not started yet. Such a process,
involving the democratic parties and ethnic groups, is fundamental to establishing peace,
human rights and development in Burma. To achieve that, the international community
must keep its focus on Burma, and maximise its efforts and capacity to help bring about
political transition..."
Source/publisher:
Federation Internationale des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH)
Date of publication:
2007-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2007-12-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Events of 2007 and their consequences: "The Saffron Revolution" and its aftermath
Language:
English
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388.2 KB
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Summary: "In August and September 2007, Burmese democracy activists, monks and ordinary
people took to the streets of Rangoon and elsewhere to peacefully challenge nearly
two decades of dictatorial rule and economic mismanagement by Burma?s ruling
generals. While opposition to the military government is widespread in Burma, and
small acts of resistance are an everyday occurrence, military repression is so
systematic that such sentiment rarely is able to burst into public view; the last
comparable public uprising was in August 1988. As in 1988, the generals responded
this time with a brutal and bloody crackdown, leaving Burma?s population once
again struggling for a voice.
The government crackdown included baton-charges and beatings of unarmed
demonstrators, mass arbitrary arrests, and repeated instances where weapons were
fired shoot-to-kill. To remove the monks and nuns from the protests, the security
forces raided dozens of Buddhist monasteries during the night, and sought to
enforce the defrocking of thousands of monks. Current protest leaders, opposition
party members, and activists from the ?88 Generation students were tracked down
and arrested ? and continue to be arrested and detained.
The Burmese generals have taken draconian measures to ensure that the world does
not learn the true story of the horror of their crackdown. They have kept foreign
journalists out of Burma and maintained their complete control over domestic news.
Many local journalists were arrested after the crackdown, and the internet and mobile
phone networks, used extensively to send information, photos, and videos out of
Burma, were temporarily shut down, and have remained tightly controlled since.
Of course, those efforts at censorship were only partially successful, as some
enterprising and brave individuals found ways to get mobile phone video footage of
the demonstrations and crackdown out of the country and onto the world?s television
screens. This provided a small window into the violence and repression that the
Burmese military government continues to use to hold onto power..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2007-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2007-12-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Events of 2007 and their consequences: "The Saffron Revolution" and its aftermath
Language:
English
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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:
2005-12-31
Date of entry/update:
2007-03-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
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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
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
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Description:
"The myth of state stability & a system of injustice
During 2006 Burma continued to be characterised by wanton criminality of state officers
at all levels, and the absence of the rule of law and rational government. Throughout the
year, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) documented violent crimes caused
by state officers, and the concomitant lack of any means for victims to complain and have
action taken against accused perpetrators..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Human Rights Commission
Date of publication:
2006-12-21
Date of entry/update:
2007-02-05
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"I would like to explain about this martial law according to records that I have studied...
martial law is neither more nor less than the will of the general who commands the army; in
fact, martial law means no law at all." (Major General Khin Nyunt, Secretary-1 of the State
Law and Order Restoration Council and head of military intelligence, 15 May 1991.)...
"Human rights are grossly and persistently violated throughout Myanmar. The victims
come from every section of society, and every ethnic and religious group. Opposition to the ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) has been systematically suppressed; over 1,500
political activists have been jailed, sometimes following unfair trials and sometimes with no trial
at all. Many have been tortured or have suffered other forms of ill-treatment. The military
continues to detain civilians to work as porters or as labourers who are routinely ill-treated and
even summarily killed when they become too exhausted to continue working. In ethnic minority
areas where the military confronts armed insurgency, defenceless civilians have been arbitrarily
arrested, tortured and killed. Minorities in areas where there is little or no armed opposition,
like the Muslims of Rakhine (Arakan) State, have also fallen victim to gross violations of their
basic rights, including arbitrary arrest, torture and extrajudicial execution..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA16/11/92)
Date of publication:
1992-10-28
Date of entry/update:
2006-06-24
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AN INVESTIGATION AND LEGAL ASSESSMENT OF
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS INFLICTED IN BURMA,
WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE
INTERNALLY DISPLACED, EASTERN PEOPLES..."For over a decade, the United Nations and Human Rights organisations have documented
systematic and widespread human rights violations inflicted on the people of Burma
generally, and on the ethnic people in particular. Most reports, however, with the exception
of some references to Article Three of The Geneva Conventions, have refrained from
conceptualizing the violations in terms of International Humanitarian Law. This report
addresses that gap and, in the aftermath of the State organised ambush of Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi?s convoy on May 30, 2003; the ongoing, widespread, systematic destruction of
substantial parts of the eastern ethnic peoples; and the failure to end impunity, recommends
a period of consultation, education and consensus building to explore the practicality,
political appropriateness, and morality of applying and enforcing relevant International
Humanitarian Law. This report analyses the human rights violations, identified by, amongst others, UN Special
Rapporteurs for human rights and Amnesty International, and expressed in UN General
Assembly Resolutions, that have been inflicted on the people of Burma for decades..." NOTE ON FORMAT: There is a glitch in the CD the online version is based on, with lines from the next page creeping onto the current page. This will be fixed eventually. There is also a plan to break the text up into managable chunks.
