Burma Campaign UK today published a new briefing paper, Recent Reports On Burma, which summarises key points from some of the most recent reports on Burma.
In early November 2014 President Obama visited Burma for the second time. His visit helped to focus attention on the fact that Burma’s reform process has not only stalled, but in some areas gone into reverse. Several human rights organisations published reports to coincide with his visit, and media published in-depth analysis. This briefing paper summarises the key findings of these recent reports on Burma.
Drawn together, these reports paint a picture of a country still plagued by a wide range of human rights violations, including a wide range of human rights violations which violate international law.
If Burma was undergoing a reform process that was genuinely intended to transform Burma into a democracy, there would obviously be a challenging legacy to address, and implementing reforms would take time. However, almost four years into the reform process, these reports highlight a serious failure to start addressing many of these problems, to a degree which calls the entire reform process into question.
Even more alarming is that these reports document many human rights violations which are not simply legacy issues, but instead have grown alarmingly since the reform process began.
“Pulling together facts from some of the recent reports on human rights violations in Burma highlights just how many problems are going unaddressed, and how many violations of international law are taking place,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK.