Burma/US: Kerry Should Press Rights Concerns

(New York) – US Secretary of State John Kerry should press the Burmese government during his upcoming visit to reverse Burma’s deteriorating rights situation, Human Rights Watch said today. Kerry is scheduled to visit Burma from August 8 to 10, 2014, to attend meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) […]

President Obama Renews Burma Investment Sanctions

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, President Obama continued the national emergency with respect to Burma. This follows the call for renewal from U.S. Campaign for Burma (USCB) and 28 other human rights organizations on May 6 (see letter here) […]

BURMA: Letter to President Obama on Continuing National Emergency

Dear President Obama,

Our organizations urge you to continue the national emergency with respect to Burma. Since May 20, 2013, the Burmese government has failed to substantively address any of the concerns that informed the renewal of Executive Order 13619 […]

President Obama Must Renew Burma Investment Sanctions

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the U.S. Campaign for Burma (USCB), along with 28 other human rights organizations, called on President Obama to continue the national emergency with respect to Burma. The national emergency provides the authority for the ban of U.S. investment in the Burmese military and the authority for the Reporting Requirements for Responsible Investment in Burma. This authority is set to expire this month. Last week, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom also pressed for the renewal of the national emergency […]

President Obama: Urge Burma To Stop New Political Arrests

Today, the U.S. Campaign for Burma (USCB), along with 41 other human rights organizations, expressed concern that the Burmese government is continuing to arrest political prisoners/prisoners of conscience at alarmingly high rates. These arrests blatantly discredit the Burmese government’s claim that all political prisoners will be released by the end of December 2013 […]

Letter to President Obama on Political Prisoners

Dear President Obama,

We are writing to express our concern that the Burmese government is continuing to arrest farmers, activists, human rights defenders, and ethnic minorities at alarmingly high rates. These arrests discredit the Burmese government’s claim that all political prisoners/prisoners of conscience (hereinafter “political prisoners”) will be released by the end of December 2013 […]

Statement by Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes on the Expiration of the Ban on Imports from Burma

Today, in light of the July 28 expiration of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act’s (BFDA) ban on imports from Burma, the President issued an Executive Order that repeals the provisions of Executive Order 13310 that implemented the broad BFDA import ban on products of Burma […]

Burma: Joint Letter to President Obama on Reporting Requirements

We are writing to express our concerns regarding the first public reports from U.S. companies under the Burma Responsible Investment Reporting Requirements (“Reporting Requirements”). We commend the companies that have complied with the July deadline for timely reporting but are concerned that the reports exhibit serious […]

President Thein Sein’s US Visit Branded by Broken Promises

For the first time in nearly fifty years, President Thein Sein will visit the United States and meet with President Barack Obama today, 20 May. This follows the historic visit by President Obama to Burma six months ago. The visit is an opportunity for the White House to pressure Thein Sein to continue the reforms that have been taking place and highlight some of the concerns the United States, the international community and particularly the citizens of Burma have. The visit also represents the more troubling view that there has been a relaxing of the US policy of rewarding positive reforms with increased engagement and that there is more interest in the economic and geo-political benefits of the relationship than addressing and solving the very large problems that the people of Burma are facing inside their country today.

When President Obama visited Burma, Thein Sein made a series of pledges; he agreed to create a commission to review political prisoner cases with the aim of releasing all political prisoners from custody, to allow the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to open an office in the country, to adequately address religious violence, more specifically to hold those guilty of violence against Rohingya people accountable and address resettlement and citizenship issues, and finally to allow humanitarian organizations access to conflict areas […]

Remarks by President Obama and President Thein Sein of Myanmar After Bilateral Meeting

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I want to welcome President Thein Sein to the United States of America and to the Oval Office. Last year, I was proud to make a historic visit to Myanmar as the first U.S. President ever to visit that country. And now President Sein is able to return the favor by making a visit to the United States, and my understanding is that this is the first visit by a leader of Myanmar in almost 50 years […]