Myanmar

• Myanmar: des activistes emprisonnés

  

  À la suite du coup d'État militaire de février 2021, des milliers de personnes ont été arbitrairement arrêtées, détenues et attaquées au Myanmar, notamment des défenseurs des droits humains, des syndicalistes, des journalistes, des militants politiques et étudiants, des poètes, des écrivains et des religieux. 

  Comme le montre le CIVICUS Monitor, beaucoup font l'objet d'accusations infondées et des cas de torture et de mauvais traitements pendant les interrogatoires ont été signalés, ainsi que des décès en détention. Voici quelques-uns des défenseurs des droits humains et des militants qui ont été arrêtés par la junte.

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  Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, réalisateur

  Le réalisateur Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi a été arrêté le 1er février 2021, à la suite du coup d'État militaire. Il est un réalisateur de premier plan et le fondateur du Human Dignity Film Institute. Il a produit un documentaire primé, Floating Tomatoes, sur l'effet désastreux des pesticides sur le lac Inle, au Myanmar.

  En août 2019, il avait déjà été arrêté et condamné au titre de la section 505(a) du code pénal du Myanmar à un an de prison par le tribunal du canton d'Insein pour une série de publications sur Facebook critiquant la Constitution de 2008 rédigée par les militaires et le rôle de l'armée dans la vie politique.

  (Crédit photo: Myanmar NOW) 

  Ko Min Thway Thit, étudiant activiste 

  .L'étudiant activiste Ko Min Thway Thit a été arrêté le 1er février 2021, à la suite du coup d'État. Il avait déjà été incarcéré en 2015 pour son rôle dans les manifestations contre le nouveau projet de loi sur l'éducation, puis libéré en 2016.

  Il fait également partie des quatre personnes condamnées à une amende de 30 000 kyats pour avoir organisé une manifestation sans autorisation le 7 juillet 2019 afin de commémorer le massacre d'étudiants activistes par Ne Win en 1962.

  (Crédit photo: Burma News International) 

  Mya Aye, activiste de 88 Generation

  Éminent défenseur de la démocratie et l'un des leaders de 88 Generation a été arrêté le 1er février 2021, à la suite du coup d'État. Mya Aye a été arrêté deux fois sous l'ancienne junte pour son activisme politique pendant et après le soulèvement de 1988 et a purgé un total de 12 ans de prison.

  Il est accusé d'incitation à la haine en vertu de l'article 505(c) du Code pénal, qui prévoit jusqu'à deux ans de prison.

  (Crédit photo: The Myanmar Times)

   

  Shwe Nya Wah Sayadaw, moine bouddhiste pro-démocratie

  Le moine bouddhiste Shwe Nya War Sayadaw a été arrêté le 1er février 2021, à la suite du coup d'État. Il a été détenu par les militaires dans son monastère à Yangon. Ce moine au franc-parler a critiqué le mouvement 969, qui est soutenu par des moines bouddhistes nationalistes.

  En 2012, il a reçu l'ordre de quitter son monastère de Yangon en raison d'un discours prononcé lors d'un événement pro-démocratie au bureau de Mandalay de la Ligue nationale pour la démocratie, où il avait publiquement appelé à la libération des prisonniers politiques et à la fin des guerres civiles en cours.

   (Crédit photo: Kaung Htet/ The Myanmar Times)

  Thin Thin Aung, défenseure des droits humains

  Thin Thin Aung a été arrêtée arbitrairement le 8 avril 2021 dans le canton de Botahtaung à Yangon et emmenée au centre d'interrogatoire militaire de Yay Kyi Ai dans le canton d'Insein à Yangon. Le 9 avril 2021, les forces de sécurité militaires ont fait une descente dans son appartement à Yangon et ont saisi ses biens, y compris ses ordinateurs.

  Elle est cofondatrice de l'agence de presse Mizzima et de la Women's League of Burma (WLB), fondatrice de Women for Justice, anciennement connue sous le nom de Women's Rights and Welfare Association of Burma (WRWAB).

  Depuis le soulèvement de 1988, Thin Thin Aung a consacré sa vie à la lutte pour la démocratie et les droits humains au Myanmar. Elle a passé la plupart de son temps à plaider, au niveau local et international, en faveur de la justice pour les droits humains de la femme.

  Ko Wai Moe Naing, leader de protestation 

  Ko Wai Moe Naing, un éminent leader de la protestation contre la junte à Monywa, dans la région de Sagaing, a été battuet emmené par les forces de la junte après que sa moto a été percutée le 15 avril 2021.  Une photo montrant manifestement qu'il a été gravement torturé est devenue virale le lendemain de son arrestation.

  Wai Moe Naing a pu s'entretenir avec ses avocats pour la première fois le 27 mai 2021, plus d'un mois après son arrestation. Cette rencontre a eu lieu lors d'une audience à la prison de Monywa, où il est actuellement détenu. Il ferait face à un total de 10 chefs d'accusation, dont trahison, meurtre, incitation, association illégale, séquestration et vol à main armée.

  (Crédit photo: Myanmar NOW) 

  Ma Myo Aye, leader syndical

  Ma Myo Aye, l'une des principales dirigeantes syndicales du Myanmar, a été arrêtée le 15 avril 2021. Elle a été arrêtée à son bureau, dans le quartier de Shwepyithar à Yangon, par une quarantaine de membres des forces de sécurité de la junte militaire. Myo Aye a ensuite été emmenée dans un poste de police pour y être interrogée.

  Elle est directrice du syndicat Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar (STUM) et est parmi les dirigeants syndicaux les plus en vue du mouvement de désobéissance civile, qui organise des grèves et des manifestations nationales depuis la prise du pouvoir par les militaires.

  (Crédit photo: Twitter/@cleanclothes) 

  Man Zar Myay Mon, défenseur des droits fonciers et environnementaux

  Man Zar Myay Mon est un défenseur des droits fonciers et environnementaux de la région de Sagaing. Il a été arrêté le matin du 8 juin 2021 par des soldats alors qu'il tentait de fuir le village de Shan Htoo, dans le canton de Chaung-U, dans la région de Sagaing. Les soldats lui ont tiré dans la jambe alors qu'il circulait à moto, l'ont immédiatement capturé, l'ont menotté et lui ont bandé les yeux. Il est détenu dans un centre d'interrogatoire au siège du commandement nord-ouest de la Tatmadaw à Monywa, dans la région de Sagaing.

