Burma: Brazen Bid for Presidential Immunity

(New York, December 23, 2015) ­– Burma’s parliament should reject a proposed law that would shield former presidents from prosecution for crimes committed during their terms in office, Human Rights Watch said today.

Published in the state-run newspaper on December 21, 2015, the Former Presidents Security Bill grants immunity to former heads of state “from any prosecution for actions during his term.” Outlined in article 10, this provision would protect former presidents from domestic prosecution for even the most serious crimes committed while in office, including war crimes and crimes against humanity […]

UN Secretary-General: Burma: ‘High Level of Impunity’ for Sexual Violence by ‘State Actors’

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stated that there is: ‘a high level of impunity for conflict-related sexual violence perpetrated by State actors’ in a recently released report to the UN Security Council. The UN Secretary-General urged the government of Burma “…to ensure that security personnel accused of such crimes are prosecuted.” The report also stated that there is a ‘a lack of transparency in military courts.’ […]

Amnesty International Annual Report – Myanmar Chapter

Despite ongoing political, legal and economic reforms, progress on human rights stalled, with some backward steps in key areas. The situation of the Rohingya deteriorated, with ongoing discrimination in law and practice exacerbated by a dire humanitarian situation. Anti-Muslim violence persisted, with the authorities failing to hold suspected perpetrators to account. Reports of abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law in areas of armed conflict persisted. Freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly remained severely restricted, with scores of human rights defenders, journalists and political activists arrested and imprisoned. Impunity persisted for past crimes […]

Religions for Peace Myanmar Statement on sexual violence against two Kachin teachers

Religions for Peace – Myanmar shared its deepest condolence with the bereaved family and is extremely saddened by the rape, torture and killing of Kachin Baptist Convention religious volunteer teachers – Maran Lu Ra and Tangbau Hkawn Nan Tsin, age 20 and 21 at Kawng Hka village, Pansan township, Muse District, Northern Shan State, on the night of 19 January, 2015. Religions for Peace – Myanmar strongly condemns such act of armed and sexual violence in the Christian church compound in Kawng Hka village and to any kind of armed violence […]

Open Letter from Karen Human Rights Group to President Obama

The Karen Human Rights Group would like to call your attention to human rights violations that have resulted from the ongoing government military presence throughout Southeast Myanmar […]

Myanmar: End Military Attacks On Kachin And Shan Civilians

(Yangon, November 6, 2014)— The Myanmar Army has targeted, attacked, and killed civilians with impunity in ongoing fighting in Kachin State and northern Shan State, Fortify Rights said in a briefing published today. The government of Myanmar should act to end such attacks and hold perpetrators accountable […]

Statement: Civil Societies’ Review on Myanmar’s Transition Process: Prospects for 2015 and Beyond

We, more than 650 representatives from 257 organizations and networks in Myanmar, came together in Yangon for 3 days from 14-16 October 2014 to exchange opinions, debate and to assess a wide range of issues currently confronting Myanmar in the context of recent political developments and the transition process that started in 2011 […]

Same Impunity, Same Pattern: Sexual Abuses by the Burma Army Will Not Stop Until There is a Genuine Civilian Government

Almost a decade ago, the Women’s League of Burma (WLB) denounced systematic patterns of sexual crimes committed by the Burma Army against ethnic women and demanded an end to the prevailing system of impunity. Today WLB is renewing these calls. Three years after a nominally civilian government came to power; state-sponsored sexual violence continues to threaten the lives of women in Burma.

Women of Burma endure a broad range of violations; this report focuses on sexual violence, as the most gendered crime. WLB and its member organizations have gathered documentation showing that over 100 women have been raped by the Burma Army since the elections of 2010. Due to restrictions on human rights documentation, WLB believes these are only a fraction of the actual abuses taking place […]

Systematic Sexual Violence in Burma’s Ethnic Areas: New Report

Today marks the launch of an important new report documenting ongoing crimes of sexual violence-over 100 cases documented since 2010, including 47 gang rapes–perpetrated by the Burmese military in ethnic regions of Burma.

The Women’s League of Burma (WLB), consisting of thirteen women’s organizations representing different ethnic areas in Burma, released the report, “Same Impunity, Same Pattern: Sexual abuses by the Burma army will not stop until there is a genuine civilian government, “and is urging an immediate end to these atrocities […]

2nd Anniversary of Sumlut Roi Ja Abduction Highlights Impunity in Burma

Today marks the second anniversary of Sumlut Roi Ja, an ethnic Kachin woman, being abducted by the Burmese Army. She is still missing, presumed dead.

Sumlut Roi Ja is a 28-year-old mother who was arrested by Burmese Army soldiers on October 28th 2011 while working on a family’s farm near her village Hkai Bang, close to the China border […]