BURMA: Act on Courts, Police Covering up Child Rape

The Asian Human Rights Commission on Wednesday condemned ongoing efforts by the courts and police in Burma to thwart prosecution of an influential person accused of abduction and rape of a child […]

BURMA: Criminalization of Rights Defenders and Impunity for Police

The Asian Human Rights Commission condemns in the strongest terms the announcement of the commander of the Sagaing Region Police Force, Myanmar, that the police will arrest and charge eight human rights defenders whom it blames for inciting protests against the army-backed copper mine project at the Letpadaung Hills, in Monywa. The commission also condemns the latest round of needless police violence against demonstrators there […]

BURMA: Speaker of Legislature Puts State Sovereignty Ahead of Torture Elimination

On 21 March 2013 a member of the national legislature in Burma introduced a motion calling for the country to join the United Nations Convention against Torture. In his motion, Dr Aung Moe Nyo, member of the National League for Democracy for Pwintbyu, Magway Region, argued that as the country is now developing and democratising in accordance with international standards it would be appropriate to join the convention […]

BURMA: Two Sharply Contrasting Reports on the Struggle for Land at Letpadaung

The Asian Human Rights Commission has since mid-2012 closely followed, documented and reported on the struggle of farmers in the Letpadaung Hills of central Burma against the expansion of a copper mining operation under a military-owned holding company and a partner company from China […]

BURMA: President Too Quick to Proclaim State of Emergency

The Asian Human Rights Commission has been following with concern news of the latest outbreak of communal violence in Burma. Although the circumstances of how the violence began are clouded, the president on 22 March 2013 declared an indefinite state of emergency over four townships […]

BURMA: Villager and Monk Brutally and Bizarrely Tortured for a Week to Confess to Rape and Murder

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received extensive information about the case of a young man and a monk whom police accused of raping and murdering a young woman and tortured brutally for a week in 2010 in order to force a confession with which to convict the two. Despite the retraction of the confession in court, the judge convicted the two men and omitted any reference to the alleged torture from the verdict. For the last two years the two have languished in prison. They have now appealed to the president for their release […]

BURMA: Dossier of Cases From Kachin State Released

The Asian Human Rights Commission on Monday released a special dossier of recent cases of arrest, detention, torture and extortion carried out by Burma military and police personnel in Kachin State.

The 36 cases from 2012 have all been conducted under the Unlawful Associations Act, 1908, a draconian colonial-era statute under which contact with groups that the government identifies as “unlawful” constitutes a criminal offence. The cases in the 69-page dossier have all been brought against people for alleged contact with the Kachin Independence Army […]

Myanmar: Respect Appeal of Deceased Phyo Wai Aung to Have His Name Cleared

We are taking the unusual step today of writing to the four chairpersons of parliamentary committees in Myanmar pursuant to a letter sent to the four of you dated 26 November 2012 by Phyo Wai Aung, the young man falsely accused and tortured to confess of involvement in the April 2010 Myanmar New Year festival bombing in Yangon […]

BURMA: In memoriam: Phyo Wai Aung, a Courageous Fighter Against Inhuman Abuse

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is greatly aggrieved to learn of the tragic death of Phyo Wai Aung in Rangoon, Burma during the early morning hours of 4 January 2013. Phyo Wai Aung was an aspiring young electrical engineer with a loving family […]

BURMA: Former Activist Monk and Demonstrators Among Detainees in Wave of Arrests

The Asian Human Rights Commission is concerned by a recent wave of arrests in Burma, signaling that continuation of repressive practices from earlier periods of direct military rule. Among those arrested are a number of leaders of recent demonstrations against a copper mining project in the north of the country, and a former monk who after his release from prison at the start of the year has been subjected to constant harassment and abuse […]