Human Rights abuses continue in Myanmar

(May 24, 2011) Human rights abuses continue in Myanmar. A new report sees little improvement in the rights situation , as the country reaches the final stage of its seven-step roadmap to democracy. But the system of democratic governance taking shape, remains severely limited and is failing to uphold human rights. United Nations Special Rapporteur and human rights lawyer Tomas Ojea Quintana on Monday completed a fact-finding mission, which aimed at providing an assessment of any progress made by Myanmar in its transition to democracy. He said “My findings are that the situation of ethnic minority groups in border areas presents serious limitations to the government’s intention to transition to democracy. Violence continues in many of these areas. Systematic militarization contributes to human rights abuses. These abuses include land confiscation, forced labor, internal displacement, extrajudicial killings and sexual violence. They are widespread and remain unaddressed by the authorities.” According to the Special Rapporteur, Myanmar is the only country where the government is directly responsible for forced labor and many other rights violations.