No International Compromise on Human Rights in Myanmar

As the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar presents his report to the 16th session of United Nations Human Rights Council, governments should speak with one voice on Myanmar’s long-standing failure […]

CSW Urges UN Human Rights Council to Renew Rapporteurs’ Mandates and Investigate Crimes Against Humanity in Burma and North Korea

The United Nations Human Rights Council will consider new resolutions on Burma and North Korea next week, in which the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma and the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in North Korea will be reviewed. Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) today urged the Human Rights Council to renew the mandates of both rapporteurs “without hesitation” and to support the calls for the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity in both countries […]

Progress report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana

Myanmar undertook national elections for the first time in over two decades on 7 November 2010. One week later, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released unconditionally upon the end of her house arrest term. The new national parliament began meeting on 31 January 2011. Amidst much uncertainty, there appears to be some cautious optimism that positive change may be possible. Among those changes that the people of Myanmar dare to hope for is the realization of their economic, social and cultural rights. For this reason, the Special Rapporteur begins to address in the present report the subject of economic, social and cultural rights, starting with the right to education.

The Special Rapporteur also reiterates his call for a Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes […]

Open Letter to ASEAN Nations: Widespread Human Rights Violations In Burma Ignored by ASEAN UPR Delegates

Your Excellencies,

We are writing to you to express our dismay at the statements by ASEAN Member States during the Interactive Dialogue of the Universal Periodic Review of Burma.

On 27 January 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council examined Burma’s human rights record during the country’s first Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This review provided a vital opportunity to highlight the widespread human rights violations in Burma and engage with the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on ways to improve its human rights record […]

Challenging Burma’s Military Deception in Geneva and Naypyidaw

Burma’s military regime continues to falsify and deny facts and attempt to fool the world with their distorted reality. Four days ago at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland, nations challenged the SPDC delegation’s fictitious presentation and expressed disdain at Burma’s “alarming” human rights record. Now, with today’s opening of the first session of the parliament, Burma’s supporters must continue to challenge the regime’s false assertions about the current situation in Burma and confront the military with the hard truth: Burma’s citizens continue to suffer under repressive military rule, with poverty, human rights abuses, and ethnic oppression a daily reality for millions. The regime’s elections and new parliament do not mark progress or a credible transition to democracy […]

Universal Periodic Review of Burma: Total Denial in the Face of Widespread and Systematic Human Rights Violations

Today, the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva examined Burma’s human rights record as part of its first Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Burma’s ruling military regime sent a large delegation to Geneva, led by Deputy Attorney General Dr. Tun Shin, who categorically denied state-orchestrated widespread, systematic and persistent human rights violations against the people of Burma […]

Burma: UN Should Tackle Rights Crisis as New Parliament Convenes

Junta Window Dressing Ahead of First UN Rights Review

The review of Burma’s human rights record at the United Nations this week should reflect reality and not the false promises of the military, Human Rights Watch said today.

Burma will face its first-ever Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in the Human Rights Council in Geneva on January 27, a process all member states must undergo every four years to ascertain each country’s progress on human rights […]

Burma Faces First-ever Review of Human Right Record at UN

Burma’s human rights record will come under scrutiny at the United Nations in the country’s first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on 27 January […]

Burma’s Grave Human Rights Situation Stands Before the UN’s Review

Representatives from the Burma Forum on the Universal Periodic Review (BF-UPR), a coalition of fourteen human rights and civil society organizations, are currently in Geneva to raise concerns over the grave human rights situation in Burma ahead of the country’s first Universal Periodic Review on 27 January. The Review comes at a time when Burma is under the international spotlight, due to the recent release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the controversial November elections which were neither free nor fair, and the forthcoming first session of the new Parliament on 31 January […]

New Evidence of Abuses in Burma’s Chin State Strengthens Call for UN Commission of Inquiry

The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) today welcomed a new report published by Nobel Peace Prize winning organization Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), “Life Under the Junta: Evidence of Crimes Against Humanity in Burma’s Chin State.”

Using innovative population-based methods to document human rights violations in all nine townships of Chin State, researchers found that almost 92 percent of households surveyed had experienced forced labour at least once in the year prior to interviews […]