Guy Horton
Source/publisher:
Guy Horton, Images Asia
Date of publication:
2005-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2006-05-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Humanitarian Law (reports of violations in Burma), Armed conflict and peace-building in Burma - theoretical, strategic and general, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, International Justice and Burma
Language:
English
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A senior human rights official outlines Burmese ethnic minority communities? ongoing horrors...
In June, New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a damning and all too resonant report on the plight of an estimated 650,000 internally displaced persons in eastern Burma, most from the large Karen minority. The Karen are part of a very grim overall picture. ?The human rights situation in Burma is horrible,” says Brad Adams, HRW?s director for Asia. ?Gross violations of international humanitarian law are regularly committed by government forces, including the continued recruitment and use of child soldiers, extrajudicial executions, rape of women and girls, torture, and forced relocation.” Adams was recently interviewed by Dominic Faulder for The Irrawaddy.
Dominic Faulder/Brad Adams
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 13, No. 9
Date of publication:
2005-08-31
Date of entry/update:
2006-04-30
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"Over the past two and half years, Amnesty International has been
increasingly concerned about the growing number of reports it has received
of serious human rights violations in the Socialist Republic of the Union
of Burma. These violations have allegedly been committed by Burmese
government armed forces and security agencies against mostly non-combattant
civilians of ethnic minority origin living in regions where armed insurgent
groups are active, notably in Burma?s eastern Karen and Kayah States.
Similar information has, however, come out of the Shan State in the east,
the Rakhine (Arakan) State in the west, the Mon State in the south and,
more recently, the Kachin State in the north (see Amnesty International?s
Reports 1985, 1986 and 1987). The alleged violations include the frequent
practice of arbitrary arrest and short-term detention without charge or
trial of suspected political offenders and the torture and ill-treatment of
political detainees, particularly of civilian villagers taken into military
custody during military operations. They also include persistent
allegations that civilian villagers suspected of supporting or sympathizing
with ethnic rebels, porters and traders travelling through restricted
areas as well as prisoners of war captured in combat have been
extrajudicially executed for political, ethnic or other reasons...".....APPENDIX:
SOME ILLUSTRATIONS OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL?S CONCERNS IN EASTERN BURMA
(1985-EARLY 1987): ALLEGATIONS OF EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS, TORTURE AND
ILL-TREATMENT OF CIVILIAN VILLAGERS IN THE KAREN STATE
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/03.87)
Date of publication:
1987-08-31
Date of entry/update:
2005-08-19
[field_licence]
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English
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"The 26-year rule of General Ne Win?s Burma Socialist Programme Party came
to an end when Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Saw Maung led a military
coup on 18 September 1988. The coup followed months of pro-democracy
demonstrations throughout the country - and the deaths of thousands of
mostly peaceful demonstrators as a result of shootings by the army. Since
the coup, severe human rights violations, including mass arrests of
prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience, widespread
torture, summary trials, and extrajudicial executions continued to occur at
a very high level. Recent testimonies obtained by Amnesty International
describe these human rights abuses and indicate that real or imputed
critics of Myanmar?s military government run a high risk of being
imprisoned, interrogated, and tortured for the peaceful expression of their
political views.
