Human Rights
See also UN System
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Various Rights
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Human Rights and international relations
Individual Documents
| Title: | | De la neutralité à la conditionnalité politique des relations communautaires avec les pays en voie de développement: ... Quelles sont les effets de la politique européenne de sanctions à l’égard du My |
| Date of publication: | | September 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | La conditionnalité, de par sa nature essentiellement politique, a souvent été étudiée par
des politologues plutôt que par des juristes. Ce constat est attribuable à l´absence d´une
réglementation juridique internationale relative à la conditionnalité, et à sa mise en oeuvre de
nature essentiellement ad hoc, et non systématique. Tous les Etats n´appliquent pas la
conditionnalité politique, ni ne l´appliquent-ils tous de manière homogène; et encore moins y
sont-ils tous soumis équitablement. La conditionnalité est toujours subordonnée à des
exigences géopolitiques, stratégiques, commerciales et économiques.1
Beaucoup d´arguments peuvent être mobilisés contre la conditionnalité: le principe de
non ingérence, la critique du néocolonialisme, le relativisme culturel, etc. Toutefois, la
nécessité de protéger et de promouvoir les droits de l´homme peut suffire à la légitimer, pour
le moins d´un point de vue conceptuel. D´un point de vue juridique, reste encore à prouver la
légalité de cette pratique dans le droit international. L´argument principal à cet effet réside
dans l´article 2.1. du Pacte International sur les Droits civils et Politiques, ratifié par la
communauté internationale, lequel suggère que tous les Etats parties prennent des initiatives,
notamment par l´intermédiaire de l´aide internationale et de la coopération, pour parvenir à la
réalisation complète des droits reconnus dans le Pacte.2
La Communauté européenne, au sortir de la Guerre Froide, adopte une nouvelle
conception du développement et de sa mise en oeuvre ; une conception plus libérale, et qui
engage davantage la responsabilité des PVD dans le processus de développement. Dans ce
contexte surgit la notion de conditionnalité politique de l’aide : désormais, l’aide est délivrée
à condition que les pays récipiendaires s’engagent à respecter les droits fondamentaux et les
principes démocratiques.
L’aide au développement communautaire n’a pas toujours impliqué cette notion de
mérite ; nous le verrons dans la première partie. Les bases juridiques sur lesquelles a été
conçue la politique d’aide au développement communautaire jusque dans les années 1990
datent du Traité de Rome. Les relations avec les « pays et territoires d’outre mer »
constituaient à l’époque une partie substantielle du Traité, de manière à assurer la pérennité
des relations entre les métropoles européennes et leurs colonies une fois leur indépendance
acquise. La conception des relations entre les PVD et la CEE a donc été durablement marquée
par les dispositions du Traité de Rome. Géographiquement, cela signifiait des relations zélées avec les pays ACP (regroupant, plus ou moins, les ex PTOM ), dans le cadre des Conventions
successives de Lomé ; et des relations tardives et modestes avec les PVD non associés, selon
la terminologie révélatrice de la réglementation communautaire. Politiquement, les
Conventions de Lomé réglaient la coopération au développement communautaire avec les
pays ACP sur base d’une relation neutre, sans condition politique ou économique préalable.
L’échec de cette politique apparaît de plus en plus flagrant après la crise de la dette et
l’incapacité des économies en développement, surtout des pays ACP, à s’insérer dans le
système économique mondial globalisé. A la même époque, la fin de la Guerre Froide voit les
démocraties libérales occidentales triompher. L’Union Européenne est créée en 1992 sur base
des principes libéraux d’économie de marché, de bonne gouvernance, de démocratie et de
respect des droits de l’homme. Désormais, ces principes imprègneront la politique extérieure
communautaire définie dans le cadre de la PESC. Les relations communautaires avec les PVD
doivent être revues dans cette optique libérale. La nouvelle politique des droits de l’homme va
être mise en oeuvre à travers la conditionnalité politique de l’aide au développement.
Désormais, la politique de développement ne doit plus être considérée de manière
isolée mais comme un élément de la politique extérieure communautaire.3 Nous l’
observerons, en analysant les relations régionales eurasiatiques, dans la deuxième partie. Le
partenariat avec l’ANASE a une portée allant de la coopération commerciale, économique et
politique à la coopération au développement. Le dialogue intergouvernemental au sein de
l’ASEM (qui réunit les 27 membres de l’UE et 16 pays asiatiques dont la Chine, le Japon,
l’Inde, la Corée du Sud et les pays membres de l’ANASE ) a aussi un dessein
multidimensionnel, confrontant les différentes parties relativement à leurs politiques
étrangère, économique et financière.
Dans la quatrième partie, nous étudierons le cas de la conditionnalité politique
appliquée à la Birmanie, gouvernée depuis 40 ans par une junte militaire devenue la bête noire
de la communauté internationale. Depuis 1997, la Birmanie ne bénéficie plus de préférences
tarifaires pour ses exportations vers l’UE. Pas plus ne dispose-t-elle aujourd’hui de l’aide
communautaire au développement. Apres une présentation générale du pays et son histoire
contemporaine, nous tenterons d’évaluer les effets de la stratégie communautaire dans le cas
birman et l’opportunité d’appliquer la conditionnalité politique (et les sanctions qu’elle
implique) pour mener un pays à se réformer et à se développer. |
| Author/creator: | | Louise Culot |
| Language: | | Francais, French |
| Source/publisher: | | Université Libre de Bruxelles |
| Format/size: | | pdf (481K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 19 October 2007 |
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| Title: | | La dimension des droits de l’homme dans les relations internationales : le cas de la Birmanie (Myanmar) |
| Date of publication: | | August 2006 |
| Description/subject: | | Introduction:
"L’étude politique des droits de l’homme ne peut se faire sans tenir compte du contexte politique, géographique et historique dans lequel ces derniers ont évolué. Souvent brandis comme l’étendard que des hommes et des femmes ont porté dans l’espoir de faire valoir leur individualité face à des gouvernements, ces valeurs n’en continuent pas moins d’être souvent traitées avec cynisme, ironie ou utopisme. Cela s’avère encore plus véridique lorsque nous choisissons de transposer l’étude de ces droits à la sphère des relations internationales où il existe un dilemme entre l’universalité proclamée des principes fondamentaux et le poids des états dans l’élaboration de politiques parfois nuisibles aux droits de l’homme mais justifiées par un recours systématique au principe de souveraineté étatique. Cependant, ce concept des droits de l’homme revient constamment, au travers de discours, articles, essais et discussions, alimenter la thèse selon laquelle ces droits, bien que proclamés déjà en 1789, restent à être pleinement réalisés en ce début de 21° siècle. S’ils sont déjà considérés comme acquis et immuables en occident principalement, il n’est pas inutile de rappeler que les valeurs qu’ils défendent (liberté, égalité
) sont des concepts relativement nouveaux dans l’histoire humaine et que leur application au niveau international est loin d’être évidente. Notre optique n’est pas de se livrer à une condamnation de l’application du respect des droits de l’homme que certains diront secondaires à la prise en compte de considérations économiques, politiques ou géostratégiques mais plutôt de comprendre comment la défense des droits de l’homme trouve sa place dans la justification des politiques internationales en comparant leur promotion faite en occident et leur application dans une région aussi lointaine que l’Asie.
Ce mémoire analysera donc l’importance du non-respect des droits de l’homme au sein des relations internationales en analysant le cas de la Birmanie, également connue sous le nom de Myanmar.2 Nous partirons du principe que le gouvernement militaire birman ne respecte pas les droits contenus dans la Déclaration Universelle des Droits de l’Homme de l’ONU de 1948 et que cela complique ses relations avec des gouvernements étrangers ainsi qu’avec des institutions internationales qui ont un devoir de veiller à ce que leur politique extérieure avec des pays tiers tienne compte du respect des droits de l’homme. Les instances analysées sont les Etats-Unis, l’Union Européenne (UE) et l’Organisation des Nations Unies (ONU) et nous nous focaliserons sur la place que tiennent les droits de l’homme dans leurs rapports avec la Birmanie. Le choix de ces trois protagonistes permet de mettre en évidence une institution internationale (l’Organisation des Nations Unies) ainsi que deux niveaux différents d’organisations politiques au sein de ce que l’on nomme communément l’"occident" : un état (les Etats-Unis) et une institution régionale (l’Union Européenne).
Le noeud de ce travail portera donc sur la question suivante : « Dans quelle mesure le non-respect des droits de l’homme influence-t-il les relations qu’entretient la Birmanie avec les Etats-Unis, l’UE et l’ONU depuis 1988 ? » L’idée n’est pas de savoir si le gouvernement birman nuit aux droits de l’homme ou pas. Ce fait est unanimement reconnu aussi bien par la communauté internationale que par le gouvernement birman lui-même. La question est plutôt de savoir jusqu’à quel point les considérations éthiques relatives au respect des droits de l’homme devancent les intérêts économiques, politiques ou géostratégiques dans la région du sud-est asiatique..." |
| Author/creator: | | Bryan Carter |
| Language: | | Francais, French |
| Source/publisher: | | Université libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des sciences sociales, politiques et économiques -- Section de science politique |
| Format/size: | | pdf (509K), Word (457K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/M%e9moire.doc |
| Date of entry/update: | | 30 September 2006 |
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National Human Rights Institutions
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Burma's National Human Rights Commission
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Myanmar's National Human Rights Commission (announcements, statements, open letters and other official texts)
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Statement of Myanmar National Human Rights Commission on its trip to the Kachin State (5/2012) |
| Date of publication: | | 14 August 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "Commission and two members of the Commission visited
Myitkyina and Waingmaw of the Kachin State from 23 to 27
July 2012 and carried out the following tasks of the
Commission:-
- Visited 16 relief camps, met with the people of the
camps and expressed words of encouragement to
them.
- Summoned and examined the witnesses in
connection with the complaints, assumed to involve
the violations of human rights in the Kachin State.
- Met with the Chief Minister and the Ministers of the
Kachin State Government and exchanged views on
the prevailing situation in the Kachin State.