  Après être devenu une figure de proue des manifestations pacifiques contre le coup d'État, Man Zar Myay Mon a été inculpé en mars 2021 d'"incitation" au titre de l'article 505(a) du Code pénal pour sa participation aux manifestations et un mandat d'arrêt a été lancé contre lui, ce qui l'a contraint à se cacher. Il travaille depuis de nombreuses années à promouvoir la responsabilisation des industries extractives au profit des communautés locales. Il a également été l'un des chefs de file de la communauté lors des manifestations contre la mine de Letpadaung, dans la région de Sagaing.

  (Crédit photo: The Irrawaddy)

  Ma Chan Bu, journaliste

  Les forces de sécurité ont battu et arrêté la journaliste Ma Chan Bu, du 74 Media, le 29 mars, alors qu'elle couvrait une manifestation à Myitkyina, dans l'État de Kachin. Elle a été arrêtée avec Ko La Raw, qui travaille pour Kachin Wave. Les deux médias sont basés dans la capitale de l'État Kachin. Elle a été inculpée en vertu de la section 505a du Code pénal.

  Selon des rapports datant du 15 juillet 2021, près de la moitié des 87 journalistes arrêtés par la junte du Myanmar au cours des cinq mois qui ont suivi le coup d'État sont toujours en détention. 31 journalistes ont été libérés avant le 30 juin 2021, date à laquelle la junte a déclaré une amnistie générale et libéré 2 300 prisonniers des prisons du pays, dont 14 autres journalistes. Dans la plupart des cas, les autorités ont accusé les reporters de diffamation envers l'armée en vertu de la section 505 (a). Des dizaines de journalistes vivent actuellement cachés.

  (Crédit photo: BNI Multimedia Group)

• Myanmar: Drop Charges Against Three Kachin Activists 

  Joint Statement by CIVICUS and Amnesty International

  Myanmar authorities must immediately drop defamation charges against three Kachin activists who led a peaceful rally in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State. The march was to call for humanitarian access to thousands of displaced civilians and for an end to the armed conflicts in northern Myanmar. 

  The prosecution of the activists – and other recent cases of politically motivated arrest and imprisonment – represent an alarming return to practices that characterized Myanmar’s decades of direct military rule. 

  On 3 September 2018, Lum Zawng (m), Nang Pu (f), and Zau Jet (m) were charged under Section 500 of the Penal Code with defamation of the Myanmar military. The charges relate to statements they made at a peaceful rally on 30 April 2018 and at a press conference the next day, following major escalation in fighting between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an ethnic armed organization in Kachin State. The violence displaced more than 5,000 civilians, 2,000 of whom were trapped for several weeks in a forest near the village of Aung Lawt without access to humanitarian assistance or safe passage from the area. 

  In response, on 30 April, thousands of people gathered peacefully in Myitkyina to demand the rescue of trapped civilians, the resumption of humanitarian access and an end to the conflict. Lawyer Lum Zawng was one of the organizers of the rally where protesters called for the military to stop aerial attacks on civilians. The authorities have charged him with defamation. 

  The other two activists, Nang Pu, Director of the Htoi Gender and Development Foundation, and Zau Jet, Chairman of the Kachin National Social Development Foundation, are also facing defamation charges for comments they made at a press conference after the rally. The two had spoken about the situation of displaced civilians in the Hpakant area and about reports of threats against and ill-treatment of civilians by Myanmar soldiers. If convicted, they each face up to two years in prison. 

  The prosecution of Lum Zawng, Nang Pu and Zau Jet is clearly an attempt by the Myanmar authorities to intimidate, harass and silence community leaders and human rights defenders who speak out about military abuses and the impact on civilian populations. Amnesty International and global civil society alliance, CIVICUS call on the Myanmar authorities to immediately drop the charges against the three activists. 

  The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are enshrined in Articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Under international human rights law and standards, certain restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly may be imposed, but only in narrow, clearly defined circumstances. Such restrictions must be provided by law; be limited to certain specified purposes such as national security, public order or respect of the rights or reputation of others; and be necessary and proportionate to the achievement of one of those permissible purposes. 

  Amnesty International and CIVICUS are concerned about a range of laws in Myanmar – including Section 500 of the Penal Code – which are incompatible with the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and which are used to arrest, prosecute and imprison human rights defenders and other peaceful activists. Both organizations urge the Myanmar authorities – in particular Parliament – to take immediate action to review and repeal or else amend all such laws to bring them into line with international human rights law and standards. 

  Human rights defenders play a vital role in the protection and promotion of human rights, and it is crucial that they are able to speak out freely on human rights violations, including those committed by the military against civilians in areas of armed conflict, without fear of repercussions. Under Article 2 of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, each state has a duty to create the conditions necessary to defend human rights within their jurisdictions. Amnesty International and CIVICUS call on the government of Myanmar to ensure an environment in which it is possible to defend human rights without fear of reprisal or intimidation.

  Background
  The armed conflict between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has been ongoing since June 2011, after a 17-year ceasefire ended. Since the resumption of hostilities, fighting has spread to other parts of northern Myanmar, involving a myriad of armed groups.

  The Myanmar military has committed war crimes and other gross human rights violations against civilians, particularly from ethnic minorities, as documented in detail by Amnesty International in a June 2017 report and by the UN Fact-Finding Mission in a report presented to the Human Rights Council in September 2018. These crimes and violations include unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrest and indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas. Ethnic armed groups have also committed abuses against civilians. Investigations into allegations of human rights violations and crimes under international law are rare and perpetrators seldom, if ever, held to account, contributing to a climate of impunity in the country. 

  More than 100,000 people have been internally displaced across the conflict-affected areas of northern Myanmar since 2011, many of them displaced multiple times. The humanitarian situation of internally displaced people (IDPs) remains serious, with ongoing concerns about conditions in IDP camps, including access to food, shelter, clean water and sanitation. In addition, the authorities – both civilian and military – have imposed severe restrictions on humanitarian access, exacerbating the needs of the displaced population.

