Human Rights in Burma Deteriorating: Report

By LALIT K JHA

WASHINGTON — The human rights situation has worsened in Burma in the months since a large-scale international relief operation began in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, according to a report released on Wednesday by Washington-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In its annual report, HRW highlighted both the Burmese regime’s poor handling of the relief and rescue mission in the cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta and its continuing crackdown on political dissidents.

The report alleged that the ruling military junta in Burma has systematically denied its citizens basic freedoms, including freedom of expression, association and assembly.

Referring to the series of long-term prison sentences imposed on pro-democracy activists late last year, the report said that the number of political prisoners in the country now stands at more than 2,150.

“In October and November, more than 70 political activists, monks, nuns, labor activists, and journalists were tried in secret proceedings in prison or closed sessions in court,” the report said.

Many of the harshest sentences were handed down to people who participated in the 2007 demonstrations; 14 of them were sentenced to 65 years each. Members of the 88 Generation Students group faced 22 charges, including contact with exiled political groups and unlawfully publishing documents, and faced sentences of 150 years.

Four lawyers representing activists were also jailed for contempt of court after they attempted to withdraw from legal representation to protest the unfair proceedings.

The Burmese military continues to violate the rights of civilians in ethnic conflict areas, the report said. Extrajudicial killings, forced labor, land confiscation without due process and other rights violations continued in these areas in 2008, according to HRW’s annual World Report 2009, which documents human rights abuses and violations across the globe.

The international community in general and the US and European countries in particular continued to oppose the junta in Burma, but its big neighbors, including India, China and Thailand, remained the military’s key supporters.

China, Russia, India and Thailand continue to provide diplomatic support for the Burmese junta and are major trade and investment partners, the report said.

Foreign investment in Burma’s oil and natural gas sector increased in 2008, particularly in connection with a major offshore gas project led by a Korean consortium and a planned overland pipeline to the Burma-China border.

HRW alleged the junta continued widespread and systematic forced recruitment of child soldiers. The non-state armed groups also recruited and deployed children in conflict-prone areas.