A family stands beside the
remains of a burned down market in a Rohingya village outside Maungdaw,
Rakhine State on October 27, 2016.
A family stands beside the
remains of a burned down market in a Rohingya village outside Maungdaw,
Rakhine State on October 27, 2016.
Burma’s new government led by the National League
for Democracy (NLD) took office in March 2016 after sweeping the
November 2015 elections. Headed by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and
President Htin Kyaw, the NLD controls a majority of both upper and
lower house parliamentary seats in the country’s first democratically
elected, civilian-led government since 1962. However, the new government
inherited deep-rooted challenges, including constitutional empowerment
of the military, repressive legislation, weak rule of law, and a corrupt
judiciary.
The political transition began promisingly, with the
April release of over 200 political prisoners and detainees.
Nonetheless, the NLD-led government has thus far not capitalized on its
initial momentum in guiding the country toward substantive reform or the
creation of democratic institutions.
Fighting between the Burmese armed forces and ethnic
armed groups intensified or flared up in several regions during the
year, resulting in abuses against civilians and massive displacement.
Violent attacks by unknown insurgents against border guard posts on
October 9 in Maungdaw, northern Rakhine State, resulted in the deaths of
nine officials and sparked the most serious humanitarian and human
rights crisis in Rakhine State since the October 2012 “ethnic cleansing”
campaign against the Rohingya.
Under the deeply flawed 2008 constitution, the
military retains autonomy from civilian oversight and extensive
power over the government and national security, with control of the
Defense, Home Affairs, and Border Affairs Ministries. It is guaranteed
25 percent of parliamentary seats, which constitutes an effective veto
over any constitutional amendments, and is authorized to assume power in
a national state of emergency.
Ethnic Conflict and Armed Forces Abuses
Fighting between the Tatmadaw (Burmese armed forces)
and ethnic armed groups worsened over the year in Kachin, Rakhine,
Karen, and Northern Shan States, displacing thousands of civilians.
Government forces have been responsible for serious abuses, including
extrajudicial killings, torture, sexual violence, and destruction of
property. Government shelling and airstrikes have been conducted against
ethnic areas, in violation of the laws of war. Both government and
non-state groups have been implicated in the use of anti-personnel
landmines and forced recruitment, including of children.
The legacy of the Burmese military’s “divide and
rule” approach persists, as the conflict’s spillover and ensuing abuses
compound tensions among ethnic groups.
The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) orchestrated
under the previous Thein Sein government was signed in October 2015 by
eight non-state armed groups, fewer than half of the country’s total.
Since its adoption, military operations and clashes between signatory
and non-signatory armed groups have continued.
From August 31 to September 3, Aung San Suu Kyi
presided over the 21st Century Panglong Conference, billed as a forum
for re-engaging armed groups and other national stakeholders in the
country’s peace process. Intensified fighting on the ground has
continued unabated since the conference.
In Northern Shan State, fighting between the Ta’ang
National Liberation Army and the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan
State Army-South, at times with the support of the Tatmadaw, flared
throughout the year.
Fighting between the military and the Kachin
Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin State increased steadily since
mid-August. In September, fighting between ethnic armed groups and
government forces in Karen State displaced about 5,900 civilians.
Violence over the past five years has left 220,000
people displaced nationwide—120,000 in Rakhine State and 100,000 in Shan
and Kachin States.
Security threats, weak infrastructure, and
restrictions imposed by government and non-state authorities regularly
impeded access by humanitarian agencies to civilians displaced in
conflict-affected areas. Restrictions on access to Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs) in Kachin and Shan States increased in late 2016.
Abuses against Rohingya
Muslim minorities in Burma, in particular the 1.2
million ethnic Rohingya, continue to face rampant and systemic human
rights violations.
Outbreaks of violence in Maungdaw district in
northern Rakhine State escalated following an October 9 attack on three
border outposts that left nine police officers dead. Asserting that both
the initial and subsequent attacks were carried out by armed Rohingya
militants, the government initiated “clearance operations” to locate the
alleged attackers while locking down the area, denying access to
humanitarian aid groups, independent media, and rights monitors.
The security operations led to numerous reports of
serious abuses by government security forces against Rohingya villagers,
including summary killings, rape and other sexual violence, torture and
ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests, and arson. The military employed
helicopter gunships during a series of clashes beginning on November 11.
At time of writing, the government said it had arrested over 300
alleged suspects. Local groups reported the use of torture and a number
of deaths in custody.
