World Report 2011: Burma

Burma’s human rights situation remained dire in 2010, even after the country’s first multiparty elections in 20 years. The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) continued to systematically deny all basic freedoms to citizens and sharply constrained political participation. The rights of freedom of expression, association, assembly, and media remained severely curtailed. The government took no significant steps during the year to release more than 2,100 political prisoners being held, except for the November 13 release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi […]

Burma: Visit to the India-Burma Border

“We have been ruled by the army for 48 years. The army has killed our hopes.” – A Chin pastor

“The elections amount to nothing more than a change of clothes for the military. They are completely unacceptable.” – A Chin refugee

In eastern Burma, the regime is carrying out military offensives against ethnic civilians, resulting in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people and rape, torture, forced labour and killings. Civilians, including women, children and the elderly, are sometimes shot at point-blank range. In western and northern Burma, the regime is also cruelly suppressing the ethnic nationalities, although the tactics vary […]

Report on the Human Rights Situation in Burma: January – July 2010

This report provides up-to date information on human rights violations and highlights pressing issues and trends within the country including election-related human rights violations in the pre-election period […]

Supporting local responses to extractive abuse: Commentary on the ND-Burma report Hidden Impact

Eighteen years of KHRG field research indicates that regular extractive abuses by the SPDC Army and NSAGs threaten local livelihoods and are a fundamental human rights concern for villagers throughout eastern Burma. These abuses appear to be the product of the established SPDC Army and NSAG practice of supporting military units via extraction of significant material and labour resources from the local civilian population, enforced by implicit or explicit threats of violence. These findings were recently affirmed by ND-Burma, which last week released a report documenting the prevalence and impact of arbitrary taxation for communities across Burma. This commentary is designed to support ND-Burma’s report […]

The Hidden Impact of Burma’s Arbitrary and Corrupt Taxation

[…]The system of taxation and extortion impacts on the people of Burma’s basic human rights by violating their right to an adequate standard of living, right to development, property rights, right to education and in the forced labour they are subjected to. The report aims to inform the international community about these practices committed by the regime and the immense negative impact it creates on the people of Burma. It also urges accountability and change.[…]

Upholding the Responsibility to Protect in Burma/Myanmar

Introduction

The situation in Burma/Myanmar remains grave. With elections scheduled for 7 November 2010 international attention on the country has increased. Such attention, and any policy action taken, must focus not only on the goal of democratic transition, and concerns about the regimes nuclear collaboration with North Korea, but also on the plight of Burma’s ethnic minorities who continue to suffer atrocities at the hands of the government. These atrocities may rise to the level of crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing – crimes states committed themselves to protect populations from at the 2005 World Summit, as described in the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect policy brief dated 4 March 2010, “Applying the Responsibility to Protect to Burma/Myanmar[…]

Attacks on cardamom plantations, detention and forced labour in Toungoo District

This field report documents recent human rights abuses committed by SPDC soldiers against Karen villagers in Toungoo District. Villagers in SPDC-controlled areas continue to face heavy forced labour demands that severely constrain their livelihoods […]

Functionally Refoulement: Camps in Tha Song Yang District Abandoned as Refugees Bow to Pressure

Two temporary refugee camps established during June 2009 in Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province, Thailand, to provide refuge for villagers that fled increased conflict and exploitative abuse in Pa’an District have now been all but entirely abandoned. The camps were home to more than 2,209 refugees as recently as January 2010; over the last two months, the camp populations have dwindled as small groups have departed one by one. […]

2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Burma

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

Burma, with an estimated population of 54 million, is ruled by a highly authoritarian military regime dominated by the majority ethnic Burman group. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), led by Senior General Than Shwe, was the country’s de facto government. Military officers wielded the ultimate authority at each level of government. […]

Progress report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana

The present report, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 10/27, covers human rights developments in Myanmar since the Special Rapporteur’s second report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/10/19) and the submission of his report to the General Assembly (A/64/318) in October 2009. […]