Myanmar (Burma)
***To read English PEN's most recent statement on Burma (27 September 2007), please click here***
Burma, also known as Myanmar, is ruled by a military junta which suppresses almost all dissent and wields absolute power in the face of international condemnation and sanctions.
The generals and the army stand accused of gross human rights abuses, including the forcible relocation of civilians and the widespread use of forced labour, which includes children. The armed forces - and former rebels co-opted by the government - have been accused of large-scale trafficking in heroin, of which Burma is a major exporter. Prostitution and HIV/AIDS are major problems. Prominent pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK) has had various restrictions placed on her activities since the late 1980s. In 1990 her party won a landslide victory in Burma's first multi-party elections for 30 years, but has never been allowed to govern. She was held under de facto house arrest for six year from July 1989- July 1995 and again from September 2000 until May 2002.
On 30 May 2003, supporters of the military authorities, including the Union Solidarity Development Association (USDA) attacked ASSK and her convoy of NLD supporters in Depayin, central Burma. ASSK was taken into 'protective custody' by the regime and held incommunicado until September 2003, when she was moved to house arrest where she remains. NLD party offices, except the Rangoon headquarters, remain closed.ASSK was last visited in custody by Ibrahim Gambari, UN Under Secretary of Political Affairs, in May and November 2006.
The state controls Burma's main broadcasters and publications. For the most part, the media are propaganda tools and tend not to report opposing views except to criticize them. Editors and reporters are answerable to the military authorities. Burma is also a paradise for censors. Scissors in hand, the agents of the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division check every article, editorial, cartoon, advertisement and illustration ahead of publication.
In 2005, they even began going through death notices placed in Burmese newspapers. They strike out all references to the United Nations, accused of wanting to overthrow the government. Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has placed Burma among the bottom 10 countries in its world press freedom ranking. It says the press is subject to 'relentless advance censorship'.
Speaking at a Minister's meeting in March 2007 of the European Union and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ian McCartney MP Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs spoke of the ' UK's increasing concerns about Burma and the grave human rights abuses suffered by the Burmese people, such as the detention of over 1,150 political activists, including Aung San Suu Kyi.'
Sources: For further information, based on primary research, see the annual reports from Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.org/), the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (http://www.cpj.org/), Reporters Without Borders (http://www.rsf.fr/) and the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (http://ifex.org/) . See also Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/). For more general information on Myanmar, see the Foreign and Commonwealth Office country profile (www.fco.gov.uk).