Satellite imagery in November revealed widespread
fire-related destruction in Rohingya villages, with a total of 430
destroyed buildings in three villages of Maungdaw district.
Government travel restrictions placed on humanitarian
agencies have led to critical food insecurity and malnutrition, and an
estimated 30,000 Muslim villagers remain displaced.
The government has continually failed to adequately
or effectively investigate abuses against the Rohingya, and did not act
on recommendations to seek UN assistance for an investigation into the
violence.
The ongoing crisis in Maungdaw represents the most
serious and widespread violence against the Rohingya since the ethnic
cleansing campaign carried out in June and October 2012. Four years
after the 2012 violence, about 120,000 Rohingya remain displaced in
camps in Rakhine State. Humanitarian conditions for both remaining IDPs
and newly resettled persons remain dire due to restrictions on movement
and lack of access to livelihoods and basic services.
The effective denial of citizenship for the
Rohingya—who are not recognized on the official list of 135 ethnic
groups eligible for full citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law—has
facilitated enduring rights abuses, including restrictions on movement;
limitations on access to health care, livelihood, shelter, and
education; arbitrary arrests and detention; and forced labor. Travel is
severely constrained by authorization requirements, security
checkpoints, curfews, and strict control of IDP camp access. Such
barriers compound the health crisis caused by poor living conditions,
severe overcrowding, and limited health facilities.
The government refuses to use the term Rohingya,
which the group self-identifies as but is rejected by nationalist
Buddhists in favor of the term “Bengali,” which implies illegal migrant
status in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi refers to the group as the “Muslim
Community in Rakhine State,” and has requested that international
stakeholders, including the United States, European Union, and United
Nations, follow suit.
The new Burmese government established two bodies to
address sectarian tensions in Rakhine State—a government committee and a
nine-member national/international advisory commission led by former UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, which initiated its year-long research
mandate in September.
Freedom of Expression and Assembly
Restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression
and assembly persist, amid the government’s failure to contend with the
range of rights-abusing laws that have been long used to criminalize
free speech and prosecute dissidents.
In its final months of rule, Thein Sein’s government
continued arresting activists using politically motivated charges,
failing to fulfill the former president’s 2013 pledge to release all
political prisoners by the end of his term. In April, the new NLD-led
government released 235 political prisoners and detainees in a series of
amnesties.
However, the nod toward a new era of openness was
contradicted by the government’s continued use of problematic
legislation to restrict free speech. In April, two Muslim interfaith
activists were convicted on charges under section 17(1) of the Unlawful
Association Act and sentenced to an additional two years in prison with
hard labor. Numerous activists were arrested under section 66(d) of the
Telecommunications Act for “defaming” Aung San Suu Kyi, President Htin
Kyaw, or the military in social media posts. These include Maung
Saungkha, who was sentenced to six months in prison in May for a poem he
posted on Facebook, and Aung Win Hlaing, sentenced to nine months in
prison in September for calling the president an “idiot” and “crazy” on
Facebook.
Parliament put forward a new Peaceful Assembly and
Peaceful Procession Law in May, yet despite slight improvements the
proposed revisions maintain regulations that allow for at-will
crackdowns on peaceful protests, blanket prohibitions on certain protest
speech, and criminal penalties for any violation of its restrictions.
Arrests and prosecutions for participation in
peaceful assemblies have continued under the new administration. Police
arrested 90 political activists in May, including student leaders of an
interfaith peace walk in Rangoon; demonstrators against the Letpadaung
mine in Sagaing Division; and 76 labor rights activists marching to the
capital, Naypyidaw, to protest treatment by local factory owners.
Fifty-one of the labor activists were charged with unlawful assembly,
rioting, and disturbing public tranquility under the Burmese penal code;
15 were convicted in October and sentenced to between four and six
months in prison.
Throughout the year, as many as 60 Arakanese men were
arrested under section 17(1) of the Unlawful Association Act for
alleged ties to the Arakan Army. From March to July, 28 were found
guilty and sentenced to two to five years in prison with hard labor.
The criminalization of expression perceived as a
threat to the armed forces also continued. In late June, the Ta’ang
Women’s Organization was forced to cancel a press conference in Rangoon
to launch a report documenting military abuses against ethnic Palaung in
Northern Shan State. In August, Khine Myo Htun, an environmental
activist and member of the Arakan Liberation Party, was charged with
violating sections 505(b) and 505(c) of the penal code for accusing the
armed forces of committing crimes against humanity. In October, veteran
activist Htin Kyaw was arrested and charged with violating section
505(a) for accusing the military of committing human rights abuses.
