Human Rights Watch welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar and concurs with her key findings and recommendations. Despite the important if limited reforms undertaken by the Burmese government since 2011, the past year has seen a contraction of democratic space and respect for fundamental human rights in the country.
Restrictions on the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression have increased. We share the Special Rapporteur’s concerns over excessive use of force by the police during demonstrations, starkly demonstrated in recent violent crackdowns on student protesters. These restrictions and resort to excessive force are especially alarming in the lead-up to this year’s nationwide elections. As noted by the Special Rapporteur, the existing legal framework restricts the conduct of a genuinely inclusive process.
This backsliding has been exacerbated by anti-Muslim violence and parliament’s consideration of four laws that would seriously curb religious freedoms and the rights of women. The dire conditions faced by Burma’s Rohingya Muslim minority have not improved. The government has failed to provide Rohingya equal citizenship rights curtailed under the 1982 Citizenship Law, or take other measures to end the abuses against them, such as stopping its plan to subject Rohingya to the nationality verification process.
The Burmese army continues to commit serious rights violations with impunity in fighting with ethnic armed groups, including sexual violence, use of child soldiers and forced labor, and punishing civilians who have alleged military abuses. The government has taken no action to provide accountability for past violations by all parties to Burma’s conflicts.
Human Rights Watch calls on UN member states to support the continued activities of the Special Rapporteur and urge the Burmese government to permit the establishment of a full office of OHCHR in Burma and end recently imposed restrictions on OHCHR staff in the country.
