coup – FoRB in Full

European External Action Service Headquarters in Brussels.

The Myanmar junta should have no place at the ASEAN-EU Human Rights Dialogue

Posted on 03/10/2023 by cswpress in Asia, Burma, European Union, International Arenas

Last week, soldiers of the Myanmar/Burma military reportedly beheaded three men in Pale Township in the Sagaing Region of Myanmar. Two of them were civilians, and the third a member of a People’s Defense Force in Nyaunggon Village.

A witness told The Irrawaddy news website that the men had been killed as they returned to their village on 27 September, thinking that the junta troops who had occupied it for the past two and half weeks had left. One man’s head was hung on a fence, another placed on a chair, and the third ‘had his abdomen cut open, intestines taken out, limbs cut off and [then] put into his abdomen.’

The same day, at least 19 children and their teacher were injured when the regime shelled a monastic school in Wuntho Towsnhip, also in the Sagaing Region. Most were aged between five and eight, and seven of them were critically wounded.

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Reverend Dr Hkalam Samson, one of Myanmar/Burma’s most senior and internationally renowned Christian pastors.

The continued imprisonment of Reverend Dr Hkalam Samson is proof that no one is safe in Myanmar

Posted on 27/06/2023 by cswpress in Asia, Burma

By Benedict Rogers

When I heard that my friend Reverend Dr Hkalam Samson, one of Myanmar/Burma’s most senior and internationally renowned Christian pastors, had been arrested at Mandalay airport on 5 December as he attempted to travel to Bangkok, several thoughts went through my mind.

On one level I was not surprised, because the current illegal military junta, which seized power in a coup on 1 February 2021, has been even more brutal, ruthless and inhumane than any of the succession of military dictatorships that have ruled Myanmar for most of the past six decades.

On another level, due to his international connections, I thought his arrest might simply lead to a brief detention, for the purposes of interrogation. I half expected him to be released within a matter of days. This is a man, after all, who has met the President of the United States in the White House, a Minister of State in the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, parliamentarians around the world and has attended international fora including the International Ministerial Conference on freedom of religion or belief in Washington, DC in 2019.

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Man in black and white long sleeve shirt holding red stick in Sudan.

As Sudan forms a new transitional government, the international community must not repeat its mistakes

Posted on 12/04/2023 by cswpress in Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan

April has become a significant month for the nation of Sudan. This year, after more than 18 months under the leadership of a military junta that seized power in October 2021, the month will hopefully see the formation of a new transitional government, and the possible dawn of a new chapter for the country.

But we have been here before. On 11 April 2019, after months of unprecedented nationwide protests, Sudan’s president of nearly 30 years, Omar al Bashir, was ousted.

It was hoped that his removal would bring an end to three decades of oppressive rule characterised by widespread violations of human rights, including of the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) – and to some extent it did.

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A protester holds a sign that reads 'Stop killing my people' during demonstrations against the coup in Myanmar/Burma.

In a world of crises and tragedy, we must not forget about Myanmar

Posted on 29/09/202229/09/2022 by cswpress in Asia, Burma

By Benedict Rogers

When Myanmar (Burma)’s army reportedly killed 11 children in a helicopter attack last week, those of us who follow Myanmar heaved a sigh and shed a tear, and the rest of the world gave a shrug and averted its gaze. In a world filled with so much tragedy, the crisis in Myanmar seems to be passing so many by. For those of us watching, it was yet another bombing, yet another massacre, yet another atrocity – and dare I say it, yet another attack which has become daily news.

It’s staggering, really. Myanmar’s illegal military regime seized power in a coup just over 18 months ago, overthrowing a democratically elected government, snuffing out a decade of hoped-for liberalization, and turning the clock back by at least ten years – and yet the rest of the world shrugs its shoulders. A brutal, criminal dictatorship has locked up a Nobel Laureate – who had already spent years under house arrest and then a decade sharing power with the military in government – and the world turns its back. A junta arrests and jails a former British ambassador, Vicky Bowman, alongside an Australian academic, Sean Turnell, both of whom I know, and no one really says a word. And that regime spends months relentlessly bombing innocent civilians and the international community is silent. What is going on?

True, the world right now is full of woes. The war in Ukraine. The energy crisis. The threats to Taiwan. Protests in Iran. And many other tragedies – some in the news, others forgotten. Nigeria. Yemen. Syria. North Korea. Hong Kong. The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. These are all desperate heartaches which sometimes gain the spotlight and yet so often remain forgotten. But Myanmar is a Ukraine in slow-motion, and yet almost no one is speaking about it.

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One year on from the coup in Myanmar, today must be a turning point

Posted on 01/02/2022 by cswpress in Asia, Burma

By Benedict Rogers

A year ago today, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar/Burma’s military, ordered his troops to take over government buildings, raid the offices of the governing party, arrest members of Myanmar’s democratically elected government and Parliament, shut down independent media, take control of the state media and seize power in a brutal coup d’etat. His decision turned the clock back by more than a decade, reversing ten years of fragile democratisation in which the country had seen credible elections, an independent media, the release of political prisoners, a vibrant civil society and opening up to the international community.

Of course, that decade of reform was far from perfect – not least because it included the genocide of the Rohingyas, continued conflict in ethnic states, particularly Kachin, Shan and Rakhine, and the rise of extreme religious nationalism leading to increased religious discrimination and persecution. But nevertheless, it allowed some seeds of political liberalisation to grow, and enabled the people of Myanmar to vote freely.

Twice – in 2015 and 2020 – Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) won an overwhelming mandate to govern. After years under house arrest, prison, hiding or exile, the NLD – whose mandate from the 1990 elections was never accepted by the military – was now in government.

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