By Zin Linn
Burma or Myanmar has a bad record concerning topic
of human rights to date. Human Rights Watch criticizes Burma's lately formed
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which has not take part in competent
role to scrutinize human rights violations in conflict zones. In February 2012,
the commission's chairman, U Win Mra, said that the commission would not look
into allegations of abuses in the country's ethnic armed conflict areas due to
the government's efforts to negotiate ceasefires.
HRW has also made a recommendation to the
parliament which needed to pass legislation that would bring Myanmar's NHRC in
line with the Paris Principles on national human rights institutions in order
to establish it as an independent and effective institution. However, people do
not satisfy with the NHRC's activities since it has made little progress for
citizen's rights protection.
Recently, the Network for Human Rights
Documentation -- Burma (ND-Burma) has released a periodic report documenting
the human rights situation in Burma or Myanmar during the period of July 2013
-- December 2013. The report focuses on 106 cases of human rights violations
(HRVs) committed by the government and its supporters in the 14 states and
regions throughout the country.
There are many serious human rights violations
addressed and highlighted in the report; torture, extra-judicial killing,
illegal arrests and detention, arbitrary taxation, property crimes, forced
labor, trafficking, forced displacement and rape.
ND-Burma's recent report says that while on a tour
to Europe, President U Thein Sein promised to release all political prisoners
by the end of 2013 and declared that there would never again be any political
prisoners in the country. Yet, by the time of composing the report, there are
33 political prisoners imprisoned in reference to "The Review Committee
for Remaining Political Prisoners'.
Even though most political prisoners were released
under section (18) and section 505-b, they were not free unconditionally but
released under section 401, the report says. These conditions mean that human
rights and political activists can still be re-arrested at any time.
The Government is yet to abolish or amend this law.
Then ND-Burma highlights that campaigners and human rights advocates constantly
urge the government to take steps towards abolishing these unjust and
undemocratic laws.
ND-Burma documented 27 cases of forced labour, 26
cases of land confiscation and 21 cases of torture. The violations were
committed as direct result of on-going armed conflict and the military
involvement in trade and industry.
According to the report, "The
confiscation and destruction of property that ND-Burma has reported through the
efforts of field workers has been reflected by the growing number of reports in
recent news out of Burma. The weakness of the 2012 Farmland Law has allowed the
government and closely linked businesses to continue to commit these HRVs
unabated."
As Burma has been carrying out democratic reform
process, it should strictly pay attention to make a good human rights record.
The government needs to cautiously review on "Resolution on the
Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar' which was released by United
Nations Human Rights Council on March 19, 2013.
The UNHRC expresses concern about remaining human
rights violations, including arbitrary detention, forced displacement, land
confiscations, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment, as well as violations of international
humanitarian law, and urges the Government of Myanmar to step up its efforts to
put an end to such violations and to take necessary measures to ensure
accountability and end impunity, including by undertaking a full, transparent
and independent investigation into all reports of violations of international
human rights and international humanitarian law, while also calling for proper
investigations into detention and prison conditions and allegations of the use
of torture in prisons.
In March last year, Tomás Ojea Quintana, the UN
Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar called on the
Government of Myanmar to take urgent steps to tackle the prejudice and
discrimination fueling violence and destruction between Muslim and Buddhist
communities, as said by the UN News Center.
He called on other institutions such as Parliament,
the Supreme Court and the National Human Rights Commission to play their role
in protecting constitutionally guaranteed rights, including freedom of
religion, as well as the need to include civil society and political parties to
tackle prejudice and discrimination.
In its conclusion, the ND-Burma Report says that U
Thein Sein called for a nation-wide cease-fire with the ethnic armed groups to
implement a peace negotiation process; however, there are still serious human
rights violations taking place on a daily basis in ethnic areas. These human
right violations are not only taking place in conflict zones but also in ethnic
areas where they have already signed cease-fire agreements. For instance there
were over 150 clashes of offensive incidents in Shan State that are under
RCSS/SSA control in 2013, as said by the report.
Such rights abuses committed by government armed
forces would not help to implant trust in the relationships between Government
and ethnic armed groups. Even though the government has released several
political prisoners, the report criticizes that it continues to re-arrest
political activists who made protest without permission under the section 18.
As a matter of fact, the Myanmar National Human
Rights Commission has a massive responsibility to scrutinize human rights
violations of the government. Besides, Myanmar has to do more on human rights
rule and regulation clearly. If the government officials breach the laws, the
relevant officials have to keep an eye on and call attention to violations. The
formation of the MNHRC seems totally against international standards. This
Human Rights body must be formed with independent human rights experts.
In a statement dated 13 July 2013 ahead of
President U Thein Sein's visit to London, HRW says that there are various human
rights risks to do business in Burma/Myanmar. These include the lack of rule of
law and an independent judiciary, major tensions over the acquisition and use
of land, and disregard of community concerns in government-approved projects.
The military's extensive involvement in the economy, use of forced labor, and
abusive security practices in business operations heightens concerns.
Corruption is pervasive throughout the country, the watchdog criticizes.
In essence what the Government is giving with one
hand it is taking away with the other, ND-Burma made a comment. It also said
that people of Myanmar want to trust the Government but the evidence shows its
promises are every now and then empty. Only by revealing the truth and seeking
justice can the Government gain the trust and respect of the people, the human
rights network points out.