Briefing: Forced Labour in Chin State and Sagaing Region, 2011 – 2012

From January 2011 to date, CHRO has documented 20 separate incidents of forced labour, some involving orders to multiple villages. 50 percent of the incidents involved orders from the Burma Army (typically portering), and the other half were orders from the local authorities (typically road construction, planting jatropha, and other forms of manual labour) […]

Myanmar in Transition: Opportunities and Challenges

Myanmar, which is emerging from decades of isolation, is poised to accelerate its economic growth on the back of its abundant labor force, rich natural resources, and geographical location. But the country faces many development challenges to achieve strong and inclusive growth […]

“The Government Could Have Stopped This”: Sectarian Violence and Ensuing Abuses in Burma’s Arakan State

This report describes how the Burmese authorities failed to take adequate measures to stem rising tensions and the outbreak of sectarian violence in Arakan State. Though the army eventually contained the mob violence in the state capital, Sittwe, both Arakan and Rohingya witnesses told Human Rights Watch that government forces stood by while members from each community attacked the other, razing villages and committing an unknown number of killings […]

List of the Most Problematic Provisions in the 2008 Constitution and Burmese Laws

This document gives an overview of provisions in the 2008 Constitution, Burmese laws and the Penal Code that are, in the view of the BLC, the most problematic for the development of rule of law and democracy in Burma […]

The War in Kachin State: A Year of More Displacement and Human Rights Abuses

In the past year, the Tatmadaw has deployed nearly 25% of its battalions to Kachin State, escalating its war with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and bringing further suffering to civilian populations in Kachin State and Northern Shan State.

Tatmadaw soldiers have constantly targeted civilians in Kachin State and Northern Shan States as part of their military operations against the KIA. Human rights abuses have included extrajudicial killings, rape of women, arbitrary arrests, torture, forced displacement, the use of human shields, forced labor, and the confiscation and destruction of property. All of these systematic abuses would be considered war crimes and/or crimes against humanity under international law […]

Ongoing Impunity: Continued Burma Army Atrocities against the Kachin People

This report provides an update of atrocities committed by the Burma Army against civilians since it broke its 17-year ceasefire with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) one year ago. It highlights the particular suffering of women during the conflict, who have been forced to be porters, used as sex slaves, gang-raped and killed […]

Extreme Measures: Torture and Ill Treatment in Burma since the 2010 Elections

This report documents the Government of Burma’s torture and ill treatment against its own people since the 2010 elections. This report demonstrates that the Burmese government continues to commit these abuses despite being bound to international human rights treaties and norms. Furthermore, the lack of domestic legislation prohibiting torture, the absence of an independent judiciary, and an ineffective Human Rights Commission contribute to a climate where torture and ill treatment are perpetrated with impunity […]

Forced Labour Still Prevails: An Overview of Forced Labour Practices in North Arakan, Burma

This report by the Arakan Project offers an overview of forced labour practices in Northern Arakan/Rakhine State of Burma/Myanmar over a 6-month period – from November 2011 to May 2012 […]

EU Program to Help the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission Must Ensure Substantive Changes

Burma Partnership welcomes the announcement by Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative, to launch a programme to help the MNHRC. However, the EU’s support to the MNHRC must not be limited to increasing the skills of its personnel or it would only legitimize a dysfunctional institution that will best serve the government rather than the people of Burma. The EU must engage in a restructuring of the MNHRC to ensure it becomes an independent, transparent and effective institution.

In this short briefer, Burma Partnership presents recommendations to the EU to ensure its program brings substantive changes to the MNHRC to truly make it independent, transparent and accessible to victims of human rights violations […]

Revisiting Human Rights in Myanmar

On 23 May 2012, Amnesty International concluded its first official visit to Myanmar since 2003. This report illustrates Amnesty’s general impressions of the current human rights situation, and looks at five specific topics: political imprisonment, rule of law, ethnic minorities, accountability, and economic, social and cultural rights.