Advocacy group Human Rights Watch has criticised slow progress in addressing historical land grabs, which continue to leave large numbers of people destitute, and inadequate legal reform in protecting land tenure.
Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called on Burma’s Parliament to amend or repeal laws that continue to be used to jail activists and average citizens for peacefully exercising their right to free speech.
Two Kachin pastors detained by the Burma Army have been charged under the Unlawful Associations Act, according to the President’s Office.
Nine months into the National League for Democracy government’s term in office, the human rights situation in Burma has improved only marginally, and in some cases even backslid, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch’s annual report for 2016.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi is coming under growing criticism as she departs today on her second overseas trip since the crisis in Arakan State began last month.
Economy Human Rights International Relations Lead Story News
Human rights activists denounce the Obama administration’s decision to lift sanctions on Burma as a “dark day” for the country’s efforts to end abuses by the military.
Human Rights Lead Story News Refugees
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi should raise the issue of refugees sheltering in China when she meets with Chinese leaders this week, says Human Rights Watch.
T’s husband ended their relationship with a simple text message, after leaving her for another woman. T turned to the Monogamy Bill for protection.
Human Rights Lead Story News Politics
Human rights groups have condemned the arrests of Chaw Sandi Htun and Patrick Kum Jaa Lee, who were detained in relation to Facebook posts.
Human Rights Lead Story News Politics
Jailed for religious defamation, New Zealander Phil Blackwood is the sole foreigner on Amnesty International’s list of 91 prisoners of conscience in Burma.
Boatpeople Lead Story News Rohingya
Journalists Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian are accused of defamation over a report implicating the Thai navy in human trafficking.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
Burma has enacted a population law allowing regional governments to regulate family planning that rights groups say will persecute Rohingya Muslims.
Lead Story News Rangoon Religion
Amnesty International describes sentence as “ludicrous”, while International Commission of Jurists question its legal validity.
Crime Human Rights Lead Story News Religion
New Zealander Phil Blackwood tells a Rangoon court he had no intention of insulting the Buddhist religion.
Land Latpadaung Lead Story News
International watchdogs and Burmese activists have voiced distress and disdain over the Burmese police handling of protestors at Latpadaung copper mine, where one woman was shot dead.
Human Rights Kachin Lead Story News
Human rights groups ask Burmese government to drop case against Kachin man for filing complaint with Myanmar Human Rights Commission (MNHRC).
Rangoon Region Border Affairs and Security Ministry said it has beefed up security in the wake of a declaration by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri that the terror network expand its jihad to India, Bangladesh and Burma.
ASEAN Lead Story News Politics
Shan community organisations urged US Secretary of State to suspend all military engagement with the current Burmese government.
Watch today’s top stories with Angus Watson.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Politics Religion
Following the Burmese government’s invitation for public opinion on a proposed Religious Conversion Law, 81 organisations from Burma and elsewhere have recommended that it be completely discarded.
Elections Lead Story News Politics
Human Rights Watch slammed Burma’s electoral body for “intimidating” the National League of Democracy.
“It was clear, [Thein Sein’s] commitment to reform,” Roth said. “But frankly… it was clear that the government was divided. It was clear that there are some who are committed to a reform process, others who would like to slow it down.”
Two Rohingya political parties issued a plea to the government last Friday not to be categorised as “other” in the upcoming census, claiming they are “bona fide citizens” and entitled to be recognised as an ethnic minority group in Burma.
Lead Story News Politics Rohingya
US and EU call on Burma to allow immediate humanitarian access to an impoverished Rohingya refugee camp in Arakan state, while Human Rights Watch criticises Thai immigration authorities for alleged complicity in a Rohingya smuggling operation.
Ethnic issues Feature Lead Story News Rohingya Video
Burmese asylum-seekers living in Indonesia say they will continue to risk their lives and travel by boat to Australia, despite the very high chance they will never get there.
Human Rights Watch says Association Law would force NGOs to register with a military-backed body that can arbitrarily reject applications, leaving activists vulnerable to arrest and prosecution.
A policeman has been charged with trafficking after a Rohingya woman was allegedly lured from a shelter in southern Thailand and subsequently raped by another man
Activists have accused the government of playing political games after more than 20 prisoners were released ahead of Thein Sein’s trip to the White House next week
In the past, when increasing pressure on the dictatorship was discussed by the EU, caution was the watchword, but now the EU is wholeheartedly endorsing Thein Sein’s government
Burmese authorities and extremist groups have carried out a “campaign of ethnic cleansing” against the Muslim Rohingya minority in western Burma, through mass executions, forced relocation and persistent denial of aid