  ENDS

  For more information, contact:

  Josef Benedict
  josef.benedict{AT}civicus.org

• Myanmar: Execution of four democracy activists highlights junta’s brutality

  We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the execution carried out by the military junta against four pro-democracy activists in Myanmar. We call on the international community, including ASEAN states, to publicly denounce these grave violations committed by the junta and to hold them accountable for their crimes.

• Myanmar: Government continues to use an array of laws to silence its critics

  Statement at the 43rd Session of the UN Human Rights Council during Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar
  Watch our statement below

   

  We thank the Special Rapporteur for her final report on Myanmar (see all reports), and the outstanding work the mandate has carried out despite the lack of access granted to the country.

  As highlighted in the report, Myanmar has undergone appalling developments in its human rights framework since the Special Rapporteur began her term – from the elections in 2015 which saw a groundswell of hope for positive change, to the horrors of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya in Rakhine state.

  But curtailment of fundamental freedoms and total crackdown on any criticism of authorities has remained grimly consistent. Using an array of restrictive laws, the government has sought to systematically silence dissent. Members of the Peacock Generation poetry troupe face charges in township after township for their satirical criticism of the military, and remain in jail. The internet shutdown in Rakhine state remains in place. Rohingya campaigners outside the country face threats while protesters continue to be arbitrarily arrested and convicted. 

  Filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi and Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been released, but the chilling effect caused by their imprisonment, for undermining the military and reporting on military atrocities respectively, remains.

  The ICJ ruling in January 2020 brought the possibility of accountability for grave human rights abuses one small step closer. Now the Security Council and the wider international community must uphold their obligations to ensure those responsible are brought to trial.  And accountability will never be achieved if those who speak out, now, continue to be arrested and imprisoned. 

  Those on the ground, the human rights defenders and activists who are trying to achieve change, need international support. It is imperative that this crucial mandate is renewed and we ask the Special Rapporteur, as she reaches the end of her mandate, what more this Council can and should be doing to support those in Myanmar brave enough to speak out?

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  See our wider advocacy priorities and programme of activities at the 43rd Session of the UN Human Rights Council

• Myanmar: Hold the junta accountable

  Human Rights Defenders call on ASEAN and the international community to hold the junta accountable for grave human rights violations and atrocity crimes in Myanmar.

• Myanmar: Independent investigation needs access and international community must ensure accountability

  Statement at the 45th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

  Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar 

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  Thank you, Madame President,

  We thank the Independent Investigative Mechanism for its second report.

  We particularly welcome efforts articulated towards outreach and engagement with local and regional civil society. 

  We are alarmed by the continuing lack of access granted to Myanmar to the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), which has been exacerbated owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the mechanism to fulfil its mandate, it is crucial that it has access to information including to relevant evidence of serious international crimes and witnesses. Ongoing failure to ensure unfettered access to journalists, humanitarian actors and human rights monitors to Rakhine state also puts this in jeopardy. We call on the government to grant access to the Mechanism and other actors as a matter of urgency. We further call on Facebook to uphold its commitment to cooperate by providing all relevant evidence it holds, noting that to date it has only partially complied with such requests.

  Myanmar’s future depends on a clear demonstration from the international community that any international crimes will not be tolerated. It also depends on those in Myanmar who speak out on violations and advocate for positive change being listened to, rather than persecuted. We call on the Myanmar government to do so.

  Pursuing criminal accountability is a long process and requires long-term sustainability. We call on the Council to ensure that the Mechanism can enjoy such sustainability by ensuring it adequate resources. We further call on the international community to recognize that the vital work of the Mechanism is only one stage of this process, and to take steps to ensure progress towards accountability is made: including by referring Myanmar to the International Criminal Court or an independent tribunal, and exercising universal jurisdiction to hold the perpetrators accountable. 

  Failing to do so would be a grave abdication of responsibility to the victims of grave human rights violations, their families and communities, who have deserved accountability and justice for so long.

  We ask the Mechanism what steps it is taking to systematize engagement with civil society, and what steps it is taking to ensure sustainability in the event of budget restrictions?

  Thank you.

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  Civic space in Myanmar is rated as Repressed by the CIVICUS Monitor.

  Current council members:

  Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Eritrea, Fiji, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Libya, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mexico, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Slovakia, Somalia, Sudan, Spain, Togo, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela

  Civic space ratings from the CIVICUS Monitor

  OPEN	NARROWED	OBSTRUCTED	REPRESSED	CLOSED

   

• Myanmar: International action needed to restore democracy and protect rights

  🇲🇲#Myanmar: International action needed to restore democracy and protect rights.
  
  🇺🇳Our statement at #HRC46 - country is currently on the @CIVICUSMonitor Watchlist | @RapporteurUn @YangheeLeeSKKU @EUMyanmar @forum_asia @cvdom2021 pic.twitter.com/PP6mBQ3OjP

  — CIVICUS (@CIVICUSalliance) March 12, 2021

  Statement at the 46th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

• Myanmar: International Action Urgently Needed

  By Andrew Firmin,  CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report

  Myanmar’s army, at war with pro-democracy forces and ethnic militias, must know it’s nowhere near victory. It recently came close to losing control of Myawaddy, one of the country’s biggest cities, at a key location on the border with Thailand. Many areas are outside its control.

  The army surely expected an easier ride when it ousted the elected government in a coup on 1 February 2021. It had ruled Myanmar for decades before democracy returned in 2015. But many democracy supporters took up arms, and in several parts of the country they’ve allied with militia groups from Myanmar’s ethnic minorities, with a long history of resisting military oppression.

  Read on Inter Press Service News

• Myanmar: Lift Internet Restrictions in Rakhine and Chin States

  Mobile internet blackout in four townships in Rakhine State among the world’s longest running.

• Myanmar: Regional bloc must move beyond the failed consensus

  One year on, since adopting the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its member states have not achieved any progress in addressing the human rights and humanitarian crisis perpetrated by the military junta.

• Myanmar: Release all activists and politicians detained and restore democracy

  

  Global civil society alliance CIVICUS is alarmed that the military’s takeover of control of Myanmar from the civilian government represents a sharp reversal of the partial yet significant progress toward democracy made in recent years following five decades of military rule and international isolation.

