The Human Rights Encyclopedia. Vol. 2.pdf

T H E

HUMAN

RIGHTS

E N C Y C L O P E D I A

Volume Two

Foreword by Aung San Suu Kyi

Winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize

JAMES R.LEWIS

U n i v e r s i t y o f W i s c o n s i n a t S t e v e n s Po i n t

CARL SKUTSCH

S c h o o l o f V i s u a l A r t s , N e w Yo r k , N Y

SHARPE REFERENCE

an imprint of M .E.Sharpe,Inc.

T H E

HUMAN

RIGHTS

E N C Y C L O P E D I A

Myanmar (Burma)

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is lo-

cated in Southeast Asia, bordering the Bay of

Bengal and the Andaman Sea, between

Bangladesh, China, India, Laos, and Thai-

land. The population, estimated at just over

50 million, is composed of seven major eth-

nic minorities and several smaller ones. The

majority ethnic group, Burmese, who make

up approximately 68 percent of the total pop-

ulation, are mostly Buddhist, while Chris-

tians and Muslims combined make up less

than 10 percent of the total population. Over

106 languages and dialects are spoken.

movement, General Aung San, were assas-

sinated. The killings weakened the union

of ethnic groups who had placed their trust

in these original leaders. Several ethnic

groups subsequently began to struggle for

increased autonomy from the majority

Burmese. This has led to continued strife in

Myanmar to this day.

The independence leaders had created a

parliamentary democracy which continued

to function, despite a context of continuing

ethnic strife, until 1962. On the eve of

peace negotiations between the Burmese

and minority ethnic groups, an army coup

led by General Ne Win resulted in a dicta-

torship that has lasted ever since.

Throughout Ne Win’s reign, which lasted

ostensibly through 1988, Burma closed it-

self to the world, forsaking foreign trade

and international economics in favor of the

“Burmese Way to Socialism.” While black

markets flourished, Burma’s economy was

decimated. In 1987, the United Nations de-

clared Burma a “least developed country.”

In addition to poor economic management,

Ne Win’s rule was known particularly for its

brutality and paranoia. He devised and over-

saw the Military Intelligence Service (MIS),

which maintained a pervasive network of in-

formers and spies throughout the country.

By 1988, frustration with Ne Win reached

a boiling point when several Burmese stu-

dents launched a pro-democracy movement

that quickly encompassed the entire na-

tion. The army squelched the national

demonstrations that ensued by shooting

non-violent protestors. Casualty estimates

range from 6,000 to 10,000, and most were

shot at close range.

BACKGROUND

In 1948, while working to gain indepen-

dence from Britain, several important lead-

ers, including the hero of the independence

384

Myanmar (Burma)

385

In response to the unrest and Ne Win’s

failing health, the military reorganized it-

self into the State Law and Order Restora-

tion Council (SLORC)—later renamed the

State Peace and Development Council

(SPDC) in 1997—and abolished all rem-

nants of civilian administration. The SPDC

junta is led formally by General Than Shwe,

the top general of the army. The junta is

comprised of eighty cabinet members, in-

cluding forty SPDC ministers.

To pacify the people, the military called

for a general parliamentary election in

1990. Opposition parties were briefly al-

lowed to form, and the National League for

Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San’s

daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, quickly be-

came the leading democratic opposition

party. In 1989, just months before the elec-

tion, the SPDC placed Suu Kyi and several

of her NLD colleagues under house arrest,

fearing her popularity in the upcoming elec-

tion. The NLD triumph, however, was still

overwhelming. The party won 392 of the

485 seats in Parliament, while ethnic mi-

nority groups opposing the regime won an

additional 65. The military-backed Nation-

al Unity Party (NUP) won only ten seats.

Instead of recognizing the results of the

election, the regime backpedaled, stating

that the delegates were elected to draft a

constitution rather than form a Parliament.

Still under house arrest, Suu Kyi was

awarded the Sakharov Prize from the Eu-

ropean Parliament in 1990 and the Nobel

Peace Prize in 1991. She remained under

house arrest until 1995, when she was for-

mally released. Despite her release, Suu Kyi

remains under virtual house arrest—she is

forbidden from traveling out of Yangon

(Rangoon) and from giving speeches in the

city. Moreover, most visitors are blocked

from entering her house, and those that do

meet her risk detention or even imprison-

ment. In early 1999, Suu Kyi’s husband be-

came terminally ill in England, but the

junta refused to grant him a travel visa so

he could visit her at home. In March 1999

he passed away before the two were able to

reunite.

