2015 Palm Campaign: “Even Though I’m Free I Am Not”

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) and the Former Political Prisoner Society (FPPS) are calling on supporters from across the world to take photographs of their participation in our 2015 Palm Campaign. The campaign aims to show the Government of Burma, in the run up the 2015 elections, that the international community stands in solidarity with political prisoners, and demands lasting reform in Burma […]

Statement from the Open Government Partnership Awareness Workshop for Civil Society

Over 193 representatives from 80 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and networks in Myanmar participated in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) awareness-raising workshop in Yangon from 19-20 January 2015. The objective of this workshop was to raise awareness and understand the potential benefits, opportunities, weaknesses and concerns regarding Myanmar’s participation in the OGP in the context of the recent transition process and the political developments in Myanmar since 2011 […]

Arakan Rohingya Union Warmly Welcomes the Release of Rohingya Community Leader, Dr. U Tun Aung

Arakan Rohingya Union warmly welcomes the release of Rohingya physician and community leader, Dr. U Tun Aung, after a prolonged period of unjust imprisonment by the Government of Myanmar.

Dr. U Tun Aung was arrested by the Buddhist Rakhine police following the violence against Rohingya by the Buddhist Rakhine mobs in Maungdaw, Arakan State, in June of 2012, on false allegation of inciting the riots. On the contrary, Dr. U Tun Aung was trying to intervene and stop the violence as per the request of the authorities. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison that was grossly unfair and racially motivated […]

Myanmar: Freedom for All Prisoners of Conscience Must Follow Activist’s Release

The release of peaceful activist Dr Tun Aung, jailed simply for trying to prevent communal violence, is a positive step, but authorities in Myanmar should also free the dozens of other prisoners of conscience still behind bars, Amnesty International said […]

UN Myanmar Rights Expert: Backtracking on Democratic Space Gains Momentum in Election Year

YANGON / GENEVA (19 January 2015) – “Valuable gains made in the area of freedom of expression and assembly risk being lost,” United Nations Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee said at the end of her ten-day official visit* to the country. “Indeed, there are signs that since my last visit, restrictions and harassment on civil society and the media may have worsened.” […]

UN Myanmar Rights Expert: Backtracking on Democratic Space Gains Momentum in Election Year

YANGON / GENEVA – “Valuable gains made in the area of freedom of expression and assembly risk being lost,” United Nations Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee said at the end of her ten-day official visit* to the country. “Indeed, there are signs that since my last visit, restrictions and harassment on civil society and the media may have worsened.” […]

Even Though I Am Free I Am Not: The need for the campaign in 2015

Even though I am free I am not. This was the message the groundbreaking 2010 photography campaign sought to convey to the world. The message that the burgeoning road to freedom in Burma would be forever blocked while political prisoners remained. Freedom is not solely liberation from prison. It is also the need for a […]

Parliament Committee: Re-impose Burma Sanctions If No Improvement In Human Rights

The influential Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament has published a report today which calls on the British government to support the re-imposition of European Union sanctions on Burma in 12 months’ time if there is no improvement in the situation of the Rohingya, and if all political prisoners are not unconditionally released. […]

The FCO’s Human Rights Work 2013

Summary

In this report, we examine the 2013 Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Report on Human Rights and Democracy (2013 Report), and highlight some areas of particular concern. Promoting human rights should be a foreign policy priority, but for this to be meaningful, we believe that the Department would benefit from the establishment of clearly defined objectives and benchmarks to measure the outcomes of all of its human rights policies, and further prominence being given to these in the Report.

Countries of concern

The FCO designated 28 countries of concern in its 2013 report, where it judged the gravity of the human rights abuses to be so severe that a particular focus should be applied. We have concentrated our attention on three of these countries: Sri Lanka, Burma, and Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Favourable trade concessions to the EU market should be removed from Sri Lanka if the Government of Sri Lanka continues to deny the OHCHR investigation team access into the country. The Government should advocate re-imposition of sanctions by the EU if there is no improvement in the human rights situation in Burma. The human rights of Israeli, Palestinian and Bedouin citizens living in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories continue to be of serious concern to the UK. […]

Are You Listening, President Obama?

US President Barack Obama’s made his much-anticipated second trip to Burma last week during the 25^th ASEAN Summit, amid growing awareness that the reforms which he so eagerly celebrated during his 2012 trip are quickly unravelling – or being exposed for the stage-managed charade that they are.
In 2012, it was all too easy to trust the reform process. National elections had been scheduled for 2015, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had been freed from house arrest and elected to Parliament, political prisoners had been released, a nationwide ceasefire process was underway with the majority of armed ethnic groups, and restrictions on media and civil society had been drastically loosened. And so the US and the international community embraced the reforms.

Yet, last month, in her recent address to the UN General Assembly, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma Yanghee Lee warned of the risks of backtracking. Then, earlier this month, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi labelled the process as “stalled” and remarked that “there have been times when the [US] government has seemed over-optimistic about the reform process.”

Furthermore, there has been a flurry of recent calls from civil society across Burma, directly raising their various concerns about the reform process with President Obama. The Karen Human Rights Group wrote an open letter drawing President Obama’s attention to human rights violations resulting from the ongoing government military presence throughout south-eastern Burma; […]