Civil Society Criticizes ASEAN for Turning a Blind Eye to Human Rights Violations in Burma

Burma’s civil society today delivered an open letter signed by forty organizations and individuals to ASEAN heads of states expressing their extreme disappointment with the statements presented by ASEAN delegates at the Interactive Dialogue of Burma’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on 27 January 2011 in Geneva.

“Burma remains one of the worst rights violators in the world,” said Aung Myo Min, coordinator of the Task Force on ASEAN and Burma and representative of the Burma Forum-UPR. “Despite this, statements from ASEAN delegates failed to acknowledge the severity of rights violations in Burma or the regime’s role as the main perpetrator of widespread and systematic human rights violations.”[…]

Global Day of Action for 34 Resistance Fighters From Burma in Indian Jail

38 organisations in 18 countries are taking part in a global day of action in support of 34 resistance fighters from Burma who are currently being held in an Indian jail. The 34 are threatened with deportation back to Burma, where they would very likely face arrest, torture and imprisonment […]

Burma Regime Rejects 16 Requests at UN For Crimes Investigations

Burma’s dictatorship has rejected 16 separate proposals made at the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling on the dictatorship to respect international law and investigate breaches of international law […]

Another Journalist Gets a Long Jail Sentence

Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association are appalled that yet another journalist has been given a long jail term. A Rangoon court sentenced video reporter Maung Maung Zeya on 4 February to five years in prison for two violations of the Unlawful Association Act, one year under the Immigration Act (for crossing the border illegally) and […]

EU Must Maintain Burma Sanctions

Burma Campaign UK today called on members of the European Union to maintain targeted sanctions on Burma, following the release of a policy statement on sanctions by the National League for Democracy (NLD).

The European Union has a ‘Common Decision’ on Burma foreign policy, which has to be renewed every April. Some European countries, including Italy and Germany, are believed to favour relaxing some sanctions […]

Sanctions on Burma: A Review by the NLD

In recent months sanctions have repeatedly featured in discussions over the kind of policies that would best encourage positive change in Burma. Are current administrative policies and practices conducive to a healthy economy, with or without sanctions? Are allegations that sanctions have exacerbated the hardships of the people of Burma justified or are such accusations based on political motives? Are sanctions in their present form likely to achieve the desired objectives? Are there credible signs of progress in the democratization process? The issue of sanctions needs to be examined within the broad context of political desiderata and economic realities […]

CFOB supports the NLD’s position on economic sanctions on Burma

The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by the Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, issued a statement today reviewing the economic sanctions on Burma. The statement outlines a rationale for maintaining the sanctions and notes that “the hardships of the vast majority of the people of Burma are not related to sanctions, but to misguided government policies” […]

AAPP Concerned About Denial of Family Visits for Sick Political Prisoners

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) is deeply concerned about the ban on family visits for sick political prisoner Daw Htet Htet Oo Wai. She has been placed in solitary confinement and her family have not been allowed to visit her for three months. Daw Htet Htet Oo Wai, a member of the National League for Democracy Party, is currently serving a 5 year sentence in […]

KNU Update on Impacts Resulting from Hatgyi Dam Construction

On August 4th, 2009 we, the KNU, issued a statement concerning the Hatgyi dam construction project. In the statement, we called upon the countries investing in construction of the dam to withdraw their investment as the construction of the dam would cause massive damage to the environment and bring on widespread human rights violations against local populations in the form of burning down of villages, looting of property, crop destruction, killing of livestock, extortion of money, torture and killing of suspects, rape of women, forced relocation and forced labor by troops of the SPDC military dictatorship […]

New report warns crisis in Burma “puts the credibility of the UN at stake”

The United Nations is at risk of losing legitimacy for failing to establish a formal inquiry into alleged crimes against humanity in Burma, according to a new report published by the German Marshall Fund and the Legatum Institute.

The report’s author, Benedict Rogers, catalogues a grim list of large-scale human rights abuses and brutal oppression of ethnic minorities and opposition […]