Authorities Arrest Mine Activists

Police are on the hunt for four others as Burma cracks down on protests at a controversial copper mine.

Burmese authorities have arrested at least six activists and are searching for four others who organized protests at the site of a China-backed copper mining venture, which villagers say had been set up on their illegally confiscated land.

The government has also ordered protesters to leave the Letpadaung Copper Mine’s premises in northwestern Burma by midnight or face legal action […]

Police Arrest Four Miners During March to Naypyidaw

Four miners from Moehti Moemi gold mine in central Burma’s Yemathin township, who have been marching to Naypyidaw to protest a government order that closed their mines, were attacked by police and arrested today near Myohla town […]

Demonstrators Call on US President Obama to Support Peace in Myanmar

More than 20 people staged a demonstration at the University of Yangon as US President Barack Obama arrived to deliver his public speech today. They held up posters calling for Obama to help stop civil war and use his visit to raise the issue of peace.

“We welcome President Obama, but his visit cannot overshadow the need for peace, human rights and democracy in our country […]

No More Than a Semblance of Freedom of Assembly, Association and Expression

Like many of Burma’s other reforms including the easing of restrictions on media, there is a darker side to the semblance of freedom of assembly, association and expression that has recently been commended in Burma.

President Thein Sein’s office has been urging ministries to remove some 4,000 people remaining on the blacklist. However, some returning exiles have been asked to sign agreements that they will not do anything that could “harm the state.” The agreement says that exiles can repay the government’s “generosity” by avoiding actions that would disrespect the government and not participate in actions or publish anything that would harm the country’s stability, which hark back to language used by the military regime.

Within the country, lawyers, activists, farmers and local villagers have been protesting on a range of crucial issues including land confiscation, mining projects, electricity shortages, the preservation of cultural heritage buildings in Rangoon and the need for nationwide peace. Those who speak out on issues that are sensitive to the government are detained, charged or threatened by authorities. One of the biggest cases at the moment is that of the thirteen organizers of the peace protest on 21 September who are facing court cases in 10 different Rangoon townships for protesting without permission. They are required to appear at court hearings nearly every day and must inform the authorities if they plan to leave Rangoon […]

Calls for Better Working Conditions in Burma

As Burma’s political, economic and social spheres continue to gradually open up there has been increasing dissatisfaction among workers and those who have been denied a voice for the past several decades. This is evident by the recent case where workers rallied for improved working conditions in a wood furniture factory in Rangoon […]

Officials Press Charges Against ‘Electricity Protestors’

Activists who joined the widespread protests calling for sufficient electricity supplies in Mandalay in May have been charged by the city’s police for demonstrating without official permission.

Following frequent power cuts during the hot season, protests kicked off in Mandalay on 20 May and eventually spread throughout the country to Rangoon, Monywa and Prome […]

Burma: Peaceful Protest Organizers Charged

Western Countries Should Challenge Government to Uphold Basic Freedoms

The government in Burma should drop charges against activists following peaceful demonstrations on International Peace Day in Rangoon on September 21, 2012, Human Rights Watch said today. Thirteen activists face possible charges for violating the country’s 2011 public assembly law for leading a march of some 1,000 demonstrators calling for peace in Kachin State and elsewhere in Burma. The government has already charged two ethnic Kachin participants in the march for the alleged offense in multiple courts […]

The Long Road to Ending Armed Conflict in Burma

On 21 September, people around the world marked the United Nations’ International Day of Peace, a day that highlighted just how far there remains to go to achieve lasting peace in Burma.

While Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was being feted on her first trip to the US in more than two decades, Kachin community members called on Daw Suu to do more for the people in Kachin State. As many as 90,000 people have been displaced due to armed conflict between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army, and have little access to urgently needed humanitarian assistance.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in Rangoon on 21 September to call for peace in Burma, and especially in Kachin State. They wore blue headbands and carried signs reading “Stop Civil War” and “Justice Guarantees Lasting Peace” as they walked from City Hall to Inya Lake. Another group of protesters were stopped from traveling to Naypyidaw where they had planned to protest in front of the office of the Burma Army’s Commander-in-Chief; they instead joined the main group.

While authorities did not stop the main protest in Rangoon, the police later questioned 15 activists and have filed charges against them for violating Article 18 of the problematic Law Relating to Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession for demonstrating without official permission. The activists say that they had applied for permission to protest and submitted all the necessary documents, but had been denied by authorities without being given any reason […]

Peace Day Protest Goes Ahead in Rangoon

In the largest popular demonstration since the monk-led 2007 Saffron Revolution, hundreds of protesters marched through Rangoon on Friday to mark International Peace Day and to demand an end to the ongoing conflicts in Burma’s ethnic regions. In a defiant move rarely seen in Burma, protesters gathered in front of City Hall on Friday morning before setting off in lines through the busy streets of Rangoon to their planned rendezvous, Inya Lake, where they say they will hold a prayer service for national peace in the evening.[…]

Burma: Farmers Rise Up at Land Grab by Army-Owned Company

The Asian Human Rights Commission has followed closely reports in recent weeks of an uprising by farmers against a takeover of a large area of agricultural land in upper Burma by an army-owned company and a private partner. The land grab, in the Letpadan Mountain Range of Sarlingyi Township, Sagaing Region, is of some 7800 acres of fertile land, to make way for copper mining […]