• Myanmar: Restrictions on civil society hamper humanitarian action

  Statement at the 53rd Session of the UN Human Rights Council 

  Interactive Dialogue on written update of the High Commissioner on Myanmar

  Delivered by Kyaw Win

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  Thank you Mr. President,

  CIVICUS and the Burma Human Rights Network thank the High Commissioner for his report on the human rights impact of the denial of humanitarian access in Myanmar.

  Since the coup, more than a million people, especially from ethnic and religious minority communities, have been displaced by the military junta’s indiscriminate airstrikes and systematic atrocities. During the past two years when humanitarian needs have been acute, the junta has routinely and deliberately blocked, confiscated, and destroyed lifesaving aid to prevent it from reaching people in need. Further, the junta’s amendments to the 2014 NGO registration law formalised further restrictions on civil society and humanitarian actions including banking, procurement of aid items and movement of aid workers.

  Compounding these issues, on 14 May, Cyclone Mocha devastated communities in Chin, Rakhine, Kachin states and Magway and Sagaing Regions, impacting over 1.6 million people. The most severely hit areas were Rathedaung and Sittwe townships in Rakhine State. In the wake of the cyclone, the junta issued a notice blocking humanitarian organisations from delivering deliver life-saving aid to impacted communities in Rakhine State where 130,000 Rohingya remain trapped under apartheid like conditions. The cyclone has provided the junta with an opportunity to continue its genocidal campaign against the Rohingya.

  Despite these restrictions, civil society groups, diaspora communities, Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations and the National Unity Government have been at the forefront to effectively provide emergency aid risking death, arrest, torture, and harassment. They must be supported to continue to do so.

  BHRN and CIVICUS call on the Council and the UN to take steps to protect humanitarian groups and provide flexible direct funding to them to support their ability to assist the population-in-need.

  We thank you.

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  Civic space in Myanmar is rated as "closed" by the CIVICUS Monitor

• Myanmar: Situation remains a human rights catastrophe

   Statement at 47th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

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   Delivered by Lisa Majumdar

  Thank you, Madame President,

  We welcome the High Commissioner’s oral update, and that this critical opportunity to address the ongoing crisis in Myanmar was not lost.

  It is over five months since the military junta deposed Myanmar’s elected government, and the situation remains a human rights catastrophe.

  Efforts towards regional diplomacy have not borne results. The five-point plan adopted by ASEAN in April is yet to be implemented and has not resulted in any efforts towards de-escalation, or lessening of loss to life. Instead, armed conflict and other violence are intensifying, with violence particularly intense in areas with significant ethnic and religious minority groups. We urge the Council to ensure that any measures it takes this Session to address intersecting crises in Myanmar takes into account this full context.

  Sweeping arrests of activists, journalists and opponents of the regime have continued across the country. Thousands have been arbitrarily arrested and detained and some have been tortured or ill-treated. They include human rights defenders, trade unionists, student activists, poets, writers, filmmakers and monks. Activists face baseless charges including ‘treason’ which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison or ‘incitement’ which is punishable by up to three years in prison.

  At least 88 journalists have been arrested since the coup, as well as lawyers defending political prisoners. Dozens have fled the country or have sought refuge in territories controlled by ethnic armed organisations. The internet shutdowns, which began following the coup, have now reached a new level of severity.

  The people of Myanmar cannot afford to wait and see if regional diplomacy efforts will take effect. We call on States to call for the release of political prisoners and ensure an end to a free-flowing supply of weapons to a military which shows no intention of ending its campaign of bloodshed. We welcome that several States have imposed targeted sanctions on key individuals of the military and call on other States to do the same. It is the responsibility of States to ensure that perpetrating human rights atrocities bears a cost.

  We thank you.

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  Civic space in Myanmar is rated as Repressed by the CIVICUS Monitor.

• Myanmar: States must ensure that rhetoric at the UN translates to action on the ground

  Statement at the 48th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

   Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Myanmar

  Delivered by Lisa Majumdar

  We thank the Special Rapporteur for his progress report.

  More than a thousand civilians have been killed in Myanmar since February’s coup. The junta has continued its terror campaign against human rights defenders. Many have been forced into hiding. Many others, unable to flee, have been arbitrarily arrested, including environmental and labour rights defenders and student activists. Some have been tortured or ill-treated.

  Arbitrary amendments of the penal code by the junta, outlawing so-called ‘false news,’ has effectively made independent journalism a crime. The threat of arrest has driven many news organisations to close their offices and forced journalists underground or into exile. Two journalists were arrested just last month at an apartment where they had been hiding in Yangon. Authorities have banned satellite media and imposed rolling restrictions on the internet.

  The situation in Myanmar cannot be forgotten and its fragile democratic gains lost to history. Dictatorship must not be allowed to remain in place through inadequacy of the international response.

  The Special Rapporteur has already made urgent calls on States:

  • To outlaw the export of arms to the Myanmar military, as called for by the General Assembly;
  • To impose systemic sanctions, targeting military-controlled enterprises;
  • To cordinate investigations of ongoing crimes under universal jurisdiction;
  • To increase humanitarian aid through the National Unity Government, local humanitarian networks and community-based organisations;
  • And to reject any claims of legitimacy that the junta may try to assert.

  We call on States to take these steps to ensure that rhetoric at the UN translates to action to provide the support so desperately needed by those on the ground.

  Thank you.

  Civic space in Myanmar is rated as repressed by the CIVICUS Monitor

• Myanmar: The deterioration of civic freedoms a year on from the coup

  

  On 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military junta seized power in a coup. The junta arrested the civilian leaders of the national and state governments and declared a state of emergency.

  The junta unleashed a deadly crackdown following mass mobilisation by a ‘civil disobedience movement against the coup. In the last year, peaceful protests have been violently disrupted. The junta arbitrarily arresting or prosecuting activists, students, protesters and journalists, and political prisoners have been tortured or ill-treated. The junta have shut off various communications services – including mobile services and internet access, blocked humanitarian aid and attacked entire villages, forcibly displacing tens of thousands.

  The UN and numerous countries condemned the coup, and some members of the international community have imposed sanctions. But regional efforts to address the crisis or halt the grave human rights violations have been minimal. The five-point consensus agreement decided by ASEAN leaders in Jakarta in April 2021 has seen little tangible progress.

