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Human Rights
Even a cursory knowledge of international current affairs will tell you that Burma is one of the worst offenders when it comes to human rights abuse. The basic freedoms and rights that most people enjoy and even take for granted cannot be imagined for most of the Burmese population. Theirs is a society where fear of random execution, rape, imprisonment, and intellectual and educational suppression is only too common. Of course, these conditions are recognized throughout the world. The United Nations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International publish regular reports of human rights abuse of the Burmese. Recommendations are made to the ruling military junta (the so-called State Peace and Development Council) and just as often, no positive response is seen. As a consequence, both the United States and the European Union impose regular sanctions against Burma, in the hope of enforcing fundamental change.
Human rights abuse in Burma is by no means a new phenomenon. The military coup in 1962 led by General Ne Win saw the beginnings of human rights abuse and the end of democratically elected government. In 1988 a popular uprising against the military junta led to over 10,000 deaths in suppressing the protests. Since then, in 1990, the National League for Democracy won just over 80% of the seats in a general election that was ignored by the ruling military powers. Indeed, the leader of the NLD, Aung San Suu Kyi has spent many of her recent years as the most notable, but by no means the only political prisoner who dared to speak out against the oppression suffered. These bare historical facts indicate how the human rights abuses seen have been allowed to grow and flourish in Burma.
As indicated above, the taking of political prisoners is commonplace in Burma. In his most recent report to the UN General Assembly in September 2006, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Professor Pinheiro, estimated the number of political prisoners at 1,185. Some political prisoners are reported to suffer serious ill-treatment.. Freedom of expression is just one of the many liberties not afforded to the Burmese: anyone who speaks out publicly against the official line is likely to be arrested and sentenced to a long prison sentence.
It is a sad fact that over 40% of the Burmese population live under the subsistence level. When one considers that some 40% of the junta's budget is spent on defence, this fact is unsurprising. Indeed, four times as much is spent on defence than on health and education combined. The military junta is both unwilling and unable to provide the people with adequate health services or a decent education, and they are also deprived of international, unbiased sources of information. The State radio and television services, for example, effectively act as a State propaganda machine keep the population subdued and in line. The less the Burmese know of the outside world, the less inclined they will be to protest against their treatment.
Burma is predominately a Buddhist nation. However, there are communities of Muslim and Christian people. It is these people who have occasionally been targeted by the military. Mosques have been ransacked and destroyed; churches have been attacked. Any Buddhist leader promoting human rights or democracy is quickly removed. Religious persecution was the cause of the mass escape of 250,000 Muslims to Bangladesh in 1989. Furthermore, the military has been known to manipulate any differences between ethnic minorities in Burma into an excuse to exacerbate the campaign of terror and victimisation against these communities.
Another key feature of the Burmese lifestyle is the squalid nature of working conditions. Labour unions are not allowed within Burma, a fact that the ILO has long since fought to change - so far without success. Without this basic employment protection, working conditions are often cruel and dangerous. Forced labour is also far too widespread. Sadly, it is often the women and children who suffer most. As a result, the ILO is now considering whether to seek an advisory ruling from the International Court of Justice for their failure to eradicate forced labour. In 2002, Unocal (a US energy company) was sued, but settled out of court, for alleged human rights abuses in Burma. It was claimed that, in the construction of a $1.3bn pipeline through Burma, local workers were forcibly relocated. The fact that the military junta had a 15% stake in the investment made it unlikely that residents' human rights would take precedence over the lucrative gains available.
Burma faces continued international pressure to improve its human rights record and allow the population to decide how they are to be governed. Political and economic pressure is applied in the form of sanctions, imposed most significantly by Western nations. However, what is clear is that little or no progress in this area has been observed. Cultural oppression, religious persecution and brutal tyranny spring all too readily to mind when thinking of Burma. Independent thought and expression of opinion is repressed in the form of imprisonment and serious ill-treatment. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who at the time of writing, is still under house arrest in Burma. International organisations and bodies such as the UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, International Labour Organisation place positive change in Burma high on their list of priorities. The world is watching and listening.
Human rights abuse in Burma is by no means a new phenomenon. The military coup in 1962 led by General Ne Win saw the beginnings of human rights abuse and the end of democratically elected government. In 1988 a popular uprising against the military junta led to over 10,000 deaths in suppressing the protests. Since then, in 1990, the National League for Democracy won just over 80% of the seats in a general election that was ignored by the ruling military powers. Indeed, the leader of the NLD, Aung San Suu Kyi has spent many of her recent years as the most notable, but by no means the only political prisoner who dared to speak out against the oppression suffered. These bare historical facts indicate how the human rights abuses seen have been allowed to grow and flourish in Burma.
As indicated above, the taking of political prisoners is commonplace in Burma. In his most recent report to the UN General Assembly in September 2006, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Professor Pinheiro, estimated the number of political prisoners at 1,185. Some political prisoners are reported to suffer serious ill-treatment.. Freedom of expression is just one of the many liberties not afforded to the Burmese: anyone who speaks out publicly against the official line is likely to be arrested and sentenced to a long prison sentence.
It is a sad fact that over 40% of the Burmese population live under the subsistence level. When one considers that some 40% of the junta's budget is spent on defence, this fact is unsurprising. Indeed, four times as much is spent on defence than on health and education combined. The military junta is both unwilling and unable to provide the people with adequate health services or a decent education, and they are also deprived of international, unbiased sources of information. The State radio and television services, for example, effectively act as a State propaganda machine keep the population subdued and in line. The less the Burmese know of the outside world, the less inclined they will be to protest against their treatment.
Burma is predominately a Buddhist nation. However, there are communities of Muslim and Christian people. It is these people who have occasionally been targeted by the military. Mosques have been ransacked and destroyed; churches have been attacked. Any Buddhist leader promoting human rights or democracy is quickly removed. Religious persecution was the cause of the mass escape of 250,000 Muslims to Bangladesh in 1989. Furthermore, the military has been known to manipulate any differences between ethnic minorities in Burma into an excuse to exacerbate the campaign of terror and victimisation against these communities.
Another key feature of the Burmese lifestyle is the squalid nature of working conditions. Labour unions are not allowed within Burma, a fact that the ILO has long since fought to change - so far without success. Without this basic employment protection, working conditions are often cruel and dangerous. Forced labour is also far too widespread. Sadly, it is often the women and children who suffer most. As a result, the ILO is now considering whether to seek an advisory ruling from the International Court of Justice for their failure to eradicate forced labour. In 2002, Unocal (a US energy company) was sued, but settled out of court, for alleged human rights abuses in Burma. It was claimed that, in the construction of a $1.3bn pipeline through Burma, local workers were forcibly relocated. The fact that the military junta had a 15% stake in the investment made it unlikely that residents' human rights would take precedence over the lucrative gains available.
Burma faces continued international pressure to improve its human rights record and allow the population to decide how they are to be governed. Political and economic pressure is applied in the form of sanctions, imposed most significantly by Western nations. However, what is clear is that little or no progress in this area has been observed. Cultural oppression, religious persecution and brutal tyranny spring all too readily to mind when thinking of Burma. Independent thought and expression of opinion is repressed in the form of imprisonment and serious ill-treatment. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who at the time of writing, is still under house arrest in Burma. International organisations and bodies such as the UN Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, International Labour Organisation place positive change in Burma high on their list of priorities. The world is watching and listening.