The new military government pledged political and economic reforms
that appeared to go some way towards meeting the demands of pro-democracy
protesters. The authorities announced that elections to a new parliament
would take place in May 1990, following which a new constitution would be
drawn up to lay the foundation for a multi-party, parliamentary democracy.
For the first time since 1962 political opposition parties were permitted
to organize and were recognized by the government. However, the promised
transition to parliamentary democracy was marred by renewed repression even
as the new military government established itself. Hundreds of people were
shot in the weeks following the coup by troops who fired on demonstrators
without warning. Possibly thousands had been detained by the military
government by March 1990, many of them prisoners of conscience. Prisoners
of conscience included the main opposition leaders, many of whom were
arrested in July 1989 and officially disqualified by the SLORC from
standing in the elections. Evidence based on interviews conducted in November and December 1989
by Amnesty International from recently released political prisoners and
refugees who have fled the country suggests not only that torture and
unlawful killings of civilians in ethnic minority areas continue to be
widespread but that torture of political suspects occurs in other parts of
the country (i.e. non-ethnic minority areas). Several of those interviewed
had been prisoners of conscience, arrested, interrogated and tortured for
the peaceful exercise of their fundamental human rights. In the light of
this new information, Amnesty International is seriously concerned that any
person arrested for political reasons in Myanmar must be considered to be
at risk of torture by government security forces..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16-04-90)
Date of publication:
1990-05-02
Date of entry/update:
2005-08-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Torture and ill-treatment: reports of incidents in Burma, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
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"Widespread human rights violations have taken place throughout the country since
March 1988 as security forces have moved to suppress unprecedented popular
unrest that culminated in August in a huge uprising demanding an end to
authoritarian military rule and the establishment of multi-party democracy.
Several thousand mostly non-violent demonstrators including women and
children were reportedly killed by government security forces in March, June and
August in Rangoon, the capital, and in Mandalay, Moulmein, Pegu, Prome,
Taunggyi, Sagaing and other towns. During the same period a thousand others,
including prisoners of conscience, were arrested and held for long periods,
mostly in incommunicado detention. Although many of them were reportedly
released after, sometimes brutal, interrogation, hundreds, including prisoners
of conscience, were reported, in early September, to be still in prison, many
without charge or trial.
On 18 September 1988 the army staged a coup and brutally re-imposed
government control over the administration of the country which had been almost
paralysed by a series of general strikes that had involved an enormous number of
people throughout the country. The coup and its immediate aftermath prompted a
fresh outburst of street violence that resulted in hundreds more mostly
peaceful, unarmed demonstrators being killed and wounded and thousands of others
being arrested. Although no official figure was available, by December 1988
hundreds of political prisoners nationwide (including possible prisoners of
conscience) arrested since or before 18 September, were believed to be in
detention, most of them without charge or trial..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16/00/88, ASA 16/15/88)
Date of publication:
1988-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2005-08-18
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Type:
Individual Documents
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English
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"Thousands of ethnic minority people have fled Burma to escape the indiscriminate
brutality of the army?s counter-insurgency operations. Most of the refugees are
from the Karen State, a mountainous area bordering on Thailand. Others come
from the Mon and Kachin States and other parts of Burma. Their plight has
received little attention from the international community. In this report
Amnesty International publishes, for the first time, a detailed account of the
widespread extrajudicial executions, and torture and harsh treatment inflicted
on these people by soldiers operating in defiance of both Burmese and
international law...Since 1984 the Burmese army has waged intensive counter-insurgency
campaigns against various armed opposition groups, including minority movements
fighting for greater autonomy in the Karen, Kachin and Mon States. The civilian
population has suffered heavily in counter-insurgency drives. Most of the people
living in these remote and mountainous states are illiterate villagers making a
living out of rice farming or petty trading. To deny the insurgents any possible
logistical or other support the army has imposed harsh restrictions on the
villagers? lives, including controls on their movement, residence and wealth.
Whole villages have been regrouped in "strategic hamlets" - fenced settlements -
under strict curfew.
