Entries by ND Burma

Myanmar Supreme Court to hear appeal of jailed Reuters reporters

The Supreme Court of Myanmar will hear an appeal by the lawyers of jailed Reuters news agency reporters Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone on March 26, according to a statement by the Committee to Protect Journalists, quoting Reuters. The reporters are each serving seven-year sentences under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act for allegedly possessing […]

Myanmar Military Court to Probe Rohingya Atrocity Allegations

By REUTERS 19 March 2019 YANGON—Myanmar’s military said on Monday it had set up a military court to investigate its conduct during a crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim minority in 2017 that forced more than 730,000 to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. The court comprising a major-general and two colonels will investigate events in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State in […]

Ethnic Lishaw accuses TNLA of kidnappings

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)

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 […]

Govt must take responsibility for past abuses, says UN rights envoy

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 […]

Prison Overcrowding and the Need for Urgent Reform

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 […]

AAPP Launch of ‘Prison Overcrowding and The Need for Urgent Reform’ Report

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 […]

International Human Rights Day

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 […]

Estimating Trafficking of Myanmar Women for Forced Marriage and Childbearing in China

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 […]