Burma: Release Ten Arakanese Activists, Amend Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Processions Law

Targeted Prosecutions of Peaceful Protesters Continue

The government of Burma should immediately release ten Arakanese activists convicted of violating Burma’s Law on Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession after protesting a Chinese-led natural gas project in western Burma, four nongovernmental organizations said today. On 26 September, the ten activists were sentenced to three months in prison for their participation in a peaceful protest against adverse impacts of the transnational gas project on 18 April on Maday Island in Burma’s western Arakan State. The Shwe Gas Movement, Burma Partnership, Human Rights Education Institute of Burma and Fortify Rights International called today for the immediate release of the activists and for the urgent amendment of the controversial law […]

Statement on the Situation of the Rohingya in Burma

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum today expressed its deep concern about the worsening situation of the Rohingya in Burma, also known as Myanmar.

Long considered one of the world’s most persecuted peoples, the Muslim Rohingya have no legal status in Burma and face severe discrimination, abuse, and escalating violence. Last year, violent attacks, fanned by a campaign of virulent anti-Muslim hate speech that continues today, destroyed numerous Rohingya communities and displaced well more than 100,000 people […]

Burma: Detained Human Rights Defender Mr Kyaw Hla Aung to Appear in Court

On 31 July 2013, human rights defender and community leader Mr Kyaw Hla Aung will appear at the district court in Sittwe to hear charges against him. Kyaw Hla Aung is a human rights defender and community leader who has been working to promote and defend the rights of minority Rohingyas in Arakan state. The human rights defender is a respected community leader having served as a Sittwe district civil court clerk and a former staff member of Medicine Sans Frontiers […]

Myanmar: UN Expert Greets Abolition of Notorious Border Security Force in Rakhine State and Calls for Accountability

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, today welcomed the abolition of Nasaka, the notorious border security force operating in Rakhine State. He urged the authorities to investigate and hold accountable those members of the force responsible for human rights abuses […]

The Kaladan Project in India and Burma: Transparency and Local Benefits Essential, Say Activists

A new report by the Kaladan Movement raises community concerns about the lack of government transparency surrounding the implementation of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project. The $214 million Kaladan Project – estimated to be fully operational in 2015 – will see the construction of a combined inland waterway and highway transportation system connecting Mizoram State in Northeast India with a Bay of Bengal deepsea port at Site-tway, Arakan State in western Burma […]

UN Myanmar Expert: Fatal Shooting of Rohingya Women the Latest Product of Impunity

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, today said that the fatal shooting last week of three Rohingya women participating in a peaceful protest in Rakhine State is the latest shocking example of how law enforcement officials operate with complete impunity there […]

One Cannot Step into the Same River Twice: Making the Kaladan Project People-Centred

A new report from the Kaladan Movement titled One cannot step into the same river twice: making the Kaladan Project people-centred provides an update on the progress of the Kaladan Project, and assesses the potential Project-related benefits and negative impacts for people living in the project area […]

Burma: China-led Oil, Gas Projects Spark Arrests

Authorities in Burma should drop charges against ethnic Arakanese activists who participated in peaceful protests against Chinese-led oil and gas projects, Human Rights Watch said today. Ten activists are scheduled to face criminal charges in court on May 13, 2013, for demonstrating and holding […]

Statement No. (3/2013) Concerning Violence That Had Occurred in Rakhine State

1. The Rakhine Investigation Commission established with the intention to systematically uncover the root cause of communal violence in Rakhine State and to prevent similar violence from recurrence released its report on 29 April 2013. President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar U Thein Sein delivered a statement on the report on 6 May 2013 […]

Joint Statement on the Official Report of the Rakhine (Arakan) Investigation Commission

We the undersigned organizations reject the 186-page official report dated 22 April 2013 of the Arakan Investigation Commission as follows […]