UN: Request for Burmese Peacekeepers Misguided

(New York) – A United Nations offer to the Burmese armed forces to consider sending troops to UN peacekeeping missions could lead to abuses and undermine peacekeeping standards, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The secretary-general’s special advisor on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, extended the invitation to the Burmese defense services commander in chief, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, during a recent visit to Burma […]

Secretary-General Calls for End to Lawlessness in Myanmar’s Rakhine State Following Latest Violence

In the wake of renewed violence, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urgedthe authorities in Myanmar to take action to bring an end to the lawlessness currently affecting the north of the Asian country’s Rakhine state […]

Open Letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at High-level UN Meeting on the Rule of Law

We are writing this letter to highlight the continued state sanctioned violence and civil war in our home, Kachinland. Despite the international euphoria surrounding purported reform in Burma, grave human rights violations are increasing to an alarming level while the international community selectively focuses their attention on investment. We, the KNO, therefore urge you and your office to address the following issues in your upcoming high-level UN meeting on the Rule of Law […]

KIO Chairman’s Letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

The KIO Central Committee of the Kachin People in Burma, would like to express its deep appreciation to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for the historic steps taken during his visit to Burma, April, 29, 2012 to May, 1, 2012. During that time, the Secretary General met with […]

UN Secretary General Offers Support to strengthen MNHRC’s Independence

During his visit to Burma United-Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, expressed his strong commitment to work with the people and Government to build a closer partnership between the UN and Burma in support of different programs […]

Ban Ki-moon Highlights the Plight of Kachin People as Fighting Intensifies

Last week saw the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, visit Burma and become the first overseas dignitary to speak at the Parliament. He also took the time to consult with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein regarding the nascent changes over the last twelve months. While he was full of praise of recent developments it is important not to lose sight the actual situation for most people in Burma. As Naw May Oo Mutraw, a Karen National Union negotiator, pointed out to journalists in Bangkok last week, “The current reform process is not yet irreversible” and yet the “international community displays its excitement beyond measure.”

An issue of grave concern to Ban Ki-moon, and one in which the international community certainly should not be excited about, is the on-going conflict in Kachin State, which he states is “inconsistent with the successful conclusion of ceasefire agreements with all other major groups.” This inconsistency has manifested itself in around 70,000 refugees, numerous cases of rape, forced labor, child soldiers being forcibly recruited, torture, and the burning of villages in Kachin State by the Burma Army […]