Myanmar “Needs Urgently to Get Back on Track”

GENEVA (25 February 2015) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein today warned that Myanmar “seems headed in the wrong direction and needs urgently to get back on track” in a crucial year for the country’s democratic transition and long-term reconciliation […]

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 […]

Michaungkan Protesters Light Candles in Front of Rangoon City Hall

Villagers from the eastern Rangoon suburb of Michaungkan staged a peaceful candlelit vigil outside Rangoon City Hall on December 12, in protest of the government’s controversial land grabs.

The protestors claim they lost their land under government redevelopment plans and have been occupying a protest camp near Maha Bandoola Park in the city centre for more than 260 days. […]

Students Rally against Education Law

Four hundred students held a march through Rangoon on Friday, begining at the central railway station and culminating in a sit-in demonstration outside the town hall. The protest continued until evening and coincided with US President Obama’s visit to the former capital.

The protest was staged in opposition to the National Education Law, signed into effect by President Thein Sein on 30 September. […]

Myanmar: Further Information: Activist Organization Targeted again

Two members of the Movement for Democracy Current Force (MDCF) have been given jail terms for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. They must be immediately and unconditionally released. Charges against a third person, who is married to one of the MDCF members and was exercising her right to peaceful protest, should be dropped […]

Myanmar: Ensure Independent and Impartial Investigation into Death of Journalist

The Myanmar authorities must ensure a comprehensive, independent, impartial and effective investigation into the death of journalist Aung Kyaw Naing, aka Par Gyi, who was reportedly killed while in the custody of the Myanmar Army in Mon State, Eastern Myanmar, earlier this month. Failure to adequately ? and transparently ? investigate such serious allegations and hold perpetrators to account would further entrench impunity in the country, and have a chilling effect on other journalists […]

Sagaing Protestors Say Drug Addicts Need Help

Protestors took to the streets of Banmauk in Sagaing Division this weekend, calling for official measures to tackle rampant drug problems in the region.

“My husband died from drug addiction and it left me scared, angry and inconsolable,” said one protestor. “I get very upset seeing young people whose lives are dictated by their drug habit – it brings tears to my eyes […]

69th Session of the UN General Assembly – Situation of human rights in Myanmar: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar

I. Introduction

I. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar was established pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 1992/58 and recently extended by Human Rights Council resolution 25/26. The present report is submitted pursuant to Council resolution 25/26 and General Assembly resolution 68/242.

II. Background

2. Following the completion of the term of the previous mandate holder, the current mandate holder took up her functions only in June 2014, which resulted in a shorter period than usual to conduct a country visit and review the information gathered. The present report therefore sets out the Special Rapporteur’s preliminary observations, to be supplemented by her oral statement to the General Assembly […]

Phillip Hammond Urged To Take Action To Free Htin Kyaw

Burma Campaign UK today urged Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond to pressure the military-backed government in Burma to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Htin Kyaw, a political prisoner in Burma. Burma Campaign UK today highlights the case of Htin Kyaw as part of the No Political Prisoner Left Behind campaign […]

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 […]