Based on the activities and the findings of the
Commission team, the following recommendations are made:-..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Myanmar National Human Rights Commission via "The New Light of Myanmar" |
| Format/size: | | pdf (101K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 21 August 2012 |
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| Title: | | Statement by the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission |
| Date of publication: | | 14 January 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "...In the interest of enduring peace and national unity, to enable an inclusive political
process and on grounds of humanitarian consideration, the President had granted amnesty
to the prisoners. In view of the President’s magnanimity, the Commission strongly urges
those who have been released to peacefully take part in whatever way they can in building
national unity and a democratic State" |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Myanmar National Human Rights Commission via "The New Light of Myanmar" |
| Format/size: | | pdf (107K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 21 August 2012 |
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| Title: | | Myanmar National Human Rights Commission issues statement [on its visit to Kachin State] |
| Date of publication: | | 14 December 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | "A four-member team of the Myanmar National Human
Rights Commission headed by its Secretary visited Kachin
State from 8 to 10 December 2011 in order to observe at
first hand the civil population who were displaced as a
result of armed skirmishes that occurred from June 2011,
with the view to ascertain their conditions in camps that
are under the supervision of the Kachin State Government
and also to make a need assessment..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Myanmar National Human Rights Commission via "The New Light of Myanmar" |
| Format/size: | | pdf (72K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 21 August 2012 |
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| Title: | | Statement by Myanmar National Human Rights Commission on International Human Rights Day, 10 December 2011 |
| Date of publication: | | 10 December 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | "MNHRC to stress commitment to effectively fulfil its
mandate of promoting and protecting human rights
and to contribute to democratization process of
country to the best of its capacity
NAY PYI TAW, 10 Dec—The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission issued a Statement on International
Human Rights Day today.
The full text of the Statement is as follows:..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Myanmar National Human Rights Commission via "The New Light of Myanmar" |
| Format/size: | | pdf (34K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 21 August 2012 |
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| Title: | | Myanmar National Human Rights Commission sends open letter to President |
| Date of publication: | | 13 November 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | "...the Myanmar National Human
Rights Commission again humbly requests the
President as a reflection of his magnanimity to
include those prisoners when a subsequent
amnesty is granted.
8. If for reasons of maintaining peace and stability,
certain prisoners cannot as yet be included in the
amnesty, the Commission would like to
respectfully submit that consideration be made
for transferring them to prisons with easy access
for their family members." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Myanmar National Human Rights Commission via "The New Light of Myanmar" |
| Format/size: | | pdf (70K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 21 August 2012 |
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| Title: | | Myanmar National Human Rights Commission meets |
| Date of publication: | | 12 October 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | Photo of the Commission in session and a few procedural notes |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Myanmar National Human Rights Commission via "The New Light of Myanmar" |
| Format/size: | | pdf (39K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 21 August 2012 |
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| Title: | | Request submitted in open letter by Myanmar National Human Rights Commission to President of Republic of Union of Myanmar |
| Date of publication: | | 11 October 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | "...the expectation of the Secretary-
General of the United Nations and a number of
countries is the release of what is referred to as
“prisoners of conscience”. The Commission
recognizes and appreciates the position of the
Government that these are prisoners who have
been sentenced to imprisonment for
contravening the existing laws.
6. The release of those prisoner, convicted for
breach of the existing laws, who do not pose a
threat to the stability of state and public tranquility
in the interest of national races will enable them
to participate in whatever way they can in the
nation-building tasks.
7. For these reasons, Myanmar National Human
Rights Commission humbly requests the President,
as a reflection of his magnanimity, to grant
amnesty to those prisoners and release them
from the prisons." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Myanmar National Human Rights Commission via "The New Light of Myanmar" |
| Format/size: | | pdf (28K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 21 August 2012 |
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| Title: | | National Human Rights Commission formed |
| Date of publication: | | 06 September 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | NAY PYI TAW, 5 Sept—"The Union Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar issued
Notification No. 34/2011 dated 5-9-2011 as follows:-
Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Union Government
Notification No. (34/2011)
8th Waxing of Tawthalin1373 ME
(5 September, 2011)...Formation of Myanmar National Human Rights
Commission
Myanmar National Human Rights Commission was formed with the following persons with a view
to promoting and safeguarding fundamental rights of citizens described in the constitution of the Republic of
the Union of Myanmar..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The New Light of Myanmar" 6 September 2011 |
| Format/size: | | pdf (171K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 10 September 2011 |
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Myanmar's National Human Rights Commission (commentary)
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Empowering the Myanmar Human Rights Commission |
| Date of publication: | | 09 May 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "...'The Paris Principles are the international standard and that is what they should be aiming for,'... 'If they are heading in that direction, if that is what they are aiming for, then they have a long way to go.
'The commission is [currently] almost at the whim of the president. You need to sort out the legislative underpinning
of the commission through an act of Parliament so it does have guaranteed funding. And then you figure out what function and role it is actually going to play.'
So while a few seminars and consultations may help increase the legitimacy of the international community’s policy of reengagement, a fundamental overhaul including constitutionally enshrined independence, guaranteed funding and full transparency is necessary to prevent the MHRC remaining merely the butt of snide jibes from cynical observers." |
| Author/creator: | | Charlie Campbell |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "the Irrawaddy" |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 May 2012 |
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| Title: | | Burma’s NHRC: An Empty Gesture |
| Date of publication: | | 10 January 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "The international community should call on the regime to take the necessary steps to make
the commission a truly independent and effective mechanism
On 5 September 2011, Burma’s regime announced that it had established a National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC) charged with promoting and safeguarding the fundamental rights of
citizens in accordance with the 2008 Constitution.
While the creation of a NHRC could be seen as a positive step, many welcomed the development
with skepticism.
We know very little about Burma’s new NHRC. No official information about the procedure,
mandate, and responsibilities of the commission has been made accessible to the public and, in
particular, victims of human rights violations. The information gathered is piecemeal, collected from
a number of different statements and interviews. The entire process of establishing the NHRC has
been everything but transparent, lending support to the argument that this is nothing more than an
empty gesture designed to placate the international community at a time when the regime is
seeking to have sanctions lifted..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Burma Partnership |
| Format/size: | | pdf (1.24MB) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 16 January 2012 |
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| Title: | | Burma human rights body is not all that is needed |
| Date of publication: | | September 2000 |
| Description/subject: | | "...The Australian government has decided to cooperate with the Burmese junta in providing human rights training courses for
government officials. The decision was in response to the ruling State Peace and Development Council's (SPDC) indication that
it intends to establish a national Human Rights Commission..." |
| Author/creator: | | Khin Maung Win |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Legal Issues on Burma Journal No. 6 (Burma Lawyers' Council) |
| Alternate URLs: | | The original and authoritative version of this article may be found on http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Legal%20Issues%20on%20Burma%20Journal%206.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
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| Title: | | Military Regime to Establish Base on Mars ... or a Human Rights Commission |
| Date of publication: | | April 2000 |
| Description/subject: | | "Recently, the military regime indicated it might establish a human rights commission in Burma...the article considers the practicalities of establishing an effective human rights commission under Burma's current governance.
The human rights commission being contemplated is a type of body existing in many countries and internationally known as a
National Human Rights Institution ('NHRI'). The article provides a general background of NHRIs, notes the existing NHRIs in
the Asia-Pacific, and addresses some main features of an NHRI. Then, with this background, an analysis is made of the
relevant factors in Burma. It is hoped this will provide a basic explanation about NHRIs, which may assist in the ongoing
discussion on how such a body could feature in Burma's future..." |
| Author/creator: | | John Southalan |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Legal Issues on Burma Journal No. 5 (Burma Lawyers' Council) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
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International Justice
See also various headings under Law and Constitution > International Law in this Library
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International Justice - general studies
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Hard cases: bringing human rights violators to justice abroad - A guide to universal jurisdiction |
| Date of publication: | | October 1999 |
| Description/subject: | | "In late 1998 the Chilean Senator Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London, following a request for
extradition by a Spanish prosecutor. He was charged under Spanish law for grave human rights
abuses, under a universal jurisdiction rule that had rarely been used. Anticipating that this case
would trigger others, in early 1999 the Council convened a meeting of human rights experts to
discuss the implications of using the universal jurisdiction rule more widely. Hard cases is based
on the meeting. Written for use by NGOs and for individuals interested in the ethical and legal
issues, it sets out the arguments that support its use and examines some of the ethical, practical
and legal problems that arise when it is applied..." |
| Author/creator: | | Peggy Hicks and David Petrasek. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | International Council for Human Rights Policy |
| Format/size: | | PDF (235K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
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Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and Burma/Myanmar
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Upholding the Responsibility to Protect in Burma/Myanmar |
| Date of publication: | | 16 August 2010 |
| Description/subject: | | Introduction: "The situation in Burma/Myanmar remains grave. With elections scheduled for 7 November 2010 international attention on the country has increased. Such attention, and any policy action taken, must focus not only on the goal of democratic transition, and concerns about the regimes nuclear collaboration with North Korea, but also on the plight of Burma’s ethnic minorities who continue to suffer atrocities at the hands of the government. These atrocities may rise to the level of crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing – crimes states committed themselves to protect populations from at the 2005 World Summit, as described in the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect policy brief dated 4 March 2010, “Applying the Responsibility to Protect to Burma/Myanmar.”
International actors have a responsibility to protect Burma’s ethnic minorities from atrocities – atrocities that are often overshadowed by the attention focused on the pro-democracy movement. This brief assesses the current risk of atrocities and identifies measures that can be used to aid in preventing and halting these atrocities. The brief argues that pressure must be placed on the Burmese government to cease the commission of crimes and avoid the resort to violence against groups with which it currently has ceasefires..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect |
| Format/size: | | pdf (85K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 01 September 2010 |
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| Title: | | Applying the Responsibility to Protect to Burma/Myanmar |
| Date of publication: | | March 2010 |
| Description/subject: | | Introduction:
"The Burmese junta, its armed forces known as the “Tatmadaw,” and other armed groups under government control are committing gross human rights violations against ethnic and religious minorities. Extrajudicial killings, torture, and forced labor are prevalent; rape and sexual abuse by the Tatmadaw are rampant; and from August 2008 through July 2009 alone, 75,000 civilians in the east, where armed conflict is ongoing, were forcibly displaced. The Tatmadaw shows a complete disregard for the principle of distinction, intentionally targeting civilians with impunity.
Reports indicate that these violations, perpetrated primarily by state actors on a widespread and systematic basis, rise to the level of crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and war crimes ‐ three of the four crimes states committed themselves to protect populations from in endorsing the responsibility to protect (R2P) at the 2005 World Summit.
All Burmese citizens are subject to government oppression. However, the above crimes appear to be targeted primarily at five ethnic groups: the Karen, Shan and Karenni in eastern Burma, and the Rohingya and Chin in western Burma. While international actors have focused on the repression of the pro‐democracy movement by the military government, crimes perpetrated against ethnic minorities for years have received little international attention and show no signs of subsiding.
This brief seeks to clarify how R2P applies to Burma and draw attention to the plight of minorities by assessing the following: whether acts perpetrated against them could constitute R2P crimes; the risk of future atrocities; and the resulting responsibility of the international community..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect |
| Format/size: | | pdf (195K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 01 September 2010 |
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| Title: | | Cyclone Nargis: Whose Responsibility to Protect? |
| Date of publication: | | 12 June 2008 |
| Description/subject: | | "The June 12 panel--“Cyclone Nargis: Whose Responsibility to Protect?”--produced sharp
disagreement not only about whether the Burmese regime’s dilatory response to the
cyclone constituted a potential “R2P situation,” but also more broadly about the role of
this new doctrine in the aftermath of natural disasters. While none of the panelists or
audience members found much to praise in the junta’s humanitarian response, some
sought to understand the “paranoia” that the country’s leaders bore to the outside world.
