The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) is kidnapping ethnic Lishaw people for ransom, a spokesperson for the ethnic group told a press conference. Daw Khin Theint Theint Tun said TNLA members, who are ethnic Palaung, have abducted young Lishaw children and demanded millions of kyat in ransom. The Lishaw are an ethnic group living in Shan […]
Seeking Justice in Burma February 2019 Union Parliament votes in favour of committee to draft amendments to the 2008 Constitution; Continued human rights violations in Rakhine State by Burma Army; Civic space for freedom of expression and freedom of assembly continues to shrink. The Union Parliament voted in favour of forming a committee to draft […]
By FRONTIER YANGON — The government must recognise and take responsibility for past human rights abuses, because a failure to do so would lead to more denial and avoidance and encourage further “systematic” violations, a senior United Nations official has warned. The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Ms Yanghee Lee, issues the warning in […]
Introduction Prisons are a direct reflection of a country’s administrative, legislative andjudicial systems1.Hidden from public view, facing stigmatization and afforded little publicsympathy, prisoners face a greater risk of having their human rightsabused2. These issues are compounded even further in light of rising prisonpopulations around the world and the prevalence of prison overcrowding.Reducing prison overcrowding, is […]
On December 13, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) launched our report titled “Prison Overcrowding and The Need for Urgent Reform” at the Green Hill Hotel in Yangon. Rangoon Division’s Parliament Representatives, former political prisoners, representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs), reporters from different media agencies and interested people attended the ceremony. AAPP Secretary […]
On December 10, we celebrate Human Rights Day to commemorate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 – exactly 70 years ago. Talking about the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Secretary-General U Thant had said: “This great and inspiring instrument was born of an increased sense of […]
In 2017, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Humanitarian Health partnered with the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand to conduct a mixed methods study (combining qualitative and quantitative research methods) in Kachin State and Northern Shan State in Myanmar, and Yunnan Province in China. The study seeks to estimate the prevalence of trafficking for forced marriage […]
MONTH IN REVIEW October in Numbers Sentenced: 8 Arrests: 10 Charged: 17 Released: 5 ●●● “arresting civilians for unlawful association or without cause restricts citizens freedoms and is an abuse on their human rights” ●●● ●●● October Month in Review October was another grim month for Burma’s press freedom. Three senior journalists from […]
During periods of authoritarian rule and conflict, mass human rights violations are often committed in darkness, with the truth hidden and manipulated. After a transition to democracy, many perpetrators are often protected by entrenched impunity. In many cases, they still hold great power and tightly control a false narrative about what has taken place. Institutions […]
In 1948, Myanmar gained independence from Britain following the 1947 Panglong Conference. The Panglong Agreement promised ethnic equality within the Federal Union of Burma with Kachin, Shan, and Chin leaders. Despite the agreement, demands for ethnic self-determination and equality soon sparked armed conflict between ethnic armed groups and government forces. A military coup in 1962 […]