BURMA: Visit to Burma and Kachin ethnic group

Executive Summary

In the past six months, some significant changes have taken place in Burma and it has been widely recognised that there is now perhaps the first opportunity in more than twenty years to see progress on democratisation and protection of respect for human rights. Since President Thein Sein met democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on 19 August 2011, a reform process appears to have begun. The most significant signs of this include the release of several hundred political prisoners, including prominent leaders of the 88 Generation Student movement, the re-registration of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), her decision to contest forthcoming parliamentary by-elections in forty eight constituencies in April 2012, preliminary ceasefire agreements reached with several armed ethnic groups including the Karen National Union (KNU), the Shan State Army-South (SSA-South) and the Chin National Front (CNF), and an apparent relaxation of restrictions on the media and civil society.

These changes have prompted visits to Burma by many international politicians, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary William Hague, the relaxation of some sanctions imposed on the regime, including the decision by the European Union to suspend the visa ban for the President and other senior Burmese government officials, the US decision to upgrade diplomatic relations and appoint an Ambassador, and the prospect of further lifting of sanctions in coming months.

In January 2012, CSW travelled to Burma to assess the current situation and document continuing human rights violations. CSW visited internally displaced people (IDPs) along the China-Burma border, from the predominantly Christian Kachin ethnic group, and then travelled to Rangoon. While the political atmosphere in Rangoon was notably more relaxed than a year ago, and CSW was able to meet senior representatives of the NLD, the 88 Generation Student movement, and other political and civil society actors in Rangoon, the human rights situation in Kachin State remains dire. From interviews with IDPs, CSW heard first-hand accounts of extrajudicial killings of unarmed civilians, torture, forced labour and the destruction of homes, churches and villages, and received reports of rape. This report focuses primarily on the situation in Kachin State.

CSW believes that while there are now grounds for cautious optimism, there remain continuing reasons for grave concern about the human rights and humanitarian situation in Burma. Only a genuine inclusive political process that involves all the ethnic nationalities, the democracy movement and the government, that addresses the desire of the ethnic nationalities for autonomy and equal rights within a federal democratic structure in Burma, and that results in an end to military offensives and armed conflict will lead to a meaningful and lasting peace and real progress for the country. The international community must remain vigilant and consider ways to assist in a political peace-building process, encourage reform, while maintaining pressure for significant improvements in respect for human rights.

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