They concluded that outsiders eager to help victims of the cyclone would have to either
work around the barriers erected by the fearful and suspicious generals, or look for those
in the regime more open to engagement with outsiders. The regime, one participant
noted, was far less monolithic than it appeared from the outside.
Others felt that the regime’s state of mind mattered far less than the effect of its behavior
on its own beleaguered citizens. One participant catalogued the lethal diseases, including
HIV and malaria, which had proliferated in Burma owing to a moribund public health
system—at a time when the sale of natural resources was enriching members of the
regime. The unnecessary death of perhaps 100,000 citizens made the regime criminal
even before the cyclone struck, which meant that Burma had arguably been an R2P
situation for years. This participant and others nevertheless did not view the regime’s
neglect of its citizens in the aftermath of the cyclone as meriting the application of the
2
responsibility to protect. Another participant, however, said that the very real possibility
of mass death from neglect meant that the Security Council should have taken up the
issue and noted that the council had even rebuffed a proposed briefing by UN
humanitarian coordinator John Holmes..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect |
| Format/size: | | pdf (22K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 01 September 2010 |
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Various rights: reports of violations in Burma
Not a comprehensive list. For more, including updates, go to the publishers' home pages and search, go to the specific rights area in the Human Rights section of OBL and also use the OBL search function.
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Amnesty International annual reports (Myanmar section) from 1994
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 2012 (events of 2011) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 24 May 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "The government enacted limited political and economic reforms, but human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law in ethnic minority areas increased during the year. Some of these amounted to crimes against humanity or war crimes. Forced displacement reached its highest level in a decade, and reports of forced labour their highest level in several years. Authorities maintained restrictions on freedom of religion and belief, and perpetrators of human rights violations went unpunished. Despite releasing at least 313 political prisoners during the year, authorities continued to arrest such people, further violating their rights by subjecting them to ill-treatment and poor prison conditions..."....Background....Internal armed conflict ....Forced displacement and refugees....Forced labour....Freedom of religion or belief....Impunity....International scrutiny |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 25 May 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 2011 (events of 2010) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | May 2011 |
| Description/subject: | | Elections-related violations ...Repression of ethnic minority activists ...Political prisoners ...Forced displacement...Development-related violations...International scrutiny.....Reports: Myanmar: End repression of ethnic minorities;
Myanmar’s 2010 elections: A human rights perspective;
Myanmar elections will test ASEAN’s credibility;
India’s relations with Myanmar fail to address human rights concerns in run up to elections;
Myanmar opposition must be free to fight elections, 10 March 2010;
ASEAN leaders should act over Myanmar’s appalling rights record, 6 April 2010;
Myanmar: Political prisoners must be freed, 26 September 2010;
Myanmar government attacks on freedoms compromise elections, 5 November;
Myanmar should free all prisoners of conscience following Aung San Suu Kyi release, 13 November 2010 |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 10 March 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 2010 (events of 2009) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 27 May 2010 |
| Description/subject: | | Background:
In August, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was permitted to meet a US Senator, and in October met with her government liaison officer for the first time since January 2008. In November, she met a high-level mission from the US.
In April, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC, the military government) proposed that the ethnic minority armed groups that had agreed ceasefires with the government become border guard forces under SPDC command. This was in preparation for national elections in 2010 – the first since 1990 – but negotiations and fighting with such armed groups followed throughout the year. By the end of the year only nine groups agreed to the proposal, most citing a feared loss of territory or control as reasons for their refusal.
Relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction in the wake of the 2008 Cyclone Nargis continued, while serious food shortages struck Chin and Rakhine States. Myanmar began building a fence on the border with Bangladesh, which increased tensions between the two countries. The international community raised concerns that the Myanmar government may be seeking nuclear capability.....Political prisoners ...Prison conditions ...Targeting ethnic minorities ...Cyclone Nargis-related arrests and imprisonment ...Armed conflict and displacement ...Development-related violations ...Child soldiers ...International scrutiny ...Death penalty ...Amnesty International reports:
Open letter to the governments of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand on the plight of the Rohingyas...
Myanmar: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s new sentence “shameful”, 11 August 2009 |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 10 March 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 2009 (events of 2008) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 27 May 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | "In February, the government announced that a referendum would be held later in the year on a draft constitution, followed by elections in 2010. In May -- only a week before the scheduled day for the referendum -- Cyclone Nargis devastated parts of southern Myanmar, affecting approximately 2.4 million people. More than 84,500 people died and more than 19,000 were injured, while nearly 54,000 remained unaccounted for. In its aftermath the government delayed or placed conditions on aid delivery, and refused international donors permission to provide humanitarian assistance. Following a visit by the UN Secretary-General in late May, access improved, but the government continued to obstruct aid and forcibly evict survivors from shelters.
Also in May the government extended the house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the main opposition party. By the end of the year there were more than 2,100 other political prisoners. Many were given sentences relating to the 2007 mass demonstrations after unfair trials. In eastern Myanmar, a military offensive targeting ethnic Karen civilians, amounting to crimes against humanity, continued into its fourth year. The government's development of oil, natural gas and hydropower projects in partnership with private and state-owned firms led to a range of human rights abuses..." |
| Language: | | English (also available in Arabic, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish) |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 22 January 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 2008 (events of 2007) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | May 2008 |
| Description/subject: | | "The human rights situation in Myanmar continued to deteriorate, culminating in September when authorities staged a five-day crackdown on widespread protests that had begun six weeks earlier. The peaceful protests voiced both economic and political grievances. More than 100 people were believed to have been killed in the crackdown, and a similar number were the victims of enforced disappearance. Several thousands were detained in deplorable conditions. The government began prosecutions under anti-terrorism legislation against many protestors. International response to the crisis included a tightening of sanctions by Western countries. At least 1,150 additional political prisoners, some arrested decades ago, remained in detention.
A military offensive continued in northern Kayin State, with widespread and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. In western Rakhine State, the government continued negotiations on a large-scale Shwe gas pipeline, preparations for which included forced displacement and forced labour of ethnic communities..." |
| Language: | | English (also available in Arabic, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish) |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 22 January 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International: Jahresbericht 2007 |
| Date of publication: | | 25 May 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Die Menschenrechtslage in Myanmar verschlechterte sich im Lauf des Berichtsjahrs weiter, da die Behörden ihre Maßnahmen zur Unterdrückung der bewaffneten und der gewaltfreien politischen Opposition im ganzen Land verstärkten. Der UN-Sicherheitsrat setzte die Situation in Myanmar auf seine Tagesordnung. Im Zuge militärischer Operationen im Unionsstaat Kayin und im Verwaltungsbezirk Bago kam es zu systematischen Verstößen gegen die Menschenrechte und das humanitäre Völkerrecht, die möglicherweise Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit darstellten. Während die Regierung ihre Pläne zur Erarbeitung einer neuen Verfassung weiter verfolgte, wurde auf politisch engagierte Bürger massiver Druck ausgeübt, die politischen Parteien zu verlassen. Im Verlauf des Jahres wurden Hunderte Menschen in Haft genommen, die sich an friedlichen politischen Aktivitäten beteiligt oder auf andere Weise gewaltfrei ihre Rechte auf freie Meinungsäußerung und Vereinigungsfreiheit wahrgenommen hatten. Ende des Berichtsjahrs saßen die meisten führenden Persönlichkeiten der Opposition im Gefängnis oder in Verwaltungshaft. Im ganzen Land wurden mehr als 1185 politische Gefangene unter immer schlechter werdenden Haftbedingungen festgehalten.
Politische Häftlinge, Zwangsarbeit; Folter und Misshandlungen; Vereinigungs- und Versammlungsfreiheit;
Poltical Prisoners, Forced labour; Torture and Maltreatment; Liberty of opinion; Karen; KNU |
| Language: | | German, Deutsch |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International |
| Format/size: | | Html (29K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 21 August 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 2007 (events of 2006) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | May 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | "Following a steep rise in fuel prices in August which in turn affected people's access to food and basic supplies, Myanmar has seen an escalation in mass peaceful protests nationwide since 21 September 2007.
Led by Buddhist monks, clergy and ordinary people have taken to the street, protesting against the government, calling for a reduction in commodity prices, release of political prisoners and national reconciliation. Beginning 21 September 2007, the numbers of demonstrators increased considerably, with estimated numbers ranging from 10,000 to 100,000. Demonstrations on this scale have not been seen since the nationwide protests in 1988, which were violently suppressed by the authorities with the killing of approximately 3,000 peaceful demonstrators.
In the evening of 25 September 2007, the authorities began a crackdown on the protesters, introducing a 60-day 9pm-5am curfew and issuing public warnings of legal action against protesters. Arrests of reportedly at least 700 people have followed in the former capital Yangon, the second-biggest city, Mandalay, and elsewhere.
Among those arrested in Yangon were monks, members of parliament from the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), other NLD members and other public figures. Amnesty International believes these and other detainees are at grave risk of torture or other ill-treatment.
The full extent of the violent crackdown is not yet known. State television reported the killing of at least nine people, eight protesters and a Japanese journalist, amidst the clampdown. This number was widely believed to be an under-estimate.
There were reportedly hundreds of injuries.
Websites and internets blogs carrying information and photographs of the demonstrations were blocked; internet lines were cut. Telephone lines and mobile phone signals to prominent activists and dissidents were reportedly also cut.
The crisis was discussed at the United National Security Council on 26 September 2007 and a day later the Myanmar authorities agreed to a mission to the country by the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative Ibrahim Gambari..." |
| Language: | | English (also available in Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish) |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 22 January 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International: Jahresbericht 2006 |
| Date of publication: | | 24 May 2006 |
| Description/subject: | | Mehr als 1100 politische Gefangene kamen in Haft oder verbüßten weiterhin ihre Freiheitsstrafen, darunter Hunderte gewaltlose politische Gefangene, die die Behörden wegen ihrer friedlichen oppositionellen Aktivitäten festgenommen hatten. Mindestens 250 politische Gefangene wurden auf freien Fuß gesetzt. Die Streitkräfte begingen erneut schwere Menschenrechtsverletzungen, indem sie unter anderem Zivilisten ethnischer Minderheiten im Zuge der Aufstandsbekämpfung zu Zwangsarbeit heranzogen. Die Internationale Arbeitsorganisation (International Labour Organization – ILO) und andere UN-Organe ebenso wie internationale Hilfsorganisationen sahen sich mit zunehmenden Beschränkungen ihrer Hilfsprogramme für gefährdete Bevölkerungsgruppen konfrontiert.