In August 2000, Suu Kyi was again im-

prisoned, this time in her own car. On her

way to a meeting with supporters, she was

stopped by army roadblocks and kept in her

car for nine days. She was then forced to

return to her house, where, as of September

2000, she remains under house arrest. This

new attack on Suu Kyi has attracted inter-

national outrage and condemnation.

The NLD, the party Suu Kyi leads, con-

sistently challenges the junta’s rule. In June

1998 Suu Kyi and the NLD issued an ulti-

matum stating that if the junta continued to

refuse to open the duly elected Parliament,

the NLD would convene it independently.

Instead of allowing the NLD to move for-

ward, the junta arrested several hundred

members of the party, including over 150

elected military police. In response, the NLD

formed the Committee Representing the

People’s Parliament (CRPP) to speak for the

Parliament it was unable to convene. Par-

liamentarians in several nations have rec-

ognized the CRPP as a legitimate and legal

body.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Numerous reports by Amnesty Internation-

al, Human Rights Watch, the United Nations

(UN), and the U.S. Department of State doc-

ument gross violations of human rights by

the Myanmar regime. These include arbi-

trary imprisonment, torture, widespread

rape, murder, rampant forced labor, and

massive forced relocations. Violations are

felt most acutely in ethnic areas, where the

SPDC wages a military campaign against

386

The Human Rights Encyclopedia

ethnic minorities who have fought for in-

creased autonomy.

According to Amnesty International, over

1,200 political prisoners remain in prison,

among them student leader Min Ko Naing

and eighty-one-year-old medical doctor U

Saw Mra Aung. Prisoners are subjected to

inhumane and cruel treatment. They are

beaten severely, denied medical care and

healthy food, and forced to work in harsh

prison labor camps. Several prisoners were

reportedly tortured to death. The Interna-

tional Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

terminated operations in Myanmar after the

junta refused ICRC representatives access

to political prisoners.

Freedom of expression is curtailed

through martial law. The junta often in-

vokes the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act

(Section J), which serves as a blanket law

forbidding political action. The Press Scruti-

ny Board strictly reviews all writing that crit-

icizes the junta, and several authors,

including U Ohn Myint, have been impris-

oned for circumventing the board’s objec-

tives. In addition, Law 5/96, The Law

Protecting Peaceful and Systematic Trans-

fer of State Responsibility and the Success-

ful Performance of the Functions of the

National Convention Against Disturbance

and Opposition, prevents critics from “de-

liver[ing] speeches or mak[ing] statements

in order to undermine the stability of the

state.” The regime has used such laws to

imprison political activists for up to fifty-

eight years each. Freedom of speech is fur-

ther prevented by barring the use of fax

machines, cell phones, and computers with-

out government permission. In 1996, Leo

Nichols, a former consul from Denmark,

was arrested for operating a fax machine

and phone lines without permission from

the government. He was sentenced to three

years in jail, and a month later he died in jail

while waiting appeal. It is widely suspected

that Nichols was tortured, as he was buried

the following day without an autopsy.

The junta has displaced over 1 million

people as external and internal refugees.

In Bangladesh, over 21,000 Rohingyas

(Burmese Muslims in the Rakhine State)

remain in refugee camps, having fled from

attacks by the army against groups fighting

for autonomy. In Thailand, over 100,000

Myanmar refugees, mostly of the Karen eth-

nic group, live in refugee camps. They fled

in fear of human rights abuses of the army.

Thailand is a not a signatory to the UN Pro-

tocol Relating to the Status of Refugees,

which has until recently prevented the UN

from intervening to protect refugees from

army attacks.

For the past decade, well-meaning aid or-

ganizations and individual donors have

supported the refugees. In 1999, however,

Thailand agreed to allow the United Nations

High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

to monitor the safety and welfare of the

refugee camps for the first time.

Forced labor is pervasive, especially in

border areas. Soldiers often force ethnic vil-

lagers to carry military artillery and serve as

human mine sweepers upon threat of exe-

cution. Women often work “double duty,”

serving as porters during the day and sex

slaves at night. In June 1999, the Interna-

tional Labor Organization (ILO) effectively

suspended Myanmar from participation in

the ILO until the junta stops using forced

labor: “The government of Myanmar should

henceforth not receive any invitation to at-

tend meetings, symposia and seminars or-

ganized by the ILO, except such meetings

that have the sole purpose of securing im-

mediate and full compliance.”

Women traditionally are granted lower

social status than men, even though the

junta has acceded to the Convention to

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