These restrictions impose intolerable hardships on rice farmers, whose
livelihood depends on free movement to tend their crops in often far-off fields,
and on itinerant traders who ply their wares between villages. People are forced
to risk their lives in order to survive. If they are found in places declared off-limits by the army, or on roads or in fields after curfew, they are
suspected of links with the insurgents and may be summarily shot or taken into
custody and tortured. Mutilated bodies are sometimes left by roadsides and in
the fields...1. SUMMARY
2. INTRODUCTION
2.1 SOURCES AND THE SCALE OF ABUSES
2.2 BACKGROUND
2.2.1 HISTORICAL SKETCH
2.2.2 KAREN INSURGENCY
2.2.3 KACHIN AND MON INSURGENCIES
2.3 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL?S POSITION ON ABUSES BY ARMED OPPOSITION FORCES 12
3. EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTION OF KAREN BY THE ARMY
3.1 CIRCUMSTANCES AND METHODS OF EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTION
3.2 EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTION FOR DISOBEYING RESTRICTIONS ON LIVELIHOOD
3.3 EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTION OF PORTERS AND GUIDES
3.4 EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTION FOR OTHER REASONS
4. TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT OF KAREN BY THE ARMY
4.1 CIRCUMSTANCES AND METHODS OF TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
4.2 TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT DURING INTERROGATION
4.3 TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT AS PUNISHMENT
4.4 TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT OF WIVES TAKEN AS HOSTAGES
5. TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT OF KACHIN AND MON BY THE ARMY AND POLICE
5.1 KACHIN CASES
5.2 MON CASES
6. BURMESE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 BURMESE LEGAL SAFEGUARDS AND REMEDIES RELATED TO HUMAN
6.1.1 PROVISIONS AGAINST TORTURE AND UNLAWFUL KILLING
6.1.2 FREEDOM FROM ARBITRARY ARREST AND DETENTION
6.1.3 THE JUDICIARY
6.1.4 POLITICAL OFFENCES INVOLVING VIOLENCE
6.1.5 EMERGENCY ABRIDGEMENT OF RIGHTS
6.1.6 INSPECTION AND COMPLAINTS PROCEDURES
6.2 INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
6.3 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL?S COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE GOVERNMENT
6.4 GOVERNMENT REJECTION OF ALLEGATIONS OF EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTION
6.5 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL?S RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT
6.5.1 HIGH-LEVEL GOVERNMENT STATEMENTS AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS
6.5.2 FULL GOVERNMENT INQUIRY/PROSECUTION OF RESPONSIBLE AUTHORITIES
6.5.3 LEGISLATIVE REFORM AND ENFORCEMENT
6.5.4 IMPROVED TRAINING OF SECURITY FORCES
6.5.5 COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS AND THEIR RELATIVES
6.5.6 PROVIDING ACCESS AND INFORMATION TO INTERNATIONAL BODIES
6.5.7 RATIFICATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS
6.5.8 DIVISION OF DETENTION AND INTERROGATION RESPONSIBILITIES
6 5.9 COMPREHENSIVE PUBLIC RECORDS OF ARREST AND DETENTION.....
APPENDIX 1: REPORTED VICTIMS OF EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS; APPPENDIX 2: REPORTED VICTIMS OF TORTURE OR OTHER SEVERE ILL-TREATMENT.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (ASA 16-05-88)
Date of publication:
1988-04-30
Date of entry/update:
2005-08-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Torture and ill-treatment: reports of incidents in Burma, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
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"While there are signs of relaxation of restrictions and some progress in economic, social and cultural rights, many civil and political rights are still severely restricted. Particularly, the right to life, liberty and security of person, freedoms from slavery, torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment, freedoms of thought, opinion, expression, peaceful assembly and association are widely violated and ignored especially in connection with forced labour, forced relocation, political activities including activities related to political parties and the National Convention."...