Zwangsarbeit; Ethnische Minderheiten; Politische Gefangene; Folter und Misshandlungen
Amnesty International Report on Myanmar 2006; Forced Labor; Ethnic Minorities; Political prisoners; Torture and Maltreatment |
| Language: | | German, Deutsch |
| Format/size: | | Html (29K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 21 August 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 2006 (events of 2005) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | May 2006 |
| Description/subject: | | "Over 1,100 political prisoners were arrested or remained imprisoned. They included hundreds of prisoners of conscience, held for peaceful political opposition activities. At least 250 political prisoners were released. The army continued to commit serious human rights violations, including forced labour, against ethnic minority civilians during counter-insurgency activities. The International Labour Organization (ILO), other UN agencies and international aid organizations faced increasing restrictions on their ability to assist vulnerable populations..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 March 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Report 2005 (events of 2004) - Section on Myanmar |
| Date of publication: | | 25 May 2005 |
| Description/subject: | | Covering events from January - December 2004...
"In October the Prime Minister was placed under house arrest and replaced by another army general. Despite the announcement of the release of large numbers of prisoners in November, more than 1,300 political prisoners remained in prison, and arrests and imprisonment for peaceful political opposition activities continued. The army continued to commit serious human rights violations against ethnic minority civilians during counter-insurgency operations in the Mon, Shan and Kayin States, and in Tanintharyi Division. Restrictions on freedom of movement in states with predominantly ethnic minority populations continued to impede farming, trade and employment. This particularly impacted on the Rohingyas in Rakhine State. Ethnic minority civilians living in all these areas continued to be subjected to forced labour by the military..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 19 November 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 2004 (events of 2003) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 26 May 2004 |
| Description/subject: | | On 30 May, while travelling in Upper Myanmar, leaders and supporters of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the main opposition party, including General Secretary Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, were attacked by pro-government supporters. At least four people were killed and scores of government critics were arrested. Many of those arrested after 30 May were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. Discussions between the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military government, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not progress during the year. Ethnic minority civilians continued to suffer extensive human rights violations, including forced labour, in SPDC counterinsurgency operations in parts of the Shan, Kayin, Kayah, and Mon States. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 March 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International: Jahresbericht 2004 |
| Date of publication: | | May 2004 |
| Description/subject: | | Berichtszeitraum 1. Januar bis 31. Dezember 2003 |
| Language: | | Deutsch, German |
| Source/publisher: | | ai Deutschland |
| Format/size: | | html (27K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 04 June 2004 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 2003 (events of 2002) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 28 May 2003 |
| Description/subject: | | Events of 2002 "...Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was released from de facto house arrest in May. There was no reported progress in confidential talks about the future of the country, begun in October 2000, between the ruling military government – the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) – and Aung San Suu Kyi. However, over 300 political prisoners were released during the year, bringing the total of those released since January 2001 to over 500. Some 1,300 political prisoners arrested in previous years remained in prison and some 50 people were arrested for political reasons, despite the SPDC's stated commitment to release political prisoners as part of their undertaking to work with the NLD. Extrajudicial executions and forced labour continued to be reported in most of the seven ethnic minority states, particularly the Shan and Kayin states. Civilians continued to be the victims of human rights violations in the context of the SPDC's counter-insurgency tactics in parts of the Shan and Kayin states..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 19 November 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Deutschland: Jahresbericht 2002 |
| Date of publication: | | 28 May 2002 |
| Description/subject: | | Berichtszeitraum 1. Januar bis 31. Dezember 2001 |
| Language: | | Deutsch, German |
| Source/publisher: | | ai Deutschland |
| Format/size: | | html (28K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 19 November 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Myanmar: Hausarrest von Daw Aung San Suu Kyi aufgehoben |
| Date of publication: | | 07 May 2002 |
| Description/subject: | | amnesty international begrüßt den Schritt. Hintergrundinformation über die Menschenrechtslage im Land
Im Folgenden dokumentieren wir eine Presseerklärung von amnesty international anlässlich der Aufhebung des Hausarrests für die Oppositionspolitikerin Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar vom 7. Mai 2002 sowie einen Auszug aus dem Länderbericht Myanmar aus dem ai Jahresbericht 2002, der Ende Mai veröffentlicht wurde. |
| Author/creator: | | Pressemitteilung ai |
| Language: | | Deutsch, German |
| Source/publisher: | | AG Friedensforschung an der Uni Kassel |
| Format/size: | | html (18,9k) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 01 March 2005 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 2002 (events of 2001) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | May 2002 |
| Description/subject: | | "Events of 2001" ...... In January the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Myanmar announced that a confidential dialogue had been taking place since October 2000 between the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). The dialogue was believed to have continued for most of 2001. However, Aung San Suu Kyi remained under de facto house arrest, although international delegations were permitted to visit her. Some 1,600 political prisoners arrested in previous years remained in prison. Almost 220 people were released. Three people were sentenced to death for drug trafficking. Extrajudicial executions and forced labour continued to be reported in the ethnic minority states, particularly Shan and Kayin states. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 21 November 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 2001 (events of 2000) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 01 June 2001 |
| Description/subject: | | Hundreds of people, including more than 200 members of political parties and young activists, were arrested for political reasons. Ten others were known to have been sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after unfair trials. At least 1,500 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including more than 100 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were placed under de facto house arrest after being prevented by the military from travelling outside Yangon to visit other NLD members. Prison conditions constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and torture of political prisoners was reported. The military continued to seize ethnic minority civilians for forced labour duties and to kill members of ethnic minorities during counter-insurgency operations in the Shan, Kayah, and Kayin states. Five people were sentenced to death in 2000 for drug trafficking. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 22 November 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 2000 (events of 1999) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 01 June 2000 |
| Description/subject: | | "Scores of people were arrested for political reasons and 200 people, some of them prisoners of conscience, were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. More than 1,200 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including 89 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced in May that it had begun to visit prisons and other places of detention. The military continued to seize ethnic minority civilians for forced labour duties and to kill members of ethnic minorities not taking an active part in hostilities, during counter-insurgency operations, particularly in the Kayin State. Forcible relocation continued to be reported in the Kayin State, and the effects of massive forcible relocation programs in previous years in the Kayah and Shan States continued to be felt as civilians were still deprived of their land and livelihood and subjected to forced labour and detention by the military..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 March 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 1999 (events of 1998) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 01 January 1999 |
| Description/subject: | | "More than 1,200 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including 89 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison throughout the year. Hundreds of people were arrested for political reasons. Political prisoners were tortured and ill-treated, and held in conditions that amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Members of ethnic minorities continued to suffer human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, torture, ill-treatment during forced portering, and other forms of forced labour and forcible relocations. Six political prisoners were sentenced to death. No executions were known to have taken place..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 March 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 1998 (events of 1997) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 01 January 1998 |
| Description/subject: | | "More than 1,200 political prisoners arrested in previous years, including 89 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison throughout the year. Hundreds of people were arrested for political reasons; although most were released, 31 _ five of them prisoners of conscience _ were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after unfair trials. Political prisoners were ill-treated and held in conditions that amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Members of ethnic minorities continued to suffer human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions and ill-treatment during forced labour and portering, and forcible relocations. Two people were sentenced to death..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International via Archive.org |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 March 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 1997 (events of 1996) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 01 January 1997 |
| Description/subject: | | "More than 1,000 people involved in opposition political activities, including 68 prisoners of conscience and hundreds of possible prisoners of conscience, remained in prison throughout the year. Almost 2,000 people were arrested for political reasons, including at least 23 prisoners of conscience. Although most were released, 45 were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after unfair trials and 175 were still detained without charge or trial at the end of the year. Political prisoners were ill-treated and held in conditions that amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Members of ethnic minorities continued to suffer human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions and ill-treatment during forced labour and portering, and forcible relocations. Seven people were sentenced to death..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 March 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 1996 (events of 1995) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 01 January 1996 |
| Description/subject: | | "At least 1,000 people involved in opposition political parties remained imprisoned, including hundreds of prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience. At least 32 people were arrested for political reasons; 17 were still detained at the end of the year. At least 163 political prisoners, including six prisoners of conscience, were released. Prisoners were tortured and held in conditions which amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Members of ethnic minorities continued to be subjected to human rights violations which included torture and ill-treatment and possible extrajudicial executions. Thousands of ethnic Burmans, in particular those convicted of criminal offences, were also forced to act as porters and labourers. One person was sentenced to death.
The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), Myanmar’s military government chaired by General Than Shwe, continued to rule by decree in the absence of a constitution. Martial law decrees severely restricting the rights to freedom of expression and assembly remained in force throughout the year..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International via Refworld ((UNHCR) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 March 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 1995 (events of 1994) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 01 January 1995 |
| Description/subject: | | "Hundreds of government opponents remained imprisoned, including dozens of prisoners of conscience. Some were detained without trial, but most had been sentenced after unfair trials. At least 17 people were arrested for political reasons, including five prisoners of conscience. Prisoners of conscience and other political prisoners were held in conditions amounting to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Persistent human rights violations continued to be reported from many parts of the country, with members of ethnic minorities particularly targeted. The violations included: arbitrary seizure of civilians to serve as military porters and labourers; demolition of homes; ill-treatment; and possible extrajudicial executions. Five people were sentenced to death..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International via Refworld (UNHCR) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 March 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Amnesty International Annual Report 1994 (events of 1993) - Myanmar section |
| Date of publication: | | 01 January 1994 |
| Description/subject: | | "Hundreds of government opponents remained imprisoned, including dozens of prisoners of conscience, despite the release of some 2,000 others in the last 20 months, and at least 40 new political arrests were made. Some of those held were detained without trial, but most had been sentenced after unfair trials. Persistent human rights violations continued to be reported from many parts of the country, with members of ethnic minorities particularly targeted. The violations included arbitrary seizure of civilians to serve as military porters or labourers, ill-treatment and extrajudicial executions..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International via Refworld (UNHCR) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 March 2012 |
|
-
Amnesty International reports on Burma/Myanmar
These reports include older reports not on the Amnesty site...For recent reports, go to www.amnesty.org then to Library, then to the Advanced Search...Search for Myanmar
Individual Documents
| Title: | | MYANMAR: CONDITIONS IN PRISONS AND LABOUR CAMPS |
| Date of publication: | | September 1995 |
| Description/subject: | | "Amnesty International has recently received new information about appalling conditions in
labour camps and prisons in Myanmar. Unofficial sources have provided details about the
treatment of prisoners, including torture, prolonged shackling, lack of proper medical care, and
insufficient food. Torture techniques include beatings, sometimes to the point of
unconsciousness; being forced to crawl over sharp stones; and being held in the hot sun for
prolonged periods. Such practices are used by Myanmar's security forces to punish and
intimidate prisoners. Conditions in labour camps are so harsh that hundreds of prisoners have
died as a result. Many prisoners who have been forced to work as porters for the army have
also died as a result of ill-treatment.
