CSW Calls for Ceasefire and International Support for Refugees in Burma’s Kachin Civil War

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is calling for a ceasefire in Burma’s Kachin state and urges the international community, including the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU), to press Burma’s nearest neighbours, China and India, to protect refugees who have fled the Kachin conflict to seek refuge in the border regions […]

President Aquino Should Lead Move to Probe Burma

By Patrick Pierce

President Benigno Aquino III, whose father fought and died at the hands of Ferdinand Marcos’ military dictatorship and whose late mother was the leader and inspiration of the People Power uprising that re-established civilian rule and political freedom for Filipinos, should know what the people of neighboring Burma are going through. Despite recent elections and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, Burma’s military still controls political life.

Former military officers have formed the post-election government. Parliament is dominated by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. A quarter of legislators consist of active military officers. The military and those who led the dictatorship remain unaccountable to any independent civilian authority and continue to commit massive violations of civil and political as well as economic and social human rights with impunity […]

Depayin Massacre Remembered Amid UN Special Rapporteur’s Call for Commission of Inquiry

During a press conference held in Bangkok on 23 May 2011, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, said that the continued treatment and conditions of ethnic groups in the country’s border areas were seriously restricting the government’s intended transition to democracy. He called, once again, for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate serious human rights violations, stating that this could be a step towards national reconciliation. On this trip, Quintana focused on the issue of economic, social and cultural rights, specifically referencing the lack of opportunities in education and employment for young people. Quintana’s statement came at the end of a fact-finding mission that was mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council to assess any progress in Burma since the 2010 elections in its ‘intended’ transition to democracy. Information gathered through this mission will be used to inform Quintana’s report to the General Assembly later in 2010 […]

Statement on Critical Situation in Shan State – Nationwide Ceasefire Needed In Burma

The European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma is extremely concerned by the current situation in Shan State, Eastern Burma, and in other ethnic states, where conflict is increasing […]

UN Burma Envoy Must Not Ignore Shan State Crisis

Burma Campaign UK today urged Vijay Nambiar, the UN Special Advisor on Burma, not to ignore the current crisis in Shan State during his visit to Burma. Nambiar is visiting Burma to assess the willingness of Burma’s new dictator […]

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 […]

UN says Burma ‘a regional burden’

Increasing numbers of Burmese asylum-seekers in Southeast Asian states is evidence that Burma’s domestic crises are having a negative impact on the region, a top UN official has said […]

Burma Regime Rejects 16 Requests at UN For Crimes Investigations

Burma’s dictatorship has rejected 16 separate proposals made at the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling on the dictatorship to respect international law and investigate breaches of international law […]

New report warns crisis in Burma “puts the credibility of the UN at stake”

The United Nations is at risk of losing legitimacy for failing to establish a formal inquiry into alleged crimes against humanity in Burma, according to a new report published by the German Marshall Fund and the Legatum Institute.

The report’s author, Benedict Rogers, catalogues a grim list of large-scale human rights abuses and brutal oppression of ethnic minorities and opposition […]

United Nations Court Condemns Burma’s Regime For Policy Of Arbitrary Detentions

As Burma’s new Parliament convenes for its first session, today sees the publication of a judgment from a United Nations court in which the court declared that in successive cases before it, the state of Burma had breached its obligations in international law and where citizens had been denied of their rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights […]