MYANMAR: Myanmar at Risk of Land-Grabbing Epidemic

In a written statement during its September 2011 session, the Asian Legal Resource Centre alerted the Human Rights Council to the dangers posed to the rights of people in Myanmar by the convergence of military, business and administrative interests […]

Parallel Battles for Burma and Asean’s Human Rights Commission

The Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) will meet in Rangoon starting this Sunday to finalize the draft of the long-awaited Asean Human Rights Declaration (AHRD). Held in a country that has for the past year made headlines in the international media for its reforms, this event might be seen by some as evidence of a “new” Asean and a “new” Burma. However, looking at it as an Asean citizen and a longtime activist for democracy and human rights in Burma, I see something entirely different.

While the AICHR will be discussing a human rights document that is supposed to protect our fundamental rights, I will be thinking of my Kachin brothers and sisters. For the past year, they’ve seen their villages burnt, fathers and brothers tortured or killed, and had mothers, sisters and daughters raped by Burma Army soldiers.

I will also be thinking of my colleagues still languishing in prisons for the simple reason that they decided to speak up for people’s rights and for a better Burma. There are still hundreds of them behind bars, forgotten by the international community.

That Burma is changing is hard to deny, but for activists, ethnic people or myself, Burma is still a long way from being a country where people’s human rights can be respected and protected […]

Indian NHRC Asks Myanmar Counterpart to Take up Persecution Issue

The NHRC has asked its Myanmar counterpart to take up with their government the issue of migration from their country to India due to reported fear of systematic persecution at the hands of the ruling junta […]

APF Discusses Myanmar NHRI’s Founding Legislation

As part of its program of support for Myanmar’s newly established national human rights institution, the APF recently travelled to Yangon to take part in discussions on the development of legislation to formalise the NHRI through an Act of Parliament […]

Win Mra, Chairman of the MNHRC says the Release of Political Prisoners is Not a Priority

According to an article published in the Irrawaddy, Win Mra, Chairman of the MNHRC said he has made some attempt to get remaining prisoners on the agenda, but acknowledged it’s not a government priority […]

Burma’s Civil Society Calls for Transparency and Inclusiveness in Drafting of the National Human Rights Commission Enabling Law

Fifty-four civil society and community-based organizations and networks from Burma released a statement today welcoming recent efforts to establish the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) through an act of Parliament […]

Statement Calling for a Transparent and Participatory Drafting Process of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission’s Enabling Law

We, the undersigned civil society, community-based organizations and networks, welcome the decision made by the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission to become an institution established under an act of the Parliament in order to fully comply with the Paris Principles and act as an independent institution […]

Empowering the Myanmar Human Rights Commission

Skepticism regarding the value of the Myanmar Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has been virtually universal—leading to tired jokes that the very term is in itself an oxymoron. A perpetual cycle of human rights violations exposed over the course of half-a-century—including systematic rape, forced labor, child soldiers, land confiscations and extrajudicial killings—has not inspired optimism that […]

UN Secretary General Offers Support to strengthen MNHRC’s Independence

During his visit to Burma United-Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, expressed his strong commitment to work with the people and Government to build a closer partnership between the UN and Burma in support of different programs […]

APF Offers Assistance to Myanmar’s New NHRI

The APF and representatives of Myanmar’s newly established national human rights institution have identified a number of areas for initial cooperation, following a visit to the south-east Asian country this month by APF secretariat Director Kieren Fitzpatrick and APF Senior Consultant Professor Chris Sidoti […]