Description:
Executive Summary:
"This report documents the Government of Burma?s torture and ill treatment against
its own people since the 2010 elections. This report demonstrates that the Burmese
government continues to commit these abuses despite being bound to international
human rights treaties and norms. Furthermore, the lack of domestic legislation
prohibiting torture, the absence of an independent judiciary, and an ineffective
Human Rights Commission contribute to a climate where torture and ill treatment
are perpetrated with impunity.
From January to December 2011 alone, ND-Burma?s member organizations
documented 371 cases of human rights violation across the country of which 83
cases, or 22 percent constitute torture and ill treatment. Torture and ill treatment
in Burma takes place in two distinct places: (1) in detention centers where political
prisoners are interrogated and held, and (2) in ethnic nationality areas where the
Burmese military is present.
Torture of political prisoners generally takes place shortly after an individual is
arrested during interrogations. It can, along with ill treatment, continue for years –
even decades – while political prisoners serve inordinately long sentences.
In ethnic nationality areas torture seldom takes place in formal detention centers
but is meted out in military bases or remote rural villages. Shan State and Kachin
State are particularly hard hit. Evidence gathered by ND-Burma shows that torture
and ill-treatment in ethnic areas often takes place within the context of other
human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest, forced labor, forced portering,
confi scation of property, restriction of movement, and sexual violence.
The report makes a number of recommendations to the Government of Burma
and the international community. Chief among these are calls for the adoption
of legislation guaranteeing basic rights for the people of Burma, particularly the
internationally recognized right to be free from torture and ill-treatment, and
laws that ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes face justice. There are also
calls for more education, training and public awareness about torture in order to
prevent future violations as well as calls to institute safeguards and programs that
guarantee that victims have available, credible, accessible remedies to deal with
torture should it take place. This report also raises concerns regarding the new
National Human Rights Commission, including its lack of full independence, its
inability to investigate crimes committed by the military, and its failure to comply
fully with best practices for national human rights commissions as described in the
Paris Principles.
Torture and ill treatment have a ripple effect, with potentially long lasting negative
consequences for individuals, families and society as a whole. This report serves
as a reminder to the Government of Burma and the international community that
significant hurdles remain for Burma to emerge as a functioning democracy that
respects the Rule of Law and the rights of the people of Burma, particularly ethnic
nationalities."
Source/publisher:
Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND-Burma)
Date of Publication:
2012-05-28
Date of entry:
2012-05-28
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English (Burmese press release and video)
Local URL:
Format:
pdf pdf
Size:
1.53 MB 135.22 KB