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 […]
[New York, 25 October 2018] – The UN Security Council (UNSC) must exercise its authority and urgently act to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC) said Progressive Voice, Rohingya Women Welfare Society and Kachin Women’s Association – Thailand following the briefing by the Chairperson of the Independent International Fact-finding Mission on […]
On 18 October ND-Burma and its Reparations Working Group presented their new report “You cannot ignore us: Victims of human rights violations from 1970 – 2017 outline their desires for justice” in a diplomatic briefing at the Rangoon office of the European Union. Delegation to Myanmar. Ko Aung Khing Min from Progressive Voice provided the […]