Myanmar: End Relentless Crackdown on Student Protesters

One year after police violently dispersed largely peaceful student protests in Myanmar, the authorities continue their relentless crackdown on student activists and anyone associated with their movement […]

New Lease of Life in Burma Parliament but Political Prisoners Left Behind

Optimism swept over Burma this past week as hopes for historic changes to the country heightened with the start of the new Parliament dominated by the National League for Democracy (NLD) […]

Human Rights Defenders Forum Joins Aung Hmaing San’s Call for the Release of All Political Prisoners in Myanmar

It has been five days since student leader Aung Hmaing San began a hunger strike in Thayarwaddy prison, calling for the release of all the political prisoners across Myanmar. Aung Hmaing San was arrested alongside many other students and supporters when police brutally cracked down on their protest camp in Lapadan Township, Bago Region […]

Burma – Where Classrooms are replaced with Jail Cells

On 2 July 2015, five student protestors were charged under the controversial Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law for taking part in a protest concerning the overpowering influence of the Burma Army in Parliament. An additional four students were arrested after being involved in a graffiti protest on the campus of Yadanabon University in Mandalay. The demonstrations came as a result of the ongoing detention and subsequent unfair trials of students protesting the national education law along with the failure of Parliament to pass five out of six proposed amendments to the 2008 Constitution, most notably Article 436 […]

Press Release: Burma Must Tackle Underlying Root Causes of Protests

(28 May 2015) The Burma Government should treat the underlying structural causes of the recent outbreak of protests in Burma rather than using violence against demonstrators, Burma Partnership said in a new briefing paper released today […]

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 […]

Official Statement of Detained Student Protesters and Supporters

Released to fellow students and general public by Community-Based Legal Assistance Network as requested officially by the detainees

Statement of Detained Students

First of all, we would like to express our deep gratitude to the people and civil society groups for supporting our peaceful protests […]

The Persecution Goes On With Nowhere to Seek Justice

The persecution of the students and their supporters shows no sign of abating as around a hundred are still locked up and others are in hiding as authorities hunt them down. Meanwhile their supporters are being intimidated across Burma by intelligence unit, Special Branch, as well as administration and immigration authorities. Perhaps fittingly, this was occurring while the Special Rapporteur on the situation on human rights in Burma, Yanghee Lee, was giving her report to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, where she highlighted “continuing challenges indicating worrying signs of backtracking on key human rights issues.” We must thank Ms. Yanghee Lee for bringing the multitude of human rights abuses to the attention of the member states in a comprehensive report, especially in the light of the sexist abuse she has been subjected to by extremist monks in Burma.

Of over 100 students and supporters arrested and imprisoned after a brutal crackdown by police and hired thugs in Letpadan, Pegu Region on 10 March 2015, around eighty remain in Tharyawaddy prison. While 127 is the official number of arrests on March 10, there were at least 10 more arrested following the Letpadan crackdown in Rangoon, Dawei, and the Irrawaddy area. Families have been denied access to visit their sons and daughters, with guards refusing to let them in to speak to them or deliver basic items, nor do they receive regular updates on their health. Furthermore, some are still in hiding as the authorities are searching houses using the 2012 enacted, “Ward or Village Tract Inspection Law.” This law, highlighted by Fortify Rights this week in their report, “Midnight Intrusions: Ending Guest Registration and Household Inspections in Myanmar” stipulates that homeowners need to register any house guests with local authorities. This gives the police carte blanche to enter any persons home at any time, superficially to conduct a periodic household inspection. It is used to target political activists and is being used now in their hunt for the students in hiding.

HRC28, Item 4 : Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma/Myanmar, Ms. Yanghee Lee

8th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council Oral Statement Delivered by Khin Ohmar on behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) […]