In the material which follows, Amnesty International has omitted details which could
identify imprisoned individuals, for fear of placing them at even greater risk of torture and illtreatment.
Most of the information below concerns Insein Prison, Myanmar's largest detention
facility, where at least 800 political prisoners are held along with thousands of people imprisoned
under criminal charges. Insein Prison is located in the outskirts of Yangon (Rangoon, the
capital). Thousands of other political prisoners are held in prisons throughout the country;
however it is much more difficult to obtain information about conditions in these facilities..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International (ASA 16/22/95) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (23.9K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 08 March 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Myanmar: The climate of fear continues, members of ethnic minorities and political prisoners still targeted |
| Date of publication: | | August 1993 |
| Description/subject: | | "The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), Myanmar's military rulers, continues to commit grave human rights violations against the Burmese people with impunity. Members of political opposition parties and ethnic minorities alike live in an atmosphere of fear which pervades all areas of the country. Some improvements have been made in the human rights situation, but the SLORC has not instituted more fundamental changes which would provide the population of Myanmar with protection from ongoing and systematic violations of human rights. Amnesty International welcomes these limited improvements, but it believes that the degree and scope of human rights violations in Myanmar continue to warrant serious international concern. In the material which follows, Amnesty International's concerns in the period from September 1992 until July 1993 are described in detail.
Although over 1700 political prisoners have been released since April 1992, hundreds of others are believed to remain imprisoned after unfair trials or are detained without charge or trial. The rights to freedom of expression and assembly are still denied, although the tactics the SLORC uses to restrict them have changed. Because most perceived critics of the military have been silenced and remain behind bars, the SLORC now uses the Military Intelligence Services (MIS) to intimidate and harrass any real or impugned government critics who have been released or who remain at liberty. However, people who openly criticize the SLORC are still being arrested and sentenced to terms of imprisonment after unfair trials, and conditions of detention remain very poor, particularly for students and young people.
Gross human rights violations against ethnic minority groups systematically committed by the Myanmar armed forces constitute a pattern of repression and state-sanctioned violence which has been ongoing since at least 1984. The army, known as the tatmadaw, continues to torture, ill-treat, and extrajudicially execute members of ethnic minorities, including the Karen, Mon, Shan, and Kayah groups. Whole villages are subject to being arbitrarily seized as porters or unpaid labourers where they are routinely severely mistreated or even killed by the tatmadaw. Ethnic minorities are also accused of supporting insurgent groups and have been ill-treated and extrajudicially killed on the spot in their villages or fields. For the past two years women and children have been subject to a wide range of human rights violations, including rape and murder, as they have been left behind in their villages after men have fled in the face of tatmadaw abuses..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnsty International USA (ASA 16/06/93) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 09 March 2005 |
|
| Title: | | Myanmar: A long-term human rights crisis |
| Date of publication: | | January 1992 |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International (ASA 16/03/92) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (22K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 06 May 2012 |
|
| Title: | | MYANMAR (BURMA): Continuing killings and ill-treatment of minority peoples |
| Date of publication: | | August 1991 |
| Description/subject: | | "According to evidence gathered by Amnesty International in June and July 1991, the Myanmar
(Burma)1 armed forces, officially known by their Burmese name tatmadaw, continue to seize
arbitrarily, ill-treat and extrajudicially execute members of ethnic and religious minorities in rural
areas of the country. The victims include people who were detained or targeted for shooting
because soldiers suspect they may sympathize with or support ethnic minority guerrilla groups
that have been fighting the tatmadaw for many years. They also include people seized by the
tatmadaw and compelled to perform porterage - carrying food, ammunition and other supplies -
or mine-clearing work. Among those who allegedly have been killed or ill-treated are members
of the Karen, Mon and "Indian"2 ethnic minorities, which groups include people belonging to the
Christian, animist3 and Muslim religious minorities..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International (ASA 16/05/91) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (113K), html |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA16/005/1991/en |
| Date of entry/update: | | 06 May 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Myanmar: Update on human rights violations |
| Date of publication: | | 01 December 1990 |
| Description/subject: | | This document reports the repression of peaceful opponents of Myanmar's Military Government (SLORC), including political party activists and buddhist monks. Unofficial reports suggest that some 90 National League for Democracy (NLD) members were arrested in late October, along with the entire leadership of the Democratic Party for a new Society. Amongst those imprisoned for political activities are Ohn Kyaing, Thein Dan, Kyi Maung, Chit Kaing and Nita Yin Yin May. Among the buddhist monks and lay religious supporters arrested for involvement in a boycott of the military are: U Laba, alias U Layama, Ma Khin Mar Swe, Daw Nan, Maung Aye alias Khin Maung Aye and U Soe Myint. Ill-treatment of hunger-strikers is also reported, including the death of Maung Ko. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International (ASA 16/39/90) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (16K), html |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA16/039/1990/en |
| Date of entry/update: | | 08 May 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Myanmar: "In the national interest": Prisoners of conscience, torture, summary trials under martial law. |
| Date of publication: | | 07 November 1990 |
| Description/subject: | | This report provides compelling evidence that real or imputed critics of Myanmar's military government continue to be imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their views. It contains graphic accounts of widespread torture, both of those detained for participation in the pro-democracy movement and of people held in connection with the activities of armed opposition groups representing Myanmar's ethnic minorities. AI's concerns about arrest, detention and judicial procedures under martial law are also described. Profiles of the following prisoners are given: Nay Min, Nan Zing La, Ba Thaw, Ma Theingi, Dr Tin Myo Win, U Aung Khin, Tin Nain Tun, and U Than Nyunt. Testimonies from former and current prisoners, relatives, friends or associates are also included. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International (ASA 16/10/90) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (1.05MB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA16/010/1990/en |
| Date of entry/update: | | 10 May 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Myanmar: Recent developments related to human rights |
| Date of publication: | | 01 November 1990 |
| Description/subject: | | This report describes some of the human rights violations which have taken place in Myanmar between May and September 1990, including the arrest of political activists and ill-treatment of political prisoners. It reports the continuing detention of members and leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD), namely: Aung San Suu Kyi, Tin U, Kyi Maung, Chit Kaing, Ohn Kyaing, Thein Dan, Ye Myint Aung, Sein Kla Aung, Kyi Hla, Sein Hlaing, Myo Myint Nyein, and Nyan Paw. Three leaders of the Democratic Party for a New Society have also been arrested: Kyi Win, Ye Naing, Ngwe Oo. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International (ASA 16/28/90) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (10K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA16/028/1990/en |
| Date of entry/update: | | 08 May 2012 |
|
| Title: | | EVIDENCE OF UNLAWFUL KILLING AND TORTURE OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN BURMA SAYS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL |
| Date of publication: | | 11 May 1988 |
| Description/subject: | | Amnesty International said today (Wednesday, 11 May 1988) it has evidence of serious human rights violations in Burma by army units engaged in counter-insurgency operations.
The victims are mainly members of Burma's ethnic minorities, civilian villagers living in remote and mountainous states where the Burmese army has been fighting various armed opposition groups.
In a new report Amnesty International includes testimonies describing nearly 200 cases of apparent unlawful killing, torture and ill-treatment by government forces. The evidence comes from some of the thousands of Karen, Mon, and Kachin ethnic minority people who have fled across Burma's borders in search of safety. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International (ASA 16/06/88) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (323K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 19 July 2012 |
|
| Title: | | SIX DEATH SENTENCES IN BURMA |
| Date of publication: | | November 1985 |
| Description/subject: | | On 10 September 1985, six people were sentenced to death under the 1974 Narcotic Drugs Law by the Mandalay South-West Township Court No. 1. The six, named as Tun Nyan, Maung Lay (alias Tin Oo), Ma Shan Sein, Li Kya-Shin (alias Aung Pe), Ma Saw Yin and William (alias Ai Lin), were
accused of trafficking in heroin. According to Amnesty International's information, these are the first persons known to have been sentenced to death in Burma for drug offences. In view of its unconditional opposition to the imposition and implementation of the death penalty, Amnesty
International is appealing for the commutation of these death sentences |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International (ASA 16/02/85) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (31K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 19 July 2012 |
|
| Title: | | PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE IN BURMA |
| Date of publication: | | December 1965 |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Amnesty International (ASA 16/000/65) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (125K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 19 July 2012 |
|
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Asian Human Rights Commission and Asian Legal Resources Centre
Individual Documents
| Title: | | BURMA: Court issues landmark ruling on death in police custody |
| Date of publication: | | 05 December 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "In a landmark ruling, a court in Burma has rejected the police version of events that led to the death of a man in their custody, and has opened the door to a charge of murder to be brought against the officers involved.
In its findings of 9 November 2012, a copy of which the Asian Human Rights Commission has obtained, the Mayangone Township Court ruled in the case of the deceased Myo Myint Swe that the death was unlikely to have been natural. Despite attempts by the police of the Bayinnaung Police Station to cover up the torture and murder of Myo Myint Swe, whom they had arrested over the death of a young woman, Judge Daw Aye Mya Theingi found that even though the investigating doctor had been equivocal about whether or not extensive external injuries caused by torture had resulted in the death, on the basis of the testimonies, written records and photographs submitted to the court, it was "difficult to conclude that the death was natural"..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 05 December 2012 |
|
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Burma Human Rights Yearbooks (1994-2008)
These compilations of reports of human rights violations in Burma were published annually from 1994 to 2008 by the Human Rights Documentation Unit (HRDU) of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB).
-
Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2008
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2008 |
| Date of publication: | | 23 November 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. Arbitrary Detention and Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances...2. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment...3. Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions...4. Landmines and Other Explosive Devices...5. Production and Trade of Illicit Drugs...6. Trafficking and Smuggling...7. Forced Labour and Forced Conscription...8. Deprivation of Livelihood...9. Environmental Degradation...10. Cyclone Nargis – From natural disaster to human catastrophe...11. Right to Health...12. Freedom of Belief and Religion...13. Freedom of Opinion, Expression and the Press...14. Freedom of Assembly, Association and Movement...15. Right to Education...16. Rights of the Child...17. The Rights of Women...18. Ethnic Minority Rights...19. Internal Displacement and Forced Relocation...20. The Situation of Refugees...21.The Situation of Migrant Workers...EACH OF THESE CHAPTERS CAN HE INDEPENDENTLY READ AND DOWNLOADED |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Docmentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | html (21K - hyperlinked index ); pdf (13MB) 1092 pages - full pdf text |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs08/HRYB2008.pdf (full pdf text - 13MB) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 05 December 2009 |
|
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Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2007
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2007 |
| Date of publication: | | September 2008 |
| Description/subject: | | Use the main link to access a version containing hyperlinks to individual chapters....
