MYANMAR: The problem of a U.N. member state disconnected from a normative framework: Myanmar and the Human Rights Council review

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 2, 2011 ALRC-CWS-16-12-2011 Language(s): English only HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Sixteenth session, Agenda Item 4, Interactive Dialogue with the SR on Myanmar A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status MYANMAR: The problem of a U.N. member state disconnected from a normative framework: Myanmar and the Human Rights Council review 1. In a separate submission to this session of the Human Rights Council, the Asian Legal Resource Centre has analyzed how the Government of Myanmar recently treated the Universal Periodic Review process not as an opportunity for dialogue of the sort that the process envisages but as […]

MYANMAR: UPR as an exercise in the making of fiction: An analysis of the presentation by Myanmar

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 21, 2011 ALRC-CWS-16-05-2011 Language(s): English only HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Sixteenth session, Agenda Item 4, Interactive Dialogue with the SR on Myanmar A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status MYANMAR: UPR as an exercise in the making of fiction: An analysis of the presentation by Myanmar 1. In submissions on Myanmar for the Universal Periodic Review process of the Human Rights Council, the Asian Legal Resource Centre among 24 concerned organizations made submissions based upon years of in-depth research into the egregious human rights situation in that country. The ALRC took the process very seriously. It […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Dossier of torture cases submitted to U.N. experts

Not only are the types of torture allegedly carried out on these three persons highly systematized and utterly inhumane, but the rest of the system is just as systematic and inhumane in its denial of complaints that such abuses have been committed FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE ALRC-PRL-009-2010 A Press Release by the Asian Legal Resource Centre BURMA/MYANMAR: Dossier of torture cases submitted to U.N. experts (Hong Kong, August 27, 2010) The Asian Legal Resource Centre on Wednesday submitted a special dossier to a group of United Nations human rights experts on recent cases of extreme, prolonged torture by police officers in Burma. The 66-page dossier, entitled “Recent complaints of […]

BURMA/MYANMAR: Legal and institutional encouragement of torturers in Myanmar

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 25, 2010 ALRC-CWS-15-05-2010 Language(s): English only HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Fifteenth session, Agenda Item 4, General Debate A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status BURMA/MYANMAR: Legal and institutional encouragement of torturers in Myanmar 1. At the 13th session of the Human Rights Council, the Asian Legal Resource Centre described the incidence of torture in all types of criminal cases in Myanmar (A/HRC/13/NGO/56, 23 February 2010). These include cases involving persons accused of anti-government activities, persons alleged to have committed ordinary crimes, and persons whom the police and other officials torture simply to extract payments. The types […]

BURMA: The absence of normative and institutional frameworks to protect human rights in Myanmar

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 24, 2010 ALRC-CWS-15-04-2010 Language(s): English only HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Fifteenth session, Agenda Item 4, General Debate A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status BURMA: The absence of normative and institutional frameworks to protect human rights in Myanmar 1. The Asian Legal Resource Centre has closely studied and documented the situation of human rights in Myanmar for close to a decade, throughout much of which it has also presented findings on a range of topics to the UN Commission on Human Rights, and more recently, to the Human Rights Council. The topics that it has addressed […]

MYANMAR: The limitations of the global human rights movement – a case study from Myanmar

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 26, 2010 ALRC-CWS-14-07-2010 Language(s): English only HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Fourteenth session, Agenda Item 4, General Debate A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status MYANMAR: The limitations of the global human rights movement – a case study from Myanmar 1. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) has worked intimately on a range of grave human rights issues and cases from across its region over many years. From its accumulated experience, the ALRC is aware that under some circumstances and in some places, conventional approaches and interventions from the global human rights movement can have excellent effects. […]

MYANMAR/BURMA: The absence of minimum conditions for elections

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 20, 2010 ALRC-CWS-14-03-2010 Language(s): English only HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Fourteenth session, Agenda Item 4, General Debate A Joint Written Statement to the 14th Session of the Human Rights Council from Lawyers� Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) and the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) MYANMAR/BURMA: The absence of minimum conditions for elections 1. The Government of Myanmar has this year issued a raft of laws and rules for the holding of national and regional elections for new parliaments under the army-prepared 2008 Constitution. The elections are expected late in 2010 but no firm announcement has been made and they could be postponed until any time in the future, […]

MYANMAR: Addressing torture, corruption and justice delivery must be a priority for the UN

Date: March 16, 2010 Document id: ALRC-COS-13-16-2010 Speaker: Michael Anthony HRC section: Item 4: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar An Oral Statement to the 13th Session of the Human Rights Council by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organization with general consultative status MYANMAR: Addressing torture, corruption and justice delivery must be a priority for the UN video from UN webcast archive Thank you, The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) welcomes the conclusions in the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar�s report. As you point out, the current system of administration of justice is seriously flawed. The ALRC has submitted a […]

MYANMAR/BURMA: Torture of detainees in Myanmar

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 26, 2010 ALRC-CWS-13-09-2010 Language(s): English only HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Thirteenth session, Agenda Item 4, Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status MYANMAR/BURMA: Torture of detainees in Myanmar 1. Anecdotally, the use of torture in Myanmar is extremely common. Torture is committed not only in special interrogation centres at the hands of military intelligence personnel and Special Branch police but also in ordinary police stations around the country, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment is routine in prisons and other detention facilities. 2. In September 2009, […]

MYANMAR/BURMA: Effects of endemic corruption in Myanmar’s courts on rights of citizens

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 25, 2010 ALRC-CWS-13-08-2010 Language(s): English only HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Thirteenth session, Agenda Item 4, Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status MYANMAR/BURMA: Effects of endemic corruption in Myanmar’s courts on rights of citizens 1. For years the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) has learned of the profound level of corruption in the police and courts of Burma. Practically every step in an ordinary criminal case can be accompanied by payments of one kind or another, which have a profound effect on the already extraordinarily limited avenues that […]