human rights

The Women’s League of Burma, an umbrella group representing 13 women’s organizations in Burma has said that a culture of “systemic impunity” to rape exists in the Burma Army. The Women’s League of Burma (WLB) issued a statement citing the harassment of Chin women activists by authorities for their involvement in protests calling for greater women’s rights and an end…

The Shan Human Rights Foundation, a community based human rights organisation, claims that since June 11th the Burma Army has been attacking civilians and is contravening its ceasefire agreement with the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N). The SHRF alleged that the Burma Army had deployed nearly 2,000 soldiers in attacks against the SSA-N in Kehsi and Murng Hsu townships, Shan State…

Authorities in Chin State have arrested eight protesters following peaceful protests condemning the alleged attempted rape of a Chin woman by a Burma Army soldier on June 10. The protests were in response to an alleged attempted rape of a 54-year-old woman by a soldier from Light Infantry Battalion 269 near the town of Razua, Chin State. According to a…

A team of UN experts has added their weight to growing calls for Burma’s government to scrap proposed contentious legislation that would restrict religious freedoms. In a joint statement released Friday, 20th June, the UN experts – on freedom of religion, minority issues and human rights in Burma – maintained that the draft bill made religious conversion more difficult and…

An extensive investigation by British newspaper, The Guardian, has uncovered evidence of endemic use of “slave” labour in Thailand’s fishing industry, with migrant workers being “beaten, tortured, and killed.” The investigation said that the 270,000 migrant workers in Thailand’s fishing industry were vulnerable to human trafficking and rampant exploitation in a racket involving brokers, boat captains and corrupt Thai authorities.…

International civil society organisations, human rights watchdogs and advocacy groups have issued a united call for Burma’s government to drop its proposed legislation that places restrictions on an individual’s right to freedom of religion. An alliance of 81 organisations pressed that Burma’s government, led by President U Thein Sein, scrap the Religious Conversion Law, saying that it is an attack…

Burma Army offensives in Kachin State are undermining the peace process, an ethnic women’s organisation has claimed. The Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) expressed concern of the recent escalation in Burma Army attacks in Kachin and Shan States, which had led to “fresh displacement and suffering” of local civilians in a statement released today. “These systematic operations to seize control…

Burma’s military is engaging in systemic torture against civilians in its ongoing war in Kachin State, now in its third year, and committing “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity,” a leading human rights watchdog has claimed in a report released today. The 71-page report entitled, Ending Wartime Torture in Northern Myanmar, by Fortify Rights, documents the torture and abuse of…

A human rights advocacy group based in Britain has launched a campaign demanding the British Government intervene to secure the release of a jailed journalist in Burma. Burma Campaign UK has demanded that Britain’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague, “personally intervene” to secure the release of the Democratic Voice of Burma journalist, Zaw Pe, who was sentenced to one year imprisonment…

The signing of a January 2012 preliminary ceasefire between Burma’s government and the Karen National Union has brought its own challenges with “new forms of abuse and local concerns emerging in the evolving security environment,” a report released by Karen Human Rights Group has found. The report, released yesterday, documents the conditions of human rights in South Eastern Burma over…