  Nearly a year after the coup, serious violations are still being reported daily – some of which may amount to crimes against humanity - and the human rights and humanitarian crisis continues unabated in Myanmar.

  Lethal crackdown on protests

  Mass protests and strikes took place across Myanmar against the coup. Under the banner of the civil disobedience movement (CDM), doctors, teachers and other civil servants mobilised alongside students and the workers’ movement.

  In response, the Myanmar security forces intensified their crackdown on protests using violent crowd dispersal techniques. The use of water cannon, tear gas, rubber bullets, and sound grenades escalated to battlefield weapons, including assault rifles, light machine guns, sniper rifles and live grenades. Large numbers of battle-hardened troops were deployed into towns and cities to quell the protests. The human rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) has reported 1,493 individuals killed as of 25 January 2022.

  Facing increasing violence from the security forces, demonstrators attempted to protect themselves with homemade shields and construct barricades across roads. Despite this, hundreds have been killed and thousands injured. Nevertheless, protests have persisted.

  Arrest and criminalisation of activists and protesters

  According to AAPPB, a total of 8788 individuals are currently in detention. They include human rights defenders, lawyers, trade unionists, student activists, LGBTQI+ activists, poets, writers, filmmakers and monks. Some were taken in terrifying night-time raids. Others were abducted off the streets, held in secret facilities out of contact with their families and denied access to lawyers. Hundreds of political prisoners have been held in Insein Prison, one of Myanmar’s most notorious jails, on the outskirts of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.

  In  February 2021, the military regime announced amendments to the Penal Code to stifle dissent. Following the coup, a new ‘incitement’ provision, section 505A, was added to criminalise comments that could “cause fear,” spread “false news, [or] agitates directly or indirectly a criminal offence against a Government employee” – which would include any comments on the illegitimacy of the coup or the military government. Violation of the section is punishable by up to three years in prison.

  The junta also significantly broadened the “treason” provisions in section 124 of the Penal Code. Section124A already criminalised comments that “bring into hatred or contempt” or “excite disaffection against” the government. This was expanded to include comments relating to the defence services and defence services personnel, effectively criminalising any criticism of the military or military personnel. Violation of the section is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

  Following the coup, these provisions and other trumped-up charges have been brought against activists and protesters. In further attempts to spread fear, Myanmar’s junta have arrested family members of dissidents in an effort to pressure the dissidents to turn themselves in.

  Journalists at risk

  The junta has systematically targeted journalists since the coup. Over 100 journalists have been arrested, and at least 26 are still imprisoned as of 1 December 2021. Many were detained during newsroom raids or while covering anti-coup street protests. The junta published lists of journalists wanted for providing information about the pro-democracy protests; unsurprisingly, a number of journalists have gone into hiding or have had to flee the country.

  Many have been charged for violating section 505(a) of the penal code, a new provision that makes it a crime to publish or circulate comments that “cause fear” or spread “false news.” Other charges brought against journalists include alleged violations of the Telecommunications Act, the Immigration Act, the Unlawful Association Act, the Insubordination Act and the Natural Disaster Prevention Law.

  In October 2021, it was reported that three journalists jailed by the junta are now facing terrorism charges that could see them sentenced to several years in prison. The journalists are Win Naing Oo, a senior Channel Mandalay reporter, D Myat Nyein, a reporter with the now-defunct Zayar Times in Sagaing Region, and Pyae Phyo Aung, who worked for the same outlet.

  Civil society organisations affected

  The coup has also had a negative impact on civil society organisations due to the legal, financial, and other threats civil society groups are facing. According to a report commissioned by the PROTECT Consortium, one immediate impact of the coup was that many CSOs were forced to reduce or suspend their operations or close their offices. Important documents and files had to move to safer places in different locations, and civil society leaders fearing their lives had to go into hiding or leave the country.

  There are also concerns about the renewal of registration of CSOs, which is granted on a five-year basis and which allows them, among other things, to open organisation bank accounts in the country and receive funding from international donors. Requirements to regularly report on organisational activities is another security concern for registered organisations, as it will be dangerous to share full details about their work. CSOs are also concerned about long term funding given the completely different operating environment in the country post-coup.

  Crackdown on politicians and lawmakers

  Since the junta took control, more than 600 elected lawmakers and officials from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party have been detained in different parts of the country. According to recent reports, more than three-quarters remain in detention.

  In April 2021, the junta declared the National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel government  formed by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) – deposed lawmakers, who had been elected in November 2020 – as an “illegal organisation.” In May 2021, the CRPH and NUG were designated as ‘terrorist groups’. The declaration means that anyone arrested on suspicion of affiliation with the groups would face 10 years to life imprisonment if convicted, according to the country’s Counterterrorism Law.

  The ousted de facto leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been found guilty of incitement against the military under Section 505 (b) and for alleged breaches of COVID-19 measures under Section 25 of the Natural Disaster Management Law and for possessing “illegally imported” walkie-talkies. She faces other politically-motivated charges, including corruption and election fraud, which carry a total potential sentence of more than 100 years in prison.

  Torture and ill-treatment of political prisoners

  There have been continued reports of torture or ill-treatment of political prisoners by the military junta in various prisons and detention centres and, in particular, in Insein Prison, one of Myanmar’s most notorious jails, situated on the outskirts of Yangon.

  In May 2021, it was reported that political prisoners were tortured during interrogation at the hands of authorities. Many were tortured in military compounds, where fellow inmates also suffered abuse while blindfolded throughout intake interrogations. Prisoners were forced to eat from the concrete floor with hands cuffed behind their backs. In June 2021, it was reported that 32 young activists who were arrested for opposing the military coup were tortured during the interrogation process in the Tanintharyi Region. They were made to kneel and were beaten with belts, sticks, metal pipes and chains.

  A report by the Associated Press (AP) in October 2021 found that the junta has been torturing those it has detained in a methodical and systemic way across the country. While most of the torture has occurred inside military compounds, the military has also transformed public facilities such as community halls into makeshift interrogation centres, with multiple military units and police involved in interrogations. The military has taken steps to hide evidence that it has tortured prisoners, with several prisoners saying interrogators brutalised only the parts of their bodies that could be hidden by clothes. Most inmates slept on concrete floors, packed like sardines. Some became sick from drinking dirty water only available from a shared toilet. Cockroaches swarmed over their bodies at night. There was little to no medical treatment.