While the relaxation of press censorship has been a
key hallmark of the democratic transition, various forms of government
control remain inscribed in the legal framework and employed to restrict
media freedom. In June, the Ministry of Information banned the film
“Twilight Over Burma” from a human rights film festival for its
depiction of a relationship it claimed would threaten ethnic and
military relations.
As part of the military’s “clearance operations” in
northern Rakhine State, the authorities denied independent journalists
access to the region since early October. The Myanmar Times
fired a journalist who had reported on allegations of rape by security
forces in Maungdaw, reportedly under pressure from the Ministry of
Information.
Burma’s national penal code criminalizes consensual
same-sex behavior between adult men. In recent years police have
arrested gay men and transgender women assembling in public places, and
politicians have called for the “education” of gay people.
Women’s and Girls’ Rights
Justice for women and girls in Burma remains elusive,
particularly with regard to violence related to armed conflict. Sexual
violence by the military, and to some extent ethnic armed groups, has
been frequent, and the renewed violent clashes in Kachin and Northern
Shan States has exacerbated the problem. Such crimes are facilitated by a
near total lack of accountability, and no institutionalized complaint
mechanism. Few prosecutions have been publicly reported, despite
allegations of more than 115 cases of sexual violence perpetrated by the
Burmese army since fighting renewed.
In October and November, media and local groups
reported numerous incidents of rape and other sexual assault of Rohingya
women and girls committed by security forces during the “clearing
operations” in Maungdaw district. The government denied all reports of
sexual violence, and the military lockdown has prevented independent
investigations into the abuses. This suppression is emblematic of the
military’s long-standing refusal to seriously investigate cases of
sexual violence.
In May, the Tatmadaw announced that an investigation
into the January 2015 rape and murder of two Kachin schoolteachers by
suspected army soldiers had taken place, but no public information about
charges or a trial was released. Women in conflict zones and displaced
or stateless women are especially vulnerable to abductions, enforced
disappearances, sexual violence, and exploitation.
Despite their central role in human rights and
democracy activism in Burma, women have been marginalized in the
government’s various peace process initiatives, and their concerns have
been noticeably absent from the negotiations. Women made up less than 10
percent of participants in the peace process, and women’s rights groups
were sidelined at the 21st Century Panglong Conference.
Women hold only 13 percent of seats in the new
parliament; only one woman sits on the 18-person cabinet, and only 0.25
percent of village-level administrators are women.
Key International Actors
Burma’s political transition has triggered an
enthusiastic response from international stakeholders. Since the new
administration took office, there have been only limited attempts by
foreign governments to press for genuine legal and policy reforms.
In May, the United States government relaxed a range
of sanctions to ease US business investments and financial transactions
in Burma. Following a visit by Aung San Suu Kyi in September, the US
announced plans to lift most remaining sanctions, which was carried out
by executive order on October 7.
The US also resumed the General System of Preferences
(GSP) trade status with Burma, despite serious concerns that Burma’s
labor practices do not meet GSP conditions on labor rights. In a
contradictory move, the US State Department downgraded Burma in its
annual Trafficking in Persons report to Tier 3, the lowest tier, in
recognition of ongoing abuses related to human trafficking, child
soldier recruitment, and forced labor.
The UN Human Rights Council in March once again
adopted its resolution on Burma and extended the special rapporteur’s
mandate, requesting that she identify benchmarks for reform. However,
the EU decided not to introduce a resolution at the UN General Assembly
in November, underscoring the international community’s softening
approach.
As Burma’s immediate neighbor with significant
business and military ties within the country, China continued efforts
to strengthen its geopolitical engagement with the Burmese government
and advance the large-scale development projects that offer access to
the country’s natural resources and strategic regional borders, often to
the detriment of local populations.
Burma’s government should urgently act to end the unlawful seizure of
land in Karen State, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
Officials regularly charge villagers with criminal trespass if they
refuse to leave land, and in one case, police torched a village. Militia
commanders have also used threats, force, and arbitrary arrests to
intimidate farmers and take land, particularly in areas still contested
by ethnic Karen armed groups. https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/11/03/b...
The
65-page report, “‘The Farmer Becomes the Criminal’: Land Confiscation
in Burma’s Karen State,” documents human rights violations by militias,
police, and government officials in Karen State for the confiscation of
land from ethnic Karen farmers, many of whose families had farmed the
land for generations.
Ref:https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/burma
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