Open Letter to Mr. Barack Obama President of United States of America

We are writing to you to inform you about current situation in Myanmar and the reality on the ground from the perspective of young people. Allow us to get straight to what we want you to know. Current reform in Myanmar is fake. Changes that have happened are cosmetic to please the international community to attract investments to get the old regime out of economic isolation. We do not believe this reform process is going to take us anywhere because the motivation for reform is insincere. We want genuine democracy and national reconciliation […]

Obama’s Chance to Make Burma a Genuine Foreign Policy Success

As President Obama prepares to make his second visit to Burma, it is worth looking back at the promises made to him by Burma’s President Thein Sein on his last visit in November 2012 and to assess the worth of these promises. Burma, after all, is largely seen as a foreign policy success by the current administration amid the mess of Ukraine, Libya and the threat of ISIS […]

Hugo Swire Impersonates Ostrich In British Parliament

Burma Campaign UK today accused Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire of sticking his head in the sand, trying not to see or talk about human rights problems in Burma which don’t fit the positive picture he is trying to present. The accusation comes following his ducking questions in the British Parliament yesterday about the growing number of political prisoners in Burma […]

Myanmar: UNGA Resolution Must Address Backtracking on Human Rights

As the new UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, today presents her first report to the 69thsession of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Amnesty International calls on the UNGA to adopt a resolution on the country which addresses the government’s backtracking on human rights […]

Dispatches: A Scathing Verdict on Burma’s Stalled Reforms

A remarkable set of meetings took place this week in Rangoon, with more than 650 representatives from Burmese civil society groups gathering to discuss the status of the country’s reform process […]

Two New Briefers: The State of Burma’s Peace Process and Shrinking Space for Civil Society in Burma

Burma Partnership has produced two new briefing papers in connection with Burma-related advocacy at the current 69th session of the UN 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 […]

SYCB’s Statement on the International Day of Peace

In order to immediately implement genuine peace in Burma, the students and youth wanting peace will organize a Peace Day Movement on the 21st of September 2014. This will be done in cooperation with local citizen from different ethnicities and together with community based organizations. This union of the civil society will through different activities carried out during the day create a foundation for long-lasting peace […]

Myanmar/Burma: Sustained EU Engagement at UN Critical to Support Human Rights Reforms

Amnesty International, FIDH (the International Federation for Human Rights), and its member organization, the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-Burma) today call on the European Union (EU) and its member states to ensure continued international engagement on the human rights situation in Burma by again introducing a resolution on the country at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in October 2014. A failure to retain a robust UNGA resolution on Burma would endanger progress on human rights, which has increasingly come under threat this year […]

January – June 2014: Report on the Human Rights Situation on Burma

Introduction

The Network for Human Right Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) is an organization that documents and reports human rights violations taking place throughout Burma. We are a watch-dog for human rights violations and are continually monitoring the human rights situation in Burma.

This report covers the first period of 2014 and focuses on 103 documented cases of human rights violations in Burma from January-June 2014. There are many serious human rights violations addressed and highlighted in this report, including: torture, extra-judicial killing, illegal arrests and detention, arbitrary taxation, property crimes, forced labor, human trafficking, forced displacement and rape.

Even though President U Thein Sein promised to release all political prisoners by the end of 2013, there are still many political prisoners in Burma, including new detainees in 2014. Many human right defenders and activists have been arrested under the Unlawful Association Act of 1908, Section 5 (e) and 5 (j) of the Emergency Provisions Act, and Section (18) of the Right to Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Act. For example, U Win Cho and U Nay Myo Zin were arrested under Section (18) for protesting the confiscation of land in Kyauk Ta Dar Township, Yangon. Moreover, innocent Kachin IDPs were arrested under Section (17) of the Unlawful Association Act for suspected contact with ethnic armed groups. These actions reinforce the fact that the government in Burma is still willing to use oppressive and unjust laws against the Burmese people […]