HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONSIN BURMA

Moo Keh Blue Kusay

Karen Student, Myanmar

a major voice for human rights and freedom in Burma

Won Nobel prize in 1991 1988 – decided to join National League for

Democracy (NLD) 1989 - placed under house arrest for 15 years 1990 - won more than 80% of the legislative

seats but military government didn’t recognize the election results

CNN (2015)

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi:

What are the causes and effects of human rights abuses in Burma by the country’s military government, and what are some

possible solutions to this problem?

Brief outline:

Causes and effectsSolutions Where I standConclusion

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status (UNHCR, 2015)

Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948

Definition:

Land confiscations:

Infrastructure projects Natural resource Commercial agriculture

projects Military purposes Armed ethnic groups

Consequences:

Loss of Private property Loss of ancestral lands Health issues Loss in income and employment Environmental risks Land rights activists imprisonment Displacement

Freedom of expression violation:

Military junta wants: To limit the activities of political movements To suppress the reports/critiques from media

outlets To take control all section of education system

Outcomes:

1989 – 2004: 1,300 political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi have been imprisoned after unfair trials (Amnesty International, 2004)

Heavy censorship on media(Committee To Protect Journalists, 2015)

Parties/reporters face severe consequences for criticizing government officials and policy (Reuters, 2015; Freedom house, 2014)

Prohibit formation of students & teacher unions (National Network for Education Reform, 2014)

Possible solutions:

Protests against the military government Complaints to government authorities and

reports to international human rights agencies Educate farmers related to land ownership rights Spreading the news via media outlets NLD wins the oncoming election (November,

2015)

My perspective: Myanmar is overwhelmed with

basic human rights abuse but there is one most effective solution: National League for Democracy (NLD) wins the oncoming general elections in November, 2015.

Conclusions:

Problems:Land confiscations freedom of speech

violations Best solutions:

National League for Democracy

Reference:

Amnesty International. (2014). The State of the world’s human rights. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol10/0001/2015/en/

Aung San Suu Kyi Fast Facts. (2015, June). Cable News Network (CNN). Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/18/world/asia/aung-san-suu-kyi-fast-facts/

Myanmar’s 2015 general elections explained. (2015, July 20). BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33547036

PNA people’s militia confiscates farmers’ land. (2015, May 18). Burma News International. Retrieved from http://www.bnionline.net/news/karenni-state/item/517-pna-people-s-militia-confiscates-farmers-land.html

10 Most Censored Countries. (2015). Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved from https://cpj.org/reports/2012/05/10-most-censored-countries.php

Burma: land rights activists are newest political prisoners. (2015, August 15). Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/08/15/burma-land-rights-activists-are-newest-political-prisoners

Karen Human Rights Group. (2015). ‘With only our voices, what can we do?’: Land confiscation and local response in southeast Myanmar. Retrieved from http://www.khrg.org/2015/06/with-only-our-voices-what-can-we-do-land-confiscation-and-local-response

Myanmar Sentences Journalist to Prison for Reporting Accurately. (2014, July 11). Freedom house. Retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/article/myanmar-sentences-journalists-prison-reporting-accurately

Myint, N. (2014). Land-grab demonstrators step up protest outside Yangon City Hall. Mizzima. Retrieved from http://archive-3.mizzima.com/mizzima-news/myanmar/item/15812-land-grab-demonstrators-step-up-protest-outside-yangon-city-hall/15812-land-grab-demonstrators-step-up-protest-outside-yangon-city-hall

Parties banned from criticising army in state media. (2015, August 30). Reuters. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/29/us-myanmar-politics-elections-idUSKCN0QY0K720150829

The Human Rights Risk Index 2014. (2015). The Human Rights Risk Atlas. Retrieved from https://maplecroft.com/themes/hr/

United Nations Human Rights. (2015). What are human rights? Retrieved from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Pages/WhatareHumanRights.aspx