  The All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) said in January 2022 that it had evidence that three of its members had been tortured by having bamboo sticks thrust inside their rectums in the notorious Mandalay Palace interrogation centre. All three have been denied treatment for their injuries.

  Teachers and health workers targeted

  Civil servants in Myanmar have been involved in the civilian disobedience movement from the start and have been targeted by the junta for their resistance. In May 2021, it was reported that the military junta had suspended more than 125,000 schoolteachers and 19,500 university staff for joining the movement.

  Health workers have been targeted for participating in the protest movement and providing medical care to injured civilians. A report by Insecurity Insight, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and Johns Hopkins University Center for Public Health and Human Rights (CPHHR) in August 2021 found that there had been at least 252 attacks and threats against health workers, facilities and transport. 190 health workers were arrested, 37 health workers were injured, and 25 health workers were killed. Hospitals were raided at least 86 times and occupied by the junta at least 55 times.

  Communications blockade

  As the military coup was underway in February 2021, internet and phone outages were imposed in several parts of the country. Data from the internet monitoring service Netblocks shows disruptions on network operators, including state-owned Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) and an international operator, Telenor.

  Over the year, the junta has attempted to block various forms of communications to interfere with protestors organising and make it harder for citizens, journalists, and human rights activists to broadcast what was happening on the ground to the rest of the world.

  Multiple telecoms companies have been ordered to shut off various communications services, including mobile data, roaming and public wi-fi, for varying lengths of time.

  In March 2021, the junta amended the Electronic Transactions Law to prevent the free flow of information and criminalise the dissemination of information through cyberspace, including expression critical of the coup or the acts of the junta. They include provisions

  that provide criminal penalties for “unauthorised” access to online material and for the creation of “misinformation or disinformation with the intent of causing public panic, loss of trust or social division on cyberspace.”

  In May 2021, the junta added a ban on satellite television to existing restrictions on the internet which appeared to be targeted at independent Burmese language broadcasters such as the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and Mizzima.

  Internet users in at least seven townships in the Sagaing and Mandalay regions experienced limited or no service since 14 September 2021. This came a week after Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) announced the start of a “resistance war” against the regime. On 23 September 2021, the junta cut off mobile internet access and most wi-fi services to 11 townships in Chin State and the Magway Region war-torn areas.

  Restrictions and attacks on humanitarian groups

  The junta has continued to shell, conduct airstrikes, and raid and torch villages across the country, targeting the resistance movement and Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAO) - which have taken public positions against the coup - and displacing tens of thousands of civilians. According to the UN, as of 27 December 2021, an estimated 320,900 people remained internally displaced across Myanmar due to clashes and insecurity since the coup.

  In December 2021, Human Rights Watch reported that the junta had imposed new travel restrictions on humanitarian workers, blocked access roads and aid convoys, destroyed non-military supplies and attacked aid workers. The junta’s interference in relief operations has disregarded calls for unhindered aid delivery by the UN General Assembly, Human Rights Council, Security Council, the European Parliament, and donor governments.

  Two Save the Children’s staff members were among at least 35 people, including women and children, who were killed on 24 December 2021 in a brutal attack by the Myanmar military in Kayah State, in the east of the country.

  The regional and international response

  Human rights groups have continued to criticise ASEAN for its failure to address the human rights violations in Myanmar and for shielding the Myanmar military from international pressure and accountability.

  Immediately following the coup, ASEAN was divided on a collective response. On 24 April 2021, a regional ASEAN summit was held in Jakarta. A statement released after the summit said ASEAN leaders and foreign ministers had finally reached a consensus on five points. They included asking for an immediate cessation of the violence and opening a dialogue between the military and civilian leaders, with the process overseen by a special ASEAN envoy who would visit with a delegation. The group also offered humanitarian assistance. However, the statement made no mention of the thousands who have been arbitrarily detained by the military, including activists, peaceful protesters and journalists and offered no timeline for these actions to be taken or an implementing mechanism. The summit also failed to acknowledge the National Unity Government (NUG).

  On 4 August 2021, ASEAN finally appointed Erywan Yusof, the second foreign minister of Brunei Darussalam, as its special envoy to Myanmar more than 100 days after the Jakarta meeting. Myanmar civil society groups rejected the appointment and expressed “deep disappointment with ASEAN and their lack of inclusive decision-making process”.

  In an unprecedented move, ASEAN agreed in October 2021 to bar Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing over his failure to implement the five-point consensus. Southeast Asian leaders voiced disappointment at the Myanmar junta during the first day of their annual meeting. In November 2021, however, Cambodia took over the chairmanship of ASEAN Expectations of any further positive steps have been low.

  In early January 2022, civil society groups slammed as ‘rogue diplomacy’ the visit of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, on behalf of Cambodia and as Chair of ASEAN, to Myanmar to meet with the junta representative, General Min Aung Hlaing. They called on ASEAN to refrain from further actions that legitimise the junta and effectively implement the five-point consensus. The visit was conducted without consensus from other ASEAN member states, as leaders were divided on this matter.

  At the international level, the UN Security Council has called for an immediate cessation of violence across Myanmar and efforts to ensure the safety of civilians. It has failed to impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar as demanded by civil society groups. China and Russia, which hold veto power on the Security Council and neighbouring India, are the major arms providers to Myanmar. The UN Human Rights Council has also deplored the removal of the elected government, called for the unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained, and highlighted the need for accountability.

  Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States have imposed various targeted sanctions against Myanmar’s top military officials and military-controlled companies. However, no governments have imposed sanctions or other economic blocks on the junta’s oil and natural gas revenues, its single largest source of foreign currency.

  Recommendations to ASEAN and the international community:

  • Call upon the military junta to release all individuals arbitrarily detained human rights defenders, journalists, protesters, politicians, civil society members and refrain from the use of excessive force and firearms against protesters
  • Urge the military junta to allow unfettered Internet access, including on all mobile phone networks, lift all restrictions on access to media sites social media platforms and refrain from imposing any further restrictions against the use of the internet.
  • Raise concerns publicly in multilateral fora including the upcoming Human Rights Council, and renew the Human Rights Council resolution on Myanmar to maintain the crucial UN Special Rapporteur mandate
  • Engage with the National Unity Government (NUG) as the legitimate government of Myanmar, including in multilateral fora such as the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly.
  • Urge the Security Council to immediately impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar and cooperate fully with UN mandates.
  • Cooperate with international mechanisms to meaningfully implement the ASEAN five-point consensus and to hold the junta accountable for its crimes
  • Take proactive steps in providing humanitarian assistance, particularly in ethnic and ceasefire areas.
  • Provide material and diplomatic support to civil society, journalists and activists at risk.

