ND-Burma’s bi-annual report finds human rights situation deteriorating across the country
ND-Burma documented 45 cases of human rights violations across four states and regions over the period January – June 2018. ND-Burma recorded 24 cases over the same six-month period in 2017, and 50 cases over the whole of 2017.
The uptick in human rights violations recorded is the result of an intensification in conflict in Kachin and northern Shan states. Three quarters of the human rights violations ND-Burma documented were in Kachin (17 cases) and northern Shan (17 cases). In these areas civilians have been subjected to shelling, arbitrary arrest, torture, and death and injury by landmines.
The reporting period also saw the curtailment of fundamental freedoms. In Arakan State (8 cases) a police crackdown on a protest resulted in the death and injury of civilians and an unclaimed bomb explosion resulted in the arbitrary arrest of a former political prisoner. An anti-war protest in Rangoon (3 cases) led to the detention of a number of demonstrators.
The majority of human rights violations were committed by government security forces (31 cases). Several instances of death and injury by landmines were recorded (7 cases). ND-Burma also documented human rights violations committed by ethnic armed organisations (5 cases), including arbitrary arrest and detention, forced recruitment and labour, and death as a result of fighting between armed groups in civilian areas.
None of the cases in this update have seen justice. In one case, the Burma army gave 200,000 kyats (approx. 150 USD) to the family of a woman raped by a soldier in northern Shan State.
ND-Burma’s documentation shows that as long as there is impunity for human rights violations, they will continue. Government security forces continue to show little respect for human life, in particular in conflict zones, and armed groups also commit human rights abuses. Civilians are the victims and urgently need a government reparations programme to address the impact of human rights violations and end impunity.
