UN: Request for Burmese Peacekeepers Misguided

(New York) – A United Nations offer to the Burmese armed forces to consider sending troops to UN peacekeeping missions could lead to abuses and undermine peacekeeping standards, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The secretary-general’s special advisor on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, extended the invitation to the Burmese defense services commander in chief, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, during a recent visit to Burma […]

Conflict-related Sexual Violence: Report of the Secretary-General

The present report, which covers the period from January to December 2013, is submitted pursuant to paragraph 22 of Security Council resolution 2106 (2013) , in which the Council requested me to submit annual reports on the implementation of resolutions 1820 (2008) , 1888 (2009) , 1960 (2010) and 2106 (2013) with regard to conflict […]

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar was established pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1992/58 and was recently extended by Human Rights Council resolution 22/14. The present report, submitted pursuant to Council resolution 22/14 and General Assembly resolution 68/242, covers human rights developments in Myanmar since the previous report of the Special Rapporteur to the Council in March 2013 (A/HRC/22/58) and to the Assembly in October 2013 (A/68/397). The present report to the Council is the last by the current mandate holder before the end of his six-year term in May 2014 […]

Briefing Paper on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma/Myanmar 25th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council

1.0 Introduction While acknowledging the positive developments that have occurred in some areas relating to human rights in Burma/Myanmar, in other areas, progress has been lacking, while in some others still, significant backsliding has taken place. The areas that have witnessed significant backsliding or lack  of progress include: the continued criminalisation and harassment of political […]

UN Human Rights Council Burma Resolution must not Drop Demands for Action

The content of the next United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution on Burma is currently being discussed by the European Union. Members of the European Burma Network call upon European Union members to ensure the Resolution continues to highlight ongoing human rights abuses in Burma, and continues to call for action by the government of Burma to end these abuses […]

MYANMAR: ABOLISH ABUSIVE RESTRICTIONS & PRACTICES AGAINST ROHINGYA MUSLIMS

The 79-page report, Policies of Persecution: Ending Abusive State Policies Against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, produced by Fortify Rights is based primarily on the analysis of 12 leaked official documents and a review of public records, as well as interviews with Rohingya and others in Myanmar and Thailand. The documents published in the report reveal restrictions that deny Rohingya basic human rights, including the rights to nondiscrimination, freedom of movement, marriage, family, health, and privacy. All of the restrictions and enforcement methods described in the report appear to be in effect at the time of writing.

“Regional Order 1/2005,” obtained by Fortify Rights, lays the foundation for a two-child policy enforced in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships, requiring Rohingya “who have permission to marry” to “limit the number of children, in order to control the birth rate so that there is enough food and shelter.” This order—which in practice translates to a strict two-child policy— also prohibits Rohingya from having children out of wedlock […]

The 2014 Census, Identity and Citizenship in Burma/Myanmar

The 2014 Population and Housing Census is likely to undertake the most significant ethnic and political boundary-making in Burma/Myanmar since the last British census in 1931. However, by using flawed designations from the colonial era and ignoring the complexity of the present political landscape, the census is likely to raise ethnic tensions at precisely the moment that peace negotiations are focused on building trust […]

Burma: United Nations Working Group finds that the detention of human rights defender Mr. Htin Kyaw was arbitrary

On December 11, 2013, Burma’s President Thein Sein ordered the release of 41 political prisoners in a presidential amnesty. Among those freed was prominent human rights defender Mr. Htin Kyaw, leader of the Movement for Democracy Current Force (MDCF), an organisation that assists grass-roots communities in their struggle against land-grabbing and other human rights violations. He was re-arrested on the same day on sedition charges and eventually released in another presidential amnesty on December 31, 2013 […]

Same Impunity, Same Pattern: Sexual Abuses by the Burma Army Will Not Stop Until There is a Genuine Civilian Government

Almost a decade ago, the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) denounced systematic patterns of sexual crimes committed by the Burma Army against ethnic women and demanded an end to the prevailing system of impunity. Today WLB is renewing these calls. Three years after a nominally civilian government came to power; state-sponsored sexual violence continues to threaten the lives of women in Burma.

Women of Burma endure a broad range of violations; this report focuses on sexual violence, as the most gendered crime. WLB and its member organizations have gathered documentation showing that over 100 women have been raped by the Burma Army since the elections of 2010. Due to restrictions on human rights documentation, WLB believes these are only a fraction of the actual abuses taking place […]

Training War Criminals? – British Training of the Burmese Army

This briefing examines the British government’s controversial military training to the Burmese Army.

The training is taking place despite the Burmese Army still committing serious human rights abuses which violate international law. Crimes committed by the Burmese Army since the reform process began include rape and gang rape of ethnic women, including children, deliberate targeting of civilians, arbitrary execution, arbitrary detention, torture, mutilations, looting, bombing civilian areas, blocking humanitarian assistance, destruction of property, and extortion. Many of these abuses could be classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity […]