Articles

In a decision criticized by human rights groups, eight ethnic Chin activists were convicted under Burma’s controversial Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Act on Wednesday 23 July. The Chin Human Rights Ogranisation said in a statement that the activists were given the choice of going to prison or each paying a fine of 30,000 Kyat, having been convicted of contravening…

Burma’s much lauded reforms, including the release of opposition politician Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, are being undermined by a crackdown on newly gained press freedoms, civil war, anti-Muslim violence and corruption, a report by the New York based International Center for Transitional Justice has warned. “The spread of anti-Muslim violence to Mandalay and the recent harsh sentencing of some…

An alliance of Karen armed groups have got together to start a crack down on the use of illicit drugs in Karen State. The Unity Committee of Karen Armed Groups formed the alliance now known as the Anti-Narcotic Joint Committee on July 15. The alliance consists of six Karen armed groups was set up to tackle drug use and drug…

The Karen National Union (KNU) has chosen five leaders to represent it at the upcoming Ethnic Armed Organization Conference in the Kachin Town of Laiza on July 24. The conference is being held to discuss the proposed nationwide ceasefire agreement and the KNU delegation, will be led by its Chairperson, General Mutu Sae Poe. The Ethnic Armed Organization Conference will…

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners has said in a statement that Burma’s government is suppressing the country’s press in ways reminiscent of the country’s previous military dictatorship. The AAPP statement referred to the sentencing of five journalists from Unity Weekly to 10 years imprisonment for allegedly disclosing state secrets and the detainment of a further five journalists from Bi…

Following intense media speculation, Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, released a media statement on Thursday 17 July in an attempt to cool speculation that the refugee camps on the Thai Burma border were about to be closed and residents sent back to Burma. The MFA’s press release highlighted four main points and underlined that a recent meeting between Thailand and…

A United Nations working group warns that the detention of an ethnic Kachin activist is illegal. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an official ruling that the 21-year prison sentence of the ethnic Kachin activist, Brang Yung, is illegal and demanded his immediate release from Myitkina prison where he is incarcerated. Brang Yung was charged under Article…

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…

Five journalists from Burma’s Unity Journal have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for ‘disclosing state secrets,’ – Amnesty International warned that it was a “dark day for freedom of expression” in Burma. The five Unity Journal journalists were arrested between the 31st of January and the 1st of February following their involvement in an investigative report on an…

When three villagers from rural Myanmar visited Tokyo earlier this month they came equipped with an unusual itinerary. Rather than spend time exploring the city’s urban jungle, the first trip any of them made out of Southeast Asia was to hand-deliver a complaint letter to the obscure compliance department of Japan’s overseas aid coordinator, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).…