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• Myanmar: the junta’s efforts to erase religious minorities must be stopped

  Statement at the 52nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council 

  Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner on Myanmar

  Delivered by Kyaw Win, Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) 

  Thank you, Mr. President.

  While religious oppression has been a longstanding issue in Burma, the coup emboldened the junta to further persecute, marginalise and incite violence against religious minorities. The junta perpetuates its efforts to erase the identity of all six Muslim minority groups through the denial of their citizenship. Rohingya Muslims are coerced to accept National Verification Cards, which do not provide a predictable or accessible pathway to citizenship, nor does it increase access to rights, including freedom of movement. Nonetheless, some UN agencies and embassies continue to endorse  National Verification Cards (NVCs) as a pragmatic solution to end statelessness. Due to their lack of citizenship, Muslims who have been forced to flee Myanmar are faced with statelessness.

  Divisive and hateful rhetoric targeting non-Buddhist religious groups is used to divide the resistance and divert attention from the coup, Since the coup, BHRN has documented cases of looting, burning, and destruction of properties, shops, and places of worship of Muslim communities. Since the coup, over 20 Islamic religious buildings were attacked by the military and more than 770 houses in Muslim villages have been burned down in Sagaing region. There has also been an increasing number of cases of arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, and killing of Muslims.

  The UN and the international community have not done enough. The longer the international community waits to act, the more emboldened the junta becomes as it continues to commit atrocities. We ask the High Commissioner what the international community should do to ensure accountability for serious human rights violations committed by the junta, to cut revenue streams to the junta, to support Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar and those fleeing to neighbouring countries.

  We thank you.

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  Civic space in Myanmar is rated as "Repressed" by the CIVICUS Monitor

   

• Myanmar: The root causes of violations against the Rohingya & other minorities cannot be addressed without accountability

  Statements at the 50th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

  CIVICUS and our partner, Burma Human Rights Network delivered two statements on the situation of Rohingya and other minorities in and outside Myanmar, please read them below:

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  Interactive Dialogue on High Commisioner Oral update on Myanmar

  Delivered by Kyaw Win, Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN)

  Thank you, Mr. President.

  CIVICUS and the Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) thanks the High Commissioner for her update.

  We remain deeply concerned about the situation and lack of accountability for violations against the Rohingya and other minorities inside and outside Myanmar.

  Monitoring by BHRN has found that arbitrary arrests and restriction of movement continue to occur. On 31 March, ten Rohingyas were arrested on a bus at a checkpoint in Ann Township in Rakhine State by a joint team of military, police, and immigration officials. On 29 April, four Rohingya Muslim women were arrested at a checkpoint in the same township.

  BHRN has documented a steady increase in anti-Muslim hate speech and disinformation in the country. On 2 April, a post on the social media site Facebook included fabricated information, suggesting that jihadists support the pro-democratic activities in Myanmar. The post was liked by hundreds of Facebook users. On 21 April another post on Facebook accused the pro-democracy group People Defence Force (PDF) of killing Buddhist monks with the support of Muslims.

  It is abundantly clear that the conditions are not in place for the safe voluntary return of displaced Rohingya communities, and will not be so as long as the military junta holds power, and we call on the Council to support a resolution which reflects these serious concerns.

  We further call on States to take proactive steps in providing humanitarian assistance through local networks, particularly in ethnic and ceasefire areas, protect new Rohingya asylum seekers and provide material and diplomatic support to civil society, journalists and activists at risk.

  Thank you.

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  The root causes of violations against the Rohingya and other minorities cannot be addressed without accountability

  Panel discussion on the situation of Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar

  Delivered by Kyaw Win

  Thank you, Mr President, and thank you to the panellists.

  CIVICUS and the Burma Human Rights Network are deeply concerned about the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar.

  The Burmese military has increased its attacks on marginalised minorities throughout the country since the coup in February 2021. It frequently uses arson attacks on minority areas. Civilians have regularly been shot arbitrarily by the military in areas where no conflict or armed groups are present. Hatred and hate speech against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities has persisted.

  If mass atrocities, including genocide, can be perpetrated by the military against the Rohingya, other minorities are at risk. Tensions in Chin State, too, have escalated since the coup, with the junta building up their troop presence in the state. Chin State is majority Christian and ethnic minority.

  The efforts by the international community so far have not altered the junta’s course or stopped them from attacking civilians and the restrictions, arrests and attacks on civil society and journalists has made it increasingly difficult to monitor and document these crimes.

  We call on the international community to stem the flow of arms and finances towards the military junta by imposing sanctions on all enterprises that the military directly profits from, particularly the energy sector, and to support a global arms embargo to prevent the military from resupplying weapons that they will use to harm and kill innocent civilians and target minority groups.

  We stress again that the conditions for safe, dignified voluntary return are not in place, and have no prospect of being so while the junta remains in a position of power. The root causes of violations against the Rohingya and other minorities cannot be addressed without accountability.

  We ask panellists what immediate steps can be taken to protect minority groups in Myanmar and to support civil society groups working on this?

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  Civic space in Myanmar is rated as "Repressed" by the CIVICUS Monitor.

   

• Myanmar: UN must take action to prevent refoulement and end brutal campaigns against Rohingya

   

   

  Statement at the 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

  Interactive Dialogue on written update of the High Commissioner on the human rights situation in Myanmar

  Delivered by May Thiri Khin,  Burma Human Rights Network

  Thankyou, Mr. President, 

  CIVICUS and the Burma Human Rights Network thank the High Commissioner for his report on thehuman rights situation in Myanmar wherehe notes a brutal campaign against any form of opposition. Activists facekillings, torture, arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances while communitiessuffer air strikes,forced displacement and denial of humanitarian access.