PREFACE: "The year 2007 represented a turbulent year in the history of Burma. It was a year in which
we witnessed people from all walks of life coming together in the largest public display of
dissatisfaction with the military regime in almost 20 years. Regrettably, it was also a year in
which we witnessed the brutal and bloody crackdown on those peaceful protests, including
the unforgivable and unforgettable attacks on and killings of Buddhist monks. In reference to
the colour of the robes worn by the monks, the international media named this peaceful
mass movement the “Saffron Revolution”. These protests represented the biggest
demonstrations conducted in Burma since the popular democratic uprising of 8.8.88....
Responding to the brutality visited upon the protestors and dedicated to the memory of the
monks and laypersons who lost their lives during the Saffron Revolution, late in the year, the
Human Rights Documentation Unit (HRDU) commenced work on a report documenting the
events leading up to, during, and following the September protests. This comprehensive
report, entitled: Bullets in the Alms Bowl: An Analysis of the Brutal SPDC Suppression of the
September 2007 Saffron Revolution, was based on over 50 eyewitness testimonies to the
protests who had fled the country following the crackdowns as well as information gathered
by a team of researchers working clandestinely within Burma.
The situation of human rights in Burma largely disappeared from the international limelight
for about a year during the transition from UN Human Rights Commission into UN Human
Rights Council in 2006. Meanwhile, human rights violations in Burma continued unabated
without the notice of the new UN Human Rights Council. It was not until images of the
brutality visited upon the participants of the Saffron Revolution were broadcast worldwide by
local and international media that the Council was compelled to act and convened a Special
Session on 2 October 2007, thus bringing the human rights situation in Burma back onto
agenda again....
The year 2007 also witnessed the first time in almost four years in which the regime had
permitted the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation on Human Rights in
Burma, Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, to return to the country. However, by his own
admission, little was accomplished in what was to become his final visit to the country in his
role in the mandate. Professor Pinheiro resigned as the Special Rapporteur on Burma in
early 2008. Perhaps reflecting some of the frustration associated with the mandate, in his
final report to the UN Human Rights Council, Pinheiro stated that the systematic and
widespread human rights violations that have continued to be committed in Burma “are not
simply isolated acts of individual misconduct by middle- or low-ranking officers, but rather the
result of a system under which individuals and groups have been allowed to breach the law
and violate human rights without being called to account”....
The consistent non-compliance of the Burmese military regime to the 30 consecutive
resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly and UN Human Rights Council (previously
Commission) undermines the credibility of the UN system and the prevalence of international
law. However, since the international community bore witness to the ruthless crackdown on
the September 2007 Saffron Revolution, we have heard the voices of increasingly more of
the world’s respectable citizens and leading human rights advocates advocating for
international intervention from the perspective of the Responsibility to Protect principle....
The systematic and widespread perpetration of rape and sexual violence against women,
enslavement (forced labour), religious persecution and torture in combination of the litany of
other human rights abuses being committed in Burma with near complete impunity constitute
crimes against humanity according to Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court....The Burmese Generals should no longer be permitted to hide behind the wall of national
sovereignty as they have done so for years. It is time for the United Nations and the
international community to draw the legal conclusion that the human rights violations being
committed in Burma are tantamount to crimes against humanity and that the SPDC’s leaders
must be held to account for these crimes...." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | pdf (8MB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs5/HRDU2007.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 09 September 2008 |
|
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Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: html and pdf version
This is the main link to the 2006 Yearbook, with html, pdf and photo files.
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: html and pdf version |
| Date of publication: | | June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | This is the main link to the 2006 Yearbook, with integrated html, pdf and photo files..."The Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006 is available in two formats: HTML for online viewing; and PDF format for download. Use the following Table of Contents to navigate each chapter of the Yearbook sequentially. Each chapter may also be downloaded individually by using the links in the table below. Alternatively, the whole Yearbook may be downloaded in its entirety as a single file..."...N.B. the full pdf version is 7.16MB rather than the 716MB given in the TOC. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | html, pdf, jpg (58MB total) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 10 September 2007 |
|
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Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006 -- pdf versions of individual chapters
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006 - Chapter 6: Rights of the Child |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Introduction;
Children in Armed Conflict:
Violence against Children;
Abduction of Children...
Child Soldiers:
Child Soldiers in Armed Ethnic Groups;
Conscription of Child Soldiers...
Sexual Assault against Children...
Right to Education:
Education in Ethnic Minority and Conflict Areas;
Gender Equality...
Right to Health:
Children and HIV/AIDS...
Arrest and Detention of Children:
Children in Prison with Their Mothers...
Child Labour:
Children and Forced Labour...
Child Trafficking. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (465K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/HRDU2006.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 July 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: 00. Full text |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | 1. Forced Labour and Forced Conscription; 2. Extra-judicial Killing, Summary or Arbitrary Execution; 3. Arbitrary Detention and Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; 4. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or
Punishment; 5. Deprivation of Livelihood; 6. Rights of the Child; 7. Rights of Women; 8. Rights of Ethnic Minorities; 9. Rights to Education and Health; 10. The Freedom of Belief and Religion; 11. Freedom of Opinion, Expression, and the Press; 12. Freedom of Movement, Assembly and Association; 13. Internal Displacement and Forced Relocation; 14. The Situation of Refugees; 15. The Situation of Migrant Workers; 16. Landmines in Burma; Appendices:
Acronyms;
Glossary of Terms and Units of Measurement;
Abbreviations;
Spelling Conventions;
Karen State Disputed Areas of Demarcation;
Burma at a Glance: Facts and Figures;
Resources and Contributors...Rather a difficult document to download and navigate. Use the Adobe thumbnail bookmarks. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | pdf (7.2MB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ncgub.net |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 July 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: 06. Chapter 3: Arbitrary Detention and Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Introduction;
Recent History: 2006;
Arbitrary and Politically-Motivated Arrests, Detention and
Disappearances in 2006:
Arrest and Pre-Trial Interrogation and Detention;
Denial of Fair and Public Trials and Appeals;
Sentences...
Arbitrary or Politically-Motivated Arrests of Ethnic Minorities;
Arbitrary or Politically-Motivated Arrests of Civilians;
Foreigners Arrested and Detained in 2006;
Prolonged Detention...
Conditions of Detention:
Living Conditions;
Medical Concerns;Torture;
Deteriorating Conditions: Cessation of the International Committee of the Red
Cross visits;
Women in Prison;
Monks in Prison...
Political Prisoners in Poor Health;
Deaths of Political Prisoners in 2006;
Release of Political Prisoners:
List of Releases in 2006...
List of MP-Elects who remain Imprisoned in 2006. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (365K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/HRDU2006.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 July 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: 08. Chapter 5: Deprivation of Livelihood |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Introduction;
Inflation;
Economic Sanctions;
Additional Factors Affecting the Cost of Living...
Situation Facing Farmers in Burma:
Right to Own Land;
Forced Sale of Crops...
Dry Season Paddy Crops;
Physic Nut Agricultural Development Project;
Situation of Labour in Burma...
Other Factors Contributing to the Deprivation of Livelihood:
Forced Labour;
Fees, Taxes and Extortion;
Looting and Expropriation of Food and Possessions;
Land Confiscation;
Destruction of Property;
Restrictions on Trade, Travel and Cultivation. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (1MB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/HRDU2006.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 July 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: 11. Chapter 8: Rights of Ethnic Minorities |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Background;
Ethnic Politics, Armed Resistance, and Ceasefire Agreements: Arakan State;
Chin State;
Kachin State;
Karen State;
Karenni State;
Mon State;
Shan State;
Multilateral Resistance Organizations...
SPDC Campaign of Abuses Against Ethnic Minority Villagers;
Abuse of Ethnic Minorities by Ceasefire Groups;
Official List of Ethnic Minority Groups in Burma;
Ceasefire Status of Ethnic Groups. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (427K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/HRDU2006.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 July 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: 12. Chapter 9: Rights to Education and Health |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Background...
Situation of Education;
Corruption and Extortion in the Education System;
Primary Education;
Secondary Education;
Tertiary Education;
Disparity between Civilian and Military Education;
Educational Opportunities for Ethnic Minorities...
Situation of Health:
Access to Healthcare;
HIV/AIDS;
Avian Influenza;
Malaria;
Dengue Fever;
Tuberculosis;
Diarrhoea;
Cholera;
Typhoid;
Lymphatic filariasis;
Polio;
Measles;
Foot and Mouth Disease;
Support for People with Disabilities; International Humanitarian Aid. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (368K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/HRDU2006.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 July 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: 14. Chapter 11: Freedom of Opinion, Expression, and the Press |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Background;
SPDC Laws Restricting Freedom of Opinion, Expression, and the Press;
The National Convention: Increased Control over Expression;
State of Freedom of the Press in 2006;
The State of Publications in 2006 569
Continuing Detention of Journalists;
Academic Freedom;
Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Expression...
Freedom of Expression in the Arts:
Censorship of Film and Television;
Censorship of Music;
Censorship of Visual and Performance Arts.
Control of Computer Technology and Communications. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (451K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/HRDU2006.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 July 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: 15: Chapter 12: Freedom of Movement, Assembly and Association |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Introduction;
Restrictions on Villagers in Border Conflict Areas;
Restriction on the Movement of the Rohingya;
Restrictions on International Travel and Migration;
Restrictions on the Movement of Women;
Restrictions on Foreigners in Burma:
Humanitarian and Aid Agencies...
Restrictions on the Freedoms of Assembly;
Restrictions on Freedom of Association;
Restrictions on Political Parties;
Restrictions on and Harassment of the NLD;
Prohibition of Free and Independent Trade Unions;
Other Social Organisations in Burma...
The Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA):
Recruitment;
USDA as an Approximation and Manipulation of Civil Society;
USDA as a Security Apparatus;
USDA as a Political Party. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (536K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/HRDU2006.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 July 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: 16. Chapter 13: Internal Displacement and Forced Relocation |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Background;
Causes of Displacement in Burma:
Conflict-Induced Displacement;
Landmines;
Development-Induced Displacement;
Human Rights-Induced Displacement...
Destinations of the Displaced and Forcibly Relocated:
Relocation Sites;
IDP Hiding Sites;
Ceasefire Areas...
Humanitarian Assistance;
Situation in Arakan State;
Situation in Chin State;
Situation in Kachin State;
Situation in Karen State;
Situation in Karenni State;
Situation in Mon State;
Situation in Shan State;
Situation in Tenasserim Division;
Statistics of IDPs in Eastern Burma. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (1.8MB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/HRDU2006.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 July 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: 17. Chapter 14: The Situation of Refugees |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Background:
Burmese Refugees in Thailand:
2006 Demographics of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Thailand ;
Thai Government Policy towards Refugees and Asylum Seekers;
Change of the Thai Government;
Policy for Refugees in the Camps;
Detained, Arrested and Deported Refugees;
The UNHCR and the Refugee Status Determination Process;
Situation of Women in Refugee Camps;
Situation of Children in Refugee Camps;
Situation of Specific Ethnic Groups of the Refugee Population;
Timeline of Major Refugee-Related Events on the Thai-Burma Border in 2006...