"Amnesty International welcomes certain incremental improvements which the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), Myanmar?s military authorities, have made in regards to the human rights situation. However the organization remains concerned that a system of repression is still in place which is being used to violate the fundamental human rights of the people of Myanmar. During 1993 non-violent critics of the SLORC were arrested and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, and ethnic minorities, particularly the Karen, were still at grave risk of repressive measures by the Myanmar security forces in the course of their counterinsurgency operations. Torture and ill-treatment of both ethnic minorities during forced portering and of political prisoners in Myanmar?s jails continues to be a common occurrence. Some 70 prisoners of conscience remain in detention, most of whom have been sentenced after blatantly unfair trials. Other prisoners of conscience who have been released are routinely subjected to intimidation, which takes the form of surveillance, threats, and interrogation. Delegates to the SLORC-controlled National Convention have also been subject to similar repressive measures which have denied them the rights to freedom of expression and assembly..." Developments at the National Convention, Political Detention, Recent Arrests, Human rights violations against members of the Karen ethnic minority, Burmese Muslim refugees. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Other International Organizations.
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International USA
Date of publication:
1993-12-31
Date of entry/update:
2005-03-09
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Type:
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Contents
1. Summary;
2. Purposes;3. Personnel;4. Itinerary;
5. Military Offensives and Human Rights Violations Against Ethnic Nationals;
6. Case Studies;
7. Health Status of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Karen, Karenni and Shan States;
8. Political Developments;
9. Recommendations.
Source/publisher:
Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Date of publication:
2004-05-07
Date of entry/update:
2004-05-10
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I. Introduction;
II. Evidence of Violations of Human Rights by the SPDC;
III. Conclusion;
IV. Recommendations...
Appendices:
I The General Situation in Shan, Karenni and Karen States;
II The General Situation relating to refugees on Thai soil;
III Visit to An Internally Displaced Settlement in Karen State.
Source/publisher:
Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Date of publication:
2003-02-03
Date of entry/update:
2004-05-10
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Type:
Individual Documents
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English
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For the 60th Session of the
UN Commission Human Rights resolution on
The human rights situation in Myanmar?...- 1 -
Contents:
Recommendations;
Summary;
The Judicial System: Unjust Laws and Orders;
The Depayin Massacre;
Political Prisoners;
MPs, NLD members arrested for organizing
trip of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi;
Extension of Prison Terms Under Section 10 (A);
Hunger Strikes in Prison;
The Aging Political Prisoners;
Members of Parliament in
Prison and in Exile;
Women, Children, Racial, Ethnic &
Religious Minorities in Burma:-
Women:
Rape as a Systematic Tool;
The License to Rape Report;
Military's Response to the Report;
Responses to the Report;
Recommendations to the United Nations;
Other Tragedies Suffered by Women...
Children:
Burmese Children in Armed Conflict;
Health and Education of Children...
Racial, Ethnic and Religious Minorities:
Restrictions on Religious Practices
and Freedom...
Forced Labor, Forced Displacement, Land Mines
and Refugees and IDPs:-
Forced Labor:
The ILO and the Regime;
Forced Displacement;
Landmines;
Refugees and IDPs:
Bangladest Border;
Indian Border;
Thai Border...
Land Confiscation and Forced Relocation...
Economic Situation...
Appendix I:
Members of Parliament in Prison;
Appendix II:
Over 65 years Old Political Prisoners...
Appendix III:
Update Tables on Political Prisoners...
Summary:-
"The human rights situation in Burma has worsened again this
year. While the military junta claims that it is working to bring
"disciplined democracy" to the country through a "seven-point
roadmap", political arrests continue unabated and leaders of
the election-winning party, the National League for
Democracy, remain under detention. High-ranking officials of
the military junta try to paint a rosy picture of the political
future of the country while they refuse to cooperate with the
United Nations' call for an independent investigation into the
use of rape as a weapon against Shan women by the military
or to permit an inquiry into the massacre of National League
for Democracy members who came under the "premeditated
attack" of the military and its affiliated thugs near Tabayin
[Depayin] during the tour of the region by Aung San Suu Kyi
and her party members.
The junta also continues to ignore the resolutions of the past
years passed by the General Assembly and relevant bodies
and blatantly ignores the efforts of the United Nations'
Secretary General and his envoy to facilitate a national
reconciliation process in Burma.
Violations of human rights, including arbitrary killings, rape,
looting, force relocation, and destruction of villages continue
particularly in the border areas where large-scale military
offensives are launched against ethnic nationalities. The
Burmese people continue to be held hostage under the
military's corrupt, brutal, inhumane, and undemocratic
policies.