  We are also concerned by ongoing repatriation processes of the Rohingya intheabsence of conditions for safe, dignified, and sustainable returns.

  Some 600,000 Rohingya remain trapped in camps in Rakhine state under a system of discriminatory laws and policies that amount to crimes against humanity and ongoing genocide. They face restrictions to freedom of movement, their livelihoods, and their access to education and health. Both Bangladesh and Myanmar junta are trying to coerce refugees in Bangladesh to return without consulting the community or addressing the grave risks to their lives and liberty. These measures would be refoulement and against international law. 

  We are also concerned about the obstructions civil society groups delivering aid faced in Rakhine following Cyclone Mocha including threats and arrests and suspension of all travel authorisation, leaving the Rohingya exposed to serious life-threatening conditions.

  BHRN and CIVICUS call on the international community to acknowledge the illegitimacy of the military junta’s power inMyanmarand condemn any efforts to forcibly return Rohingya refugees to an active war zone. 

  BHRN and CIVICUS call on the Council and the UN to takestrong, coordinated action to prevent further atrocities against the Rohingya and others by the military junta. 

  We thank you.

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  Civic space in Myanmar is rated as "Closed" by the CIVICUS Monitor. 

   

• Myanmar: UN review critical moment to address repressed civic freedoms

  Statement on Myanmar ahead of Universal Periodic Review on Human Rights

  CIVICUS, Free Expression Myanmar and Asia Democracy Network call on UN member states to urge the Government of Myanmar to protect civic freedoms as its human rights record is examined by the UN Human Rights Council on 25 January 2021 as part of the 37^th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). 

  At the county’s second UPR five years ago, UN member states made 22 recommendations that directly related to civic space. Myanmar subsequently accepted seven recommendations, committing to taking concrete measures to, among others, “create and maintain a safe and enabling environment for civil society, human rights defenders and journalists” and to “work to ensure that freedom of opinion and expression are protected”.

  In a joint submission to this UPR cycle, our organisations assessed implementation of these recommendations and compliance with international human rights law and standards over the last five years. The submission found that since 2015, the authorities have perpetrated serious human rights violations and escalated attacks on democratic freedoms. 

  The government has continued to use an array of unwarrantedly restrictive laws to arrest and prosecute human rights defenders, activists, journalists and government critics for the peaceful exercise of their freedoms of association and expression. Artists have also been targeted: members of the Peacock Generation ‘Thangyat’ poetry troupe remain jailed following their arrest in 2019 for allegedly criticising the military in a satirical performance that was livestreamed on Facebook. Since June 2019, the government has imposed an effective internet blackout in parts of Rakhine and Chin States and silenced those critical of the shutdown.

  ‘States must take the opportunity of Myanmar’s UPR to hold the government to account for violations,’ said David Kode, Advocacy and Campaign Lead at CIVICUS. ‘Myanmar has not adequately delivered on the human rights commitments it made during its last cycle and those on the ground being persecuted for demanding reforms, for reporting on atrocities or simply for expressing dissent, need support from the international community.’

  Myanmar further committed in its last UPR to “take concrete steps to promote and protect the right of peaceful assembly.” As our submission shows, however, restrictions on peaceful protests remain in law and practice. Arbitrary arrest and prosecution of protesters has been widespread, and the authorities have used excessive force and firearms to disperse protests against government policies and in land disputes with businesses.

  More egregiously, gross human rights violations against the Rohingya in Rakhine State continue. Since 2016, the authorities – both military and civilian – have denied access or imposed restrictions on access for humanitarian CSOs providing aid to Rakhine State, including shelter, food and protection, predominantly to Rohingya people.

  ‘Myanmar’s elections last year – the second election since the end of military rule in 2011 – highlighted the downward spiral of rights with the censorship of political parties, ongoing internet restrictions in Rakhine and Chin States and the systematic and deliberate disenfranchisement of voters from ethnic minorities. This must be reflected in recommendations made during the country’s UPR,’ said Ichal Supriadi, Secretary-General of the Asia Democracy Network

  As highlighted in our joint submission, CIVICUS, Free Expression Myanmar and Asia Democracy Network urge states to make recommendations to Myanmar which if implemented would guarantee the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression, and the state’s duty to protect.

  Key recommendations that should be made include:

  • Provide HRDs, civil society members and journalists with a safe and secure environment in which they can carry out their work and unconditionally and immediately release all HRDs and activists detained for exercising their fundamental rights to the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression and drop all charges against them.
  • Initiate a consolidated process of repeal or amendment of legalisation that unwarrantedly restricts the legitimate work of HRDs and civil society. Specifically, we call for the  repeal or review of all criminal defamation laws including section 66(d) of the 2013 Telecommunication Law, Section 9(a,b,g), Section 25 and 30 of the News Media Law, Section 46 of the Anti-Corruption Law, Section 34(d) of the Electronic Transaction Law, section 499 to 502 of Penal Code and repeal the Unlawful Associations Act 2014.
  • Lift the effective internet shutdown in Rakhine and Chin State and refrain from measures to prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online intentionally, in violation of international human rights law.
  • Review and amend the News Media Law, the Printing and Publication Enterprise Law, and the Official Secrets Act to ensure that these laws are in line with international standards in the area of the freedom of expression.
  • Ensure that journalists and human rights monitors are provided unfettered access to all areas, particularly conflict-affected regions, and can work freely and without fear of reprisals for expressing critical opinions or covering topics that the government may deem sensitive.
  • Amend the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law in order to guarantee fully the right to the freedom of peaceful assembly.  
  • Guarantee to the Rohingya people and other minorities the full enjoyment of their civil and political rights and take material measures to address the serious crimes they have suffered

  The examination of Myanmar will take place during the 37^th Session of the UPR. The UPR is a process, in operation since 2008, which examines the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States every four and a half years. The review is an interactive dialogue between the State delegation and members of the Council and addresses a broad range of human rights topics. Following the review, a report and recommendations are prepared, which is discussed and adopted at the following session of the Human Rights Council. 

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  Civic space in Myanmar is rated as Repressed by the CIVICUS Monitor, see country page.

• Myanmar: Under the name of democracy, the military rules

  Guest article by Thinzar Shunlei Yi, Advocacy Coordinator, Action Committee for Democracy Development