ASEAN Governments Must end the Clampdown on Freedom of Expression

As the ASEAN People’s Forum (APF) is held this week in Malaysia in parallel to the ASEAN Summit of Heads of State, we call on governments across Southeast Asia to end the clampdown on freedom of expression and to halt the use of repressive laws to silence dissenting voices […]

Myanmar: End Clampdown on Student Protesters and Supporters

Authorities in Myanmar must end their on-going clampdown on student protesters and their supporters, said Amnesty International today […]

Advance Unedited Version: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee LEE

Since 2011, Myanmar has undergone far-reaching changes that have affected many aspects of life in the country. However, there continue to be signs of backtracking by the Government and increasing concerns over discrimination and ethnic conflict […]

Myanmar: Prosecute Perpetrators, Not Human Rights Defenders Authorities Threaten Media & Critics for Implicating Military in Kachin Killings

(Yangon, February 3, 2015)— Myanmar authorities should stop prosecuting and threatening journalists and human rights defenders for reporting and speaking out about human rights abuses, Fortify Rights said today […]

‘If they had hope, they would speak’: The Ongoing Use of State Sponsored Sexual Violence in Burma’s Ethnic Communities

(Yangon, November 24, 2014) – Burma Army soldiers continue to engage in acts of sexual violence on a widespread scale, and women and human rights defenders in ethnic communities face harassment and persecution, the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) said in a new report published today to coincide with International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. […]

Obama’s Chance to Make Burma a Genuine Foreign Policy Success

As President Obama prepares to make his second visit to Burma, it is worth looking back at the promises made to him by Burma’s President Thein Sein on his last visit in November 2012 and to assess the worth of these promises. Burma, after all, is largely seen as a foreign policy success by the current administration amid the mess of Ukraine, Libya and the threat of ISIS […]

BURMA: Killing of Mr. Aung Kyaw Naing

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Burma […]

Burma/Myanmar: Sentencing of Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Burma/Myanmar […]

Arrest of Student on Trumped-up Charges is a Damning Indictment of Justice in Burma

On 13 September 2014, police arrested female human rights defender (HRD) Phyu Hnin Htwe at her house in Patheingyi Township, Mandalay Region, and sent her to Monywa Prison, Sagaing Region, where she is currently being detained. Phyu Hnin Htwe is a second-year Burmese student at Mandalay’s Yadanabon University, and is also an activist and member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU). She has helped farmers who have been forcibly evicted to make way for the infamous Chinese-backed Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Region, going to the Letpadaung area at weekends and supporting displaced farmers.
Her arrest ostensibly relates to a murky incident that took place on 18 May of this year. Two Chinese workers – employees of Wanbao company, the main company involved in the joint venture – were seized from the Letpadaung area, taken to a monastery in Hsete Village, and held there for about 30 hours. The incident followed efforts by Wanbao employees to restart measuring plots of land for which compensation had not even been provided, in spite of villagers’ protests, thereby provoking their anger.

As a result, Phyu Hnin Htwe and six villagers were charged with kidnapping and abduction under Articles 364 and 368 of the Penal Code, which prescribe sentences of up to ten years’ imprisonment. While the case against five of the villagers was quickly dropped, charges still remain against Phyu Hnin Htwe and local villager Win Kyaw, neither of whom attended court in May […]

Myanmar: Authorities must End ‘Relentless Persecution’ of Activist

Myanmar authorities must end their relentless persecution of a prominent human rights activist who faces trial again tomorrow after having already been sentenced to almost a decade in prison for “crimes” such as holding a candlelight vigil, Amnesty International said […]