ND Burma
ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.
Silent Offensive: How Burma Army Strategies are Fuelling the Kachin Drug Crisis
/in ND-Burma Members' ReportsThis report, based on interviews with Kachin drug users, their family members, drug sellers, and community leaders in eight townships of northern Burma, paints a disturbing picture of the drug crisis in Kachin areas. Read more
KWAT’s 7 Year Activity Report (2007-2013)
/in ND-Burma Members' ReportsKWAT team is happy to share our 7 year activity report (2007-2013) with you all. Read more
Human rights abuses still ‘rampant’ in Burma: Report
/in NewsAn alliance of rights groups revealed on Thursday that they have documented 103 cases of human rights abuse in Burma since the start of 2014.
A 21-page report by the Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma), released on Thursday, claimed that violations are still “rampant” in conflict areas as well as in territories currently under ceasefire agreements.
Among the documented violations, which the group said are “just a fraction of the true number of human rights abuses”, are cases of rape, land confiscation, human trafficking and torture.
ND-Burma is a 12-member alliance of rights organisations from all over the country, some still working in exile in neighbouring Thailand. The group, which has operated as a rights watchdog for Burmese citizens since 2004, collected information from fieldworkers in eight of the country’s 14 administrative divisions from January to June 2014.
The most frequent abuses documented, the report says, were unlawful land acquisitions in ethnic areas. Thirty-six cases of land-grabbing were reported, a number that the group said is “almost certainly a low estimate”.
Fourteen killings and 14 instances of torture were also reported.
Sexual assault committed by the Burmese military remains a serious concern in many of Burma’s ethnic areas despite progress towards achieving a nationwide peace deal, the report said. In Mon State, eastern Burma, local researchers reported that an ethnic Mon woman was abducted and beaten by a Burmese army corporal in early January — just weeks after another woman was assaulted by a soldier in the same township.
The report said that the woman bit her attacker’s arm when he attempted to rape her. The corporal then “retaliated by severely beating the woman”, leaving her with injuries to the face, neck, chest, back and hands. Her current condition was described as “critical” and she is still in need of surgery, nearly eight months after the incident.
While some improvements have been observed in the remote and vulnerable territories across Burma, which are historically prone and geographically amenable for undocumented rights violations, the group claims that violations still happen regularly and enormous obstacles remain for rights workers. Laws targeting activists, arbitrary arrests and limitations on press freedom are recurring threats for rights defenders, the group said.
The first of ND-Burma’s 2014 bi-annual rights reports shows little improvement from 2013, when 253 cases were reported throughout the course of the entire year.
Report on the Human Rights Situation in Burma (January – June, 2014)
/in ND-Burma's Reports, Periodic Report, Press Releases and StatementsMedia Advisory:
New report by Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma) documenting on-going human rights abuses in Burma
Date: 14 August 2014 Read more
Video Documentary: Torture and Ill- Treatment in Burma Since the 2010 Elections
/in V-ReportAAPP and Hannah Scott (2011) Toture, Political Prisoners and the Un-Rule of Law
/in ND-Burma Members' ReportsDespite the fact that torture constitutes one of the most brutal attacks on human dignity, and not withstanding the absolute prohibition of torture under any circumstances, almost no society is immune from torture. In many societies, it is practiced systematically. Burma is one such country. In addition, conditions of detention, in Burma, are appalling and arguably qualify as cruel, inhuman and degrading, amounting to torture. This paper explores the nature of torture in Burma’s interrogation centres and prisons. Evidence suggests the practice of torture, in Burma, serves the purpose of extracting confessions and information; extracting money; as a punishment; and perhaps, most dangerously, of silencing dissent. The victims, in Burma, are often activists with different agendas, and include members of the political opposition, ethnic groups, labour activists and human rights defenders. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) continues to deny the existence of political prisoners, arguing that ‘there are only criminals in Burma’s prisons’ and refutes claims of torture and ill-treatment. However, the deplorable conditions in these places of detention are well documented. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has systematically documented hundreds of cases of torture experienced by political prisoners, dating back to 1988 and as recent as 2010. Through interviews, former political prisoners recount the torture and ill- treatment, which they suffered, as well as that which they have witnessed.
Download: Torture, political prisoners and the un-rule of law (225kb)