Burmese Refugees in Bangladesh:
Rohingya Refugees in Nayapara and Kutupalong Refugee Camps;
UNHCR Disengagement and Forced Repatriation;
Unofficial Rohingya Refugees;
Arakanese Refugees in Bangladesh;
Burmese Refugees in Bangladeshi Prisons...
Burmese Refugees in India:
Refugees and Asylum Seekers in New Delhi;
Chin Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Northeastern India;
Crackdown on Chin Opposition Groups...
Burmese Refugees in Malaysia...
Burmese Refugees in Other Locations:
Australia;
Canada;
Finland;
Indonesia:
Japan;
South Korea;
United States. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (443K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/HRDU2006.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 July 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: 18. Chapter 15: The Situation of Migrant Workers |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Background...
Situation of Burmese Migrants in Thailand:
Patterns of Migration and Trafficking;
Thai Migration Policy and Legal Registration of Migrant Workers;
Working Conditions and Labour Law;
Migrant Health;
Situation for Migrant Children;
Deportation of Migrants;
The Tsunami;
Timeline of Events Relating to Migrant Workers in Thailand...
The Rohingya Boat People;
Situation of Burmese Migrants in Malaysia;
Situation of Burmese Migrants in India;
Situation of Burmese Migrants in Other Places. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (457K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/HRDU2006.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 July 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: 20. Appendices |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | Acronyms;
Glossary of Terms and Units of Measurement;
Abbreviations;
Spelling Conventions;
Karen State Disputed Areas of Demarcation;
Burma at a Glance: Facts and Figures;
Resources and Contributors. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (225K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/HRDU2006.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 July 2007 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006: Forced Labour and Forced Conscription |
| Date of publication: | | 25 June 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | 1.1 Introduction: Forced Portering; Forced Labour; Forced Convict Labour; Forced Military Conscription...1.2 ILO Activities in Burma:
Construction of the New Capital [box]... 1.3 Forced Labour Resulting from International Joint Ventures:
The Settlement of the Total Lawsuit; Potential Use of Forced Labour on Internationally Sponsored Projects; Salween Dams; Shwe Gas Development; Road and Rail Projects...1.4 Forced Portering – Partial List of Incidents for 2006:
Arakan State -
Buthidaung Township; Chin State -
Matupi Township; Karen State -
Dooplaya District, Mergui/Tavoy District, Nyaunglebin District, Thaton District, Toungoo District; Mon State -
Ye Township; Shan State -
Kae-See Township, Murng Kerng Township, Murng-Nai Township, Namkhan Township, Nam-Zarng Township...1.5 Forced Labour – Partial List of Incidents for 2006:
Arakan State - Buthidaung Township, Kyaukpru Township, Maungdaw Township, Palawa Township, Ponna Kyunt Township, Rathidaung Township; Chin State -
Falam Township, Hakha Township, Matupi Township, Paletwa Township, Tedim Township, Thantlang Township; Kachin State -
Hopin Township, Sinbo Township; Karen State -
Dooplaya District, Nyaunglebin District, Pa’an District, Papun District, Thaton District, Toungoo District; Karenni State; Mon State - Khaw Zar Sub-Township, Mudon Township, Thanbyuzayat Township, Ye Township; Pegu Division; Sagaing Division; Shan State - Kae-See Township, Kun Hing Township, Lai-Kha Township, Lashio Township, Muse Town, Murng-Ton Township, Tachilek Township; Tenasserim Division
1.6 Forced Prison Labour – Partial List of Incidents for 2006:
Arakan State; Chin State; Karen State - Papun District, Thaton District, Toungoo District; Mandalay Division
1.7 Forced Conscription and Forced Military Training – Partial List of Incidents for 2006: Arakan State - Manaung Township, Maungdaw Township, Ponna Kyunt Township, Yathetaung Township; Chin State -
Paletwa Township, Matupi Township; Kachin State; Karen State -
Nyaunglebin District, Pa’an District; Mon State; Tenasserim Division
1.8 Interviews and Personal Accounts [20 interviews]. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | pdf (626K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs4/HRDU2006-CD/ |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 July 2007 |
|
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Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2005
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2005 (Hyperlinked Table of Contents) |
| Date of publication: | | July 2006 |
| Description/subject: | | TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Preface;
Burma at a Glance: Facts & Figures;
Map of Burma;
Historical Background;
Acronyms and Abbreviations...
Facts on Human Rights Violations in Burma 2005:
1. Forced Labor, Portering, and Military Conscription;
2. Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions;
3. Arbitrary Detention and Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances;
4. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
5. Deprivation of Livelihood;
6. Rights of the Child;
7. Rights of Women;
8. Rights of Ethnic Minorities;
9. Rights to Education and Health;
10. Freedom of Belief and Religion;
11. Freedom of Opinion, Expression and the Press;
12. Freedom of Assembly, Association and Movement;
13. Internally Displaced People and Forced Relocation;
14. The Situation of Refugees;
15. The Situation of Migrant Workers;
16. Landmines in Burma. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | html, pdf |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs6/Yearbook2005/Burma%20Human%20Righ/
http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs5/HRDU-archive/Burma%20Human%20Righ/former/YB2005.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 12 December 2006 |
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Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2004
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2004 |
| Date of publication: | | 01 October 2005 |
| Description/subject: | | TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Preface;
Burma at a Glance: Facts & Figures;
Map of Burma;
Historical Background;
Acronyms and Abbreviations;
Facts on Human Rights Violations in Burma 2004;
(1). Forced Labor;
(2). Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions;
(3). Arbitrary Detention and Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances;
(4). Torture;
(5). Deprivation of Livelihood;
(6). Rights of the Child;
(7). Rights of Women;
(8). Rights of Ethnic Minorities;
(9). Rights to Education and Health;
(10). Freedom of Belief and Religion;
(11). Freedom of Opinion, Expression and the Press;
(12). Freedom of Assembly, Association and Movement;
(13). Internally Displaced People and Forced Relocation;
(14). The Situation of Refugees;
(15). The Situation of Migrant Workers;
(16). Landmines in Burma;
List of Resources and Contributors;
All Photos. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 02 October 2005 |
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Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2003-2004
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook, 2003-2004 |
| Date of publication: | | December 2004 |
| Description/subject: | | TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Burma at a Glance: Facts & Figures;
Map of Burma;
Historical Background;
Acronyms and Abbreviations;
Facts on Human Rights Violations in Burma 2003;
(1). Forced Labor;
(2). Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions;
(3). Arbitrary Detention and Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances;
(4). Torture;
(5). Deprivation of Livelihood;
(6). Rights of the Child;
(7). Rights of Women;
(8). Rights of Ethnic Minorities;
(9). Rights of Education and Health;
(10). Freedom of Belief and Religion;
(11). Freedom of Opinion, Expression and the Press;
(12). Freedom of Assembly, Association and Movement;
(13). Internally Displaced People and Forced Relocation;
(14). The Situation of Refugees;
(15). The Situation of Migrant Workers from Burma;
(16). Landmines in Burma;
(17). List of Resources and Contributors. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 04 December 2004 |
|
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Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2001-2002
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2001-2002 |
| Date of publication: | | September 2002 |
| Description/subject: | | Clickable access to the following sections:
Preface;
Acknowledgments ;
Co-Ordinator's Commentary ;
Acronyms and Abbreviations;
Burma at a Glance: Facts & Figures:-
Map of Burma;
Historical Background;
Facts on Human Rights Violations in Burma 2000;
(1). Forced Labor;
(2). Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions;
(3). Arbitrary Detention and Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances;
(4). Torture;
(5). Deprivation of Livelihood;
(6). Rights of the Child;
(7). Rights of Women;
(8) Rights of Ethnic Minorities;
(9) Rights of Education and Health;
(10). The Freedom of Belief and Religion;
(11). Freedom of Opinion, Expression and the Press;
(12). The Freedom of Movement;
(13). Internally Displaced People and Forced Relocation;
(14). The Situation of Refugees;
(15). The Situation of Migrant Workers from Burma;
(16). Landmines in Burma;
(17). List of Resources and Contributors. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
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Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2000
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2000 |
| Date of publication: | | October 2001 |
| Description/subject: | | Separate clickable chapters on: Forced Labor; Extra-judicial, Summery, or Arbitrary Executions; Arbitrary Detention and Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading treatment or punishment; Deprivation of Livelihood; Rights of the Child; Rights of Women; Rights of Ethnic Minorities; Rights to Education and Health; Freedom of Religious Belief and Practice; Freedom of Opinion, Expression and the Press; Freedom of Assembly and Association; Freedom of Movement; Internally Displaced People and Forced Relocation; The Situation of Refugees;
The Situation of Migrant Workers from Burma; Special Report #1 Landmines in Burma; Special Report #2 Tourism and Human Rights Violations - The Than Daung Gyi Project; List of Resources and Contributors. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) Human Rights Documentation Unit |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
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Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1999-2000
N.B. Due to conversion problems, this version contains text only. Photos, maps etc. will be added later, if possible. On some pages, users may have to scroll down to find the text.
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1999-2000: 22 - Personal Accounts |
| Date of publication: | | August 2000 |
| Description/subject: | | Interviews covering the various human rights issues contained in this Yearbook. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | pdf (376K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 23 November 2003 |
|
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1999-2000: 23 - SLORC/SPDC Orders to Villages |
| Date of publication: | | August 2000 |
| Description/subject: | | These orders frequently call for (involuntary) labour, food items, etc. N. B. the facsimiles of the original Orders contained in the print version are not here. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | pdf (49K) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 23 November 2003 |
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Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1997-1998
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1997-1998: 21 - The Refugee Situation and Forced Repatriation
|
| Date of publication: | | July 1998 |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 30 November 2003 |
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Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1995
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1995 |
| Date of publication: | | May 1996 |
| Description/subject: | | * Preface;
*
Acknowledgements;
*
Acronyms and Abbreviations, Terms and Measurements;
*
Burma at a Glance: Facts and Figures;
*
Ethnic Peoples of Burma;
*
Headlines in Review: Events of 1995;
*
The State of the Burmese Econonomy under Military Mangement;
*
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Burma;
Facts on Human Right Violations in Burma 1995;
(I) Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions;
(II) Arbitrary Detention and Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances;
(III) Rights of the Child;
(IV) Forced Labour and Slavery;
(V) Forced Relocation and Internally Displaced Persons;
(VI) Deprivation of Livelihood;
(VII) Minority Protection;
(VIII) Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
(IX) Freedom of Belief: Discrimination Against the Right to Practice Religion and Intolerance;
(X) Freedom of Opinion and Expression;
(XI) Freedom of Assembly and Association;
(XII) Freedom of Movement;
(XIII) Abuse of Women;
(XIV) The Refugees Situation and Forced Repatriation;
*
Personal Accounts;
*
Selected SLORC Orders;
*
Selected Bibliography;
*
List of Resources and Contributors. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 28 July 2004 |
|
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Children's Rights
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Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma
Not a comprehensive list. For more, including updates, go to the publishers' home pages and search. Also use the OBL search function.
