Human Rights Watch Criticises New Assembly Law Proposal

Human Rights Watch has criticized an assembly law proposed by Burma’s National League of Democracy government, saying it needs “significant revisions” to meet international standards.

Burma’s Assembly Law currently requires citizens to apply for government approval for any demonstration, and that notice is given at least 48 hours before a planned demonstration.

HRW welcomed some elements of the new proposal, including getting rid of the need for demonstrators to get government consent for demonstrations, but warned that serious legal gaps remained: “The draft [law] maintains the fundamental problem of [the] existing law by allowing criminal penalties for violating any of the law’s broadly worded restrictions on speech, for deviating from the assembly’s specified location, and for failing to give notice.” HRW said.

“Current provisions have been used to arrest and prosecute over a hundred people since the law was enacted in 2012. The criminal penalties should be excised, since no one should be held criminally liable for merely organizing or participating in a peaceful assembly,” HRW added.

HRW said the draft law was also a concern because it contained broad and vague prohibitions on speech at protests, including language that “affects the State or the Union, race, or religion, human dignity, and moral principles.”

“Critical statements about ‘the State or the Union’ are at the heart of internationally protected speech,” HRW said.