Now is the Time to Act, Sexual Violence Must End in Burma

On 10 June 2014, the Burma government prepared to sign the ‘Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict’ at the end of a three-day global summit, which aimed to “shatter the culture of impunity for sexual violence in conflict.” On the same day, a woman was brutally beaten by a Burma Army soldier during an attempted rape in Rezua, Chin State. The eyewitnesses who spoke to the Chin Human Rights Organization said that the women was held down by the soldier, while he repeatedly beat her. She was rushed to the hospital and is fortunately now in recovery.

However, this brutal event has lead to a series of demonstrations in Rezua and Matupi, Chin State this week, calling for an end to sexual violence. According to The Irrawaddy, protesters held placards that stated: “Stop raping; We are humans, not animals. We are humans, not property.” Though the organizers requested to hold the rally, the local police denied their applications and they have been arrested for staging a peaceful demonstration without permission, ironically under the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law.

This recent case of attempted rape is not a one-off incident of a rogue Burma Army soldier. A report produced by Women’s League of Burma (WLB) ‘Same Patterns, Same Impunity’ demonstrates how the sexual violence inflicted by the Burma Army soldiers are systematic in nature and a part of a wider structural system of politicizing women’s bodies and abusing them as instruments of war and oppression. The data collected by WLB and its members found that since the 2010 elections, over 100 cases of rape has been documented, of which 47 were brutal gang rapes and victims were as young as eight years old. Most of the documented cases were linked to Kachin and Northern Shan State where military offensives have been taking place since 2011, indicating that rape and sexual violence is in fact, used as a weapon in an attempt to demoralize the ethnic communities and to assert dominance over them […]

Four years on, no clear answers on Kaladan Project

[Rangoon, Burma/Myanmar] The Kaladan Movement today urges the governments of Burma and India and Indian company ESSAR Projects Ltd. to publicly answer vital questions about the implementation of the Kaldan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (Kaladan Project) and address key concerns of affected communities in Arakan and Chin States […]

Burma: Ethnic Chin in Historic Hearing at the European Parliament

A public hearing on the situation of the ethnic Chin in Burma took place at the European Parliament in Brussels for the first time ever today. The event, “The struggle of ethnic Chins in a changing Burma/Myanmar” – hosted by a member of the European Parliament Working Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief, László Tőkés MEP – examined some of the key challenges facing the predominantly Christian Chin people, including ongoing human rights abuses […]

Human Rights Violations Perpetrated Against the Chin in Burma (March 2011 – March 2013)

Documentation from human rights groups shows that in fact, serious human rights violations continue across the country under President Thein Sein’s government, with particularly severe consequences for ethnic and religious minorities. For the predominantly Christian Chin people, this includes violations of religious freedom, forced labour, sexual violence, and extra-judicial killing, despite the fact that a ceasefire between armed resistance group the Chin National Front (CNF) and the government is holding […]

CSW, CHRO In Major Push for Ethnic Rights in Burma

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) and the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) today called on the international community to push ethnic and religious minority rights higher up the reforms agenda for Burma, while wrapping up a week of advocacy in both Brussels and Washington DC […]

Report on the Human Rights Situation (January – December 2012)

The annual report of Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma) documented the human rights situation in Burma from December 2011-January 2013.  The report provides information on human rights violations (HRVs) over this period and highlights pressing issues and trends taking place in Burma.  The annual report covers human rights violations in 16 categories over all 14 states. Unsurprisingly, the highest incidences of abuse occurred in ethnic nationality areas that remain in open conflict with the Burma Army, the Tatmawdaw, or are the grounds for controversial development projects […]

CSW Urges UK Minister to Prioritise Human Rights During Trade Mission to Burma

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) today urged the British Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Hugo Swire MP, to highlight the continuing grave human rights abuses in Burma, including violations of freedom of religion or belief, as he leads a trade delegation to the country next week […]

‘Threats to Our Existence’: Persecution of Ethnic Chin Christians in Burma

This new report “‘Threats to Our Existence’: Persecution of Ethnic Chin Christians in Burma” by the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) exposes a decades-long pattern of religious freedom violations that persist today under the new government, and documents other serious human rights abuses such as forced labour, torture, and other cruel and inhuman treatment, forcing thousands of Chin to flee their homeland […]

Ethnic Chin Christians from Burma Denied Religious Freedom, Coerced to Convert to Buddhism

Christian Chin from western Burma are denied religious freedom and face coercion to convert to Buddhism as a result of state policy, according to a new report by the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) […]

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) […]