This briefing paper, along with many other reports compiled by
prominent human rights and intergovernmental organizations,
should serve as a testimony to the fact that human rights
violations in Burma are continuous, as they have tragically
been for many years; that the regime has no regard for the
protection and promotion of its people?s human rights and only
cares about instilling fear in the minds of the people through
the use of brute force so as to preserve military rule.
* This paper has been prepared by the Burma UN Service Office of the National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB)..."
Source/publisher:
Burma UN Service Office of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB)
Date of publication:
2004-02-29
Date of entry/update:
2004-03-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Public briefings and oral statements to the CHR by non-governmental organisations, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
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Description:
I SUMMARY �
Summary of Recommendations�
II THE PATTERN OF ABUSE:
Political Prisoners;
The Political Process;
The National Convention;
Forced Labor;
Discrimination Against Minorities�
III HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES DURING COUNTERINSURGENCY OPERATIONS:
The Renewed Offensive in the Karen State;
The Offensive Against Khun Sa;
IV THE INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE:
The United Nations;
China;
India;
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN);
Japan;
The United States�
V RECOMMENDATIONS:
To the State Law and Order Restoration Council;
To the International Community;
APPENDIX I �
APPENDIX II.
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
1995-06-30
Date of entry/update:
2004-03-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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html
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"This report presents the direct translations of 783 order documents and letters, selected from a total of 1,007 such documents. The orders dictate demands for forced labour, money, food and materials, place restrictions on movements and activities of villagers, and make threats to arrest village elders or destroy villages of those who fail to obey. Over 650 of those selected were sent by military units and local authorities of Burma?s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) junta to village elders in Toungoo, Papun, Nyaunglebin, Thaton, Pa?an and Dooplaya Districts, which together cover most of Karen State and part of eastern Pegu Division and Mon State (see Map 1 showing Burma or Map 2 showing Karen State). The remainder were sent by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) or the Karen Peace Army (KPA), groups allied with the SPDC. All but a few of the orders were issued between January 2002 and February 2003..."
Papun, Pa?an, Thaton, Nyaunglebin, Toungoo, & Dooplaya Districts
General Forced Labour (Orders #1-150);
Forced Labour Supplying Materials (#150-191);
Set to a Village I: Village A, Papun District (#192-200);
Set to a Village II: Village B, Papun District (#201-226);
Set to a Village III: Village C, Thaton District (#227-241);
Set to a Village IV: Village D, Dooplaya District (#242-251);
Extortion of Money, Food, and Materials (#252-335);
Crop Quotas (#336-346);
Restrictions on Movement and Activity (#347-354);
Demands for Intelligence (#355-426);
Education, Health (#427-442);
Education (#427-439);
Health (#440-442);
Summons to Meetings? (#443-652);
DKBA & KPA Letters (#653-783);
DKBA Recruitment (#653);
DKBA General Forced Labour (#654-685);
DKBA Demands for Materials and Money (#686-719);
DKBA Restrictions (#720-727);
DKBA Meetings (#728-771);
KPA Letters (#772-783);
Appendix A: The Village Act and the Towns Act;
Appendix B: SPDC Orders Banning? Forced Labour.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group ( KHRG #2003-01)
Date of publication:
2003-08-22
Date of entry/update:
2003-11-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Burma and the region
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
"Burma?s rulers need to be brought to account before they commit more political crimes and human rights abuses..."
Two months after the May 30 ambush on political activists and leaders of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), the human rights group Amnesty International called on Burma?s military regime to bring the culprits to justice and permit an independent and impartial investigation.
Amnesty said, "The events of 30 May show all too clearly the need for accountability and an end to impunity in Myanmar [Burma]." Other human rights organizations and several foreign governments also called Burma to answer.
Burma?s military regime, however, remains mute, ignoring pressure from abroad while claiming they arrested pro-democracy supporters, including NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Vice Chairman Tin Oo, for the sake of stability in the country..."
Thar Nyunt Oo
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" Vol. 11, No. 7
Date of publication:
2003-08-31
Date of entry/update:
2003-11-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, International Justice and Burma
Language:
English
Local URL:
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