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Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against individual ethnic groups
Use the search function and see reports under "Ethnic Discrimination" in this section
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Forced recruitment, child soldiers and abuse in the army: Interviews with SPDC deserters |
| Date of publication: | | 27 April 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | "This report includes interviews with two deserters who fled the Burma Army in 2008 and spoke to KHRG about their experiences in February 2009. The interviews cover issues of forced recruitment, child soldiers, corruption and theft within the army, low moral and desertion, and the brutal treatment of both civilians and fellow soldiers by armed forces personnel..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2009-F9) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (256 KB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.khrg.org/khrg2009/khrg09f9.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 30 October 2009 |
|
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Childrens's rights in Karen State - reports of violations
Individual Documents
| Title: | | SPDC mortar attack on school in Papun District |
| Date of publication: | | 24 February 2010 |
| Description/subject: | | "One 15-year-old student is dead and two other students are injured after an 81 mm mortar fired into an
IDP hiding site in Lu Thaw Township, Papun District, landed in a school set up by the villagers. As of
February 21st, the site’s 353 residents remained in hiding and are actively seeking to avoid being shot-onsight
by SPDC Army troops that remain in their area." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2010-B5) |
| Format/size: | | pdf ( 684K - English version; 409K - Karen version) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://khrg.org/reports/karenlanguage/khrg10b5_karen_language.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 12 October 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Forced recruitment, child soldiers and abuse in the army: Interviews with SPDC deserters |
| Date of publication: | | 27 April 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | "This report includes interviews with two deserters who fled the Burma Army in 2008 and spoke to KHRG about their experiences in February 2009. The interviews cover issues of forced recruitment, child soldiers, corruption and theft within the army, low moral and desertion, and the brutal treatment of both civilians and fellow soldiers by armed forces personnel..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2009-F9) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (256 KB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.khrg.org/khrg2009/khrg09f9.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 30 October 2009 |
|
| Title: | | IDP conditions and the rape of a young girl in Papun District |
| Date of publication: | | 11 April 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | "This report describes SPDC operations in and around internally displaced person hiding sites in Lu Thaw Township, Papun District. Villagers in this area continue to face constant physical threats and food insecurity caused by SPDC patrols-indeed, residents have been prevented from consistently accessing their farm fields for so long that they now face a dire food crisis. This report also details the rape of a 13-year-old girl by an SPDC soldier in Dweh Loh Township and the local military commander's attempt to cover up the incident. This report examines cases of SPDC abuse from December 2008 to March 2009..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2009-F8) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (881 KB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.khrg.org/khrg2009/khrg09f8.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 31 October 2009 |
|
| Title: | | Growing up under militarisation: Abuse and agency of children in Karen State |
| Date of publication: | | 30 April 2008 |
| Description/subject: | | "As the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military junta currently ruling Burma, works to extend and consolidate its control over all areas of Karen State, local children, their families and communities confront regular, often violent, abuses at the hands of the regime's officers, soldiers and civilian officials. While the increasing international media attention on the human rights situation in Burma has occasionally addressed the plight of children, such reporting has been almost entirely incident-based, and focused on specific, particularly emotive issues, such as child soldiers. Although incident-based reporting is relevant, it misses the far greater problems of structural violence, caused by the oppressive social, economic and political systems commensurate with militarisation, and the combined effects of a variety of abuses, which negatively affect a far larger number of children in Karen State. Furthermore, focusing on specific, emotive issues sensationalises the abuses committed against children and masks the complexities of the situation. In reports on children and armed conflict in Karen State and elsewhere, individual children's agency, efforts to resist abuse and capacity to deal with the situations they live in, as well as the efforts made by their families and communities to provide for and protect them, tend to be marginalised and ignored. Drawing on over 160 interviews with local children, their families and communities, this report seeks to provide a forum for these people to explain in their own words the wider context of abuse and their own responses to attempts at denying children their rights. With additional background provided by official SPDC press statements and order documents, international media sources, reports by international aid agencies, as well as academic studies, this report argues that only by listening to local voices regarding the situation of abuse in which they live and taking as a starting point for advocacy and action local conceptions of rights and violations can external actors avoid the further marginalisation of children living in these areas and begin to build on villagers' own strategies for resisting abuse and claiming their rights..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG #2008-01) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (4.3MB), html |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.khrg.org/khrg2008/khrg0801.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 07 May 2008 |
|
| Title: | | Road construction, attacks on displaced communities and the impact on education in northern Papun District |
| Date of publication: | | 26 March 2007 |
| Description/subject: | | "In the ongoing offensive against villagers in northern Karen State, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has been working to develop infrastructure supportive of increased military control. The construction of new bases and vehicle roads serve this objective as they obstruct the efforts of local communities to evade army patrols and sustain their livelihoods in areas beyond the reach of SPDC forces. Increased control, in turn, allows the SPDC to more easily exploit rural communities for labour, food and other supplies in support of military structures. This report examines how military deployment and the construction of new roads and bases further into Papun District have led local villagers to respond by evading encroaching army units despite the increasing difficulty of this tactic, and how the subsequent displacement has affected children's access to education..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Field Report (KHRG #2007-F3) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (806 KB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.khrg.org/khrg2007/khrg07f3.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 08 November 2009 |
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Childrens's rights in Mon State - reports of violations
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Coercion, Cruelty and Collateral Damage: An assessment of grave violations of children’s rights in conflict zones of southern Burma |
| Date of publication: | | January 2012 |
| Description/subject: | | "Research by the Women and Child Rights Project (WCRP) has demonstrated that grave violations of children’s rights continue to occur in southern Burma despite the creation, by the United Nations, of the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) pursuant to United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1612 on Children and Armed Conflict passed in 2005.
The Burmese government has failed to meet the time-bound action plan under Resolution 1612, demonstrated by the fact that WCRP researchers found numerous accounts of ‘grave violations’ under United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 1612 on children and armed conflict. These violations, committed by Burmese soldiers against children in southern Burma, include recruitment of child soldiers, killing and maiming, rape and sexual abuse, and forced labor. Though the Burmese government agreed to the implementation of a monitoring and reporting mechanism (MRM), pursuant to Resolution 1612, to report on instances of these grave violations, WCRP has found that abuses have continued unabated since 2005.
The data detailed below provide evidence of widespread and systematic abuses, the vast majority of which were committed by soldiers from the Tatmadaw, the Burmese military. These confirmed cases of grave violations, taken from just 15 villages in two townships, committed over a period of 5 years, suggest that the Burmese government has failed to live up to its obligations under international law to protect children during situations of armed conflict. Limitations imposed by the Burmese government on the UN country team has made it difficult for them to receive, or verify, accounts of grave violations, in turn preventing the MRM from making a noticeable impact on the continued widespread abuse of children in southern Burma. WCRP’s data strongly suggests that the real numbers of abuses against children is vastly greater than officially recognized.
Additionally, despite the fact that WCRP’s primary research covered only the period from 2005 through November 2010, recent updated reports suggest that all of the violations documented by WCRP have continued to occur over the course of the past year. Despite the political changes that may be underway in Naypyidaw, children in areas where armed conflict is ongoing continue to suffer grave violations. Thus, the international community must take further action to ensure that the MRM can effectively protect the rights of Burma’s children and realize the objective put forth in Resolution 1612, an end to the grave violations of children’s rights..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Woman and Child Rights Project (WCRP) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (1.1MB - OBL version; 2.1MB - original) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://rehmonnya.org/archives/2182 |
| Date of entry/update: | | 27 January 2012 |
|
| Title: | | Child rights and Mon Education Committee |
| Date of publication: | | 31 May 2003 |
| Description/subject: | | Mon National Education Policy: "... the committee has very limited authority and resources to tackle the rights for children education in Mon territory under current circumstances because the ruling military government still refused to acknowledge the role of the committee in urban areas after cease-fire agreement..." Cases described. |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "Plight of Women and Children in Burma" (Issue No. 2/2003) - pp 8-10 |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 06 April 2004 |
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Child labour in Burma
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Forced recruitment, child soldiers and abuse in the army: Interviews with SPDC deserters |
| Date of publication: | | 27 April 2009 |
| Description/subject: | | "This report includes interviews with two deserters who fled the Burma Army in 2008 and spoke to KHRG about their experiences in February 2009. The interviews cover issues of forced recruitment, child soldiers, corruption and theft within the army, low moral and desertion, and the brutal treatment of both civilians and fellow soldiers by armed forces personnel..." |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Karen Human Rights Group Field Reports (KHRG #2009-F9) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (256 KB) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.khrg.org/khrg2009/khrg09f9.html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 30 October 2009 |
|
| Title: | | Spare the Child |
| Date of publication: | | September 2008 |
| Description/subject: | | "Burma’s military government pays lip service to the rights of children, but still allows child labor and recruits underage soldiers..." |
| Author/creator: | | Aung Thet Wine |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 16, No. 9 |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 13 November 2008 |
|
| Title: | | Breaking Through the Clouds: A Participatory Action Research (PAR) Project with Migrant Children and Youth Along the Borders of China, Myanmar and Thailand |
| Date of publication: | | May 2001 |
| Description/subject: | | 1. Introduction;
1.1. Background;
1.2. Project Profile;
1.3. Project Objectives;
2. The Participatory Action Research (PAR) Process;
2.1. Methods of Working with Migrant Children and Youth;
2.2. Implementation Strategy;
2.3. Ethical Considerations;
2.4. Research Team;
2.5. Sites and Participants;
2.6. Establishing Research Guidelines;
2.7. Data Collection Tools;
2.8. Documentation;
2.9. Translation;
2.10Country and Regional Workshops;
2.11Analysis, Methods of Reporting Findings and Dissemination Strategy;
2.12. Obstacles and Limitations;
3. PAR Interventions;
3.1. Strengthening Social Structures;
3.2. Awareness Raising;
3.3. Capacity Building;
3.4. Life Skills Development;
3.5. Outreach Services;
3.6. Networking and Advocacy;
4. The Participatory Review;
4.1. Aims of the Review;
4.2. Review Guidelines;
4.3. Review Approach and Tools;
4.4. Summary of Review Outcomes;
4.4.1. Myanmar;
4.4.2. Thailand;
4.4.3. China;
5. Conclusion and Recommendations;
6. Bibliography of Resources. |
| Author/creator: | | Therese Caouette et al |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | Save the Children (UK) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (191K) 75 pages |
| Date of entry/update: | | May 2003 |
|
|