Join our mailing list for latest news and information about Burma.
Human Rights (383 found)
How to Defend the Defenders? A Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in Burma and Appropriate Protection Mechanisms
HRD Report 
Testimonies and reports from inside the country have painted a very different picture to the new tolerant and free Burma that the Burma Government wants the world to see. Those who try to defend human rights, or question the power or narrative of the Burma Government — and their military and corporate backers —now seem to be operating in as dangerous an environment as ever […]
FBR Report: June Update – Mali Yang Offensive Continues
On Saturday, 11 July the Burma Army and Burma Air Force launched an offensive near Mali Yang Village in northern Kachin State […]
• • •Military Confrontation or Political Dialogue: Consequences of the Kokang Crisis for Peace and Democracy in Myanmar
The renewed violence in the Kokang region of the northern Shan state in February 2015 has had serious repercussions for efforts to solve ethnic conflict in Burma/Myanmar and end the decades-old civil war. The fighting started when troops led by the veteran Kokang leader Pheung Kya-shin (Peng Jiasheng) resurfaced in the Kokang region and attacked government and army positions after an interval of nearly six years […]
• • •UN Resolution – Human Rights Situation of Muslims in Myanmar
Condemns the systematic gross violations of human rights and abuses committed in Rakhine State, in particular against Rohingya Muslims […]
• • •Human Rights are Called Universal for a Reason – In English and Burmese
For many years in Burma, a person carrying a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights risked arrest and even jail. Underground human rights networks distributed copies and organised discussions on the articles it contained […]
• • •KWO Six Months Summary of Human Rights Violations in Karen State: January to June 2015
The Karen Women’s Organization (“KWO”) collected information regarding continuing serious human rights abuses perpetrated by the Burma Army in all seven districts in Karen State from January to June 2015. Our data demonstrates that the Burma Army has taken advantage of the preliminary ceasefire to continue to commit serious human rights abuses, perpetrate direct attacks on civilians and expand its presence in Karen State […]
• • •Kachin Region: War Torn Displaced Village Profiles
The country of Myanmar has been plagued by bitter experience of civil war and successive brutal regimes since the pre and post-independence era. The country gained independence from British colony in 1948 and a union of Myanmar was formed based on the principles enshrined in historic Panglong agreement signed by ethnic representatives from Kachin, Shan, Chin and Burmese. Karen and Mon started their ethnic armed struggle since pre-independence time […]
‘With Only Our Voices, What Can We Do?’: Land Confiscation and Local Response in Southeast Myanmar
ORCHID HOTEL, YANGON – Three years after the 2012 preliminary ceasefire negotiations between the Myanmar government and the Karen National Union (KNU), reported instances of land confiscation continue to increase in southeast Myanmar. In the 2015 report, ‘With only our voices, what can we do?’, KHRG highlights four main land use types which lead to land confiscation, including infrastructure projects, natural resource extraction, commercial agriculture projects, and military activities. Based on testimony from local villagers, the Myanmar government; domestic corporate actors; and Tatmadaw and Karen ethnic armed groups (EAGs) are all identified as being complicit in the confiscation of land from local communities in southeast Myanmar. However, local villagers report using a variety of strategies to prevent and mitigate the impacts of land confiscation, such as reaching out to civil society organisations (CSOs) and the media, negotiating with actors involved in projects, and lobbying both the Myanmar government and Karen EAGs […]
Stateless At Sea: The Moken of Burma and Thailand
The 25-page report, “Stateless at Sea: The Moken of Burma and Thailand,” describes in words and photographs serious violations of the rights of the Moken by state authorities – particularly the Burmese navy – including extortion, bribery, arbitrary arrest, and confiscation of property. Human Rights Watch also examines tightening immigration and maritime conservation laws that threaten their freedom of movement and traditional lifestyle. Most Moken are stateless, making them extremely vulnerable to human rights abuse and depriving them of access to medical care, education, and employment opportunities.
Burma 2014 Human Rights Report
Burma’s parliamentary government is headed by President Thein Sein. In 2012 the country held largely transparent and inclusive by-elections in which the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, chaired by Aung San Suu Kyi, won 43 of 45 contested seats of a total 664 seats in the legislature. Constitutional provisions grant one-quarter of all national and one-third of all regional and state parliamentary seats to active-duty military appointees and provide that the military indefinitely assume power over all branches of the government should the president declare a national state of emergency. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) continued to hold an overwhelming majority of the seats in the national parliament and state and regional assemblies, and active-duty military officers continued to wield authority at many levels of government. There is no civilian control of the military; police forces also report to the military through the minister of home affairs […]
• • •
All posts