Myanmar gov’t urged to eradicate roots of repression

By Kyaw Ye Lynn

YANGON, Myanmar (AA) – An international human rights advocacy group urged Myanmar’s civilian-led government and parliament Wednesday to repeal or amend draconian and colonial-era laws enacted by the former junta to suppress peaceful speech and assembly.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Asia Director Brad Adams praised the effort of Myanmar’s new government -- led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi -- to release hundreds of those imprisoned for peaceful expression or protest, and to drop charges against others, shortly after it took power in late March.

“But it’s crucial that the legal infrastructure of repression be dismantled so that there is no chance Burma [Myanmar] will ever hold political prisoners again,” Adams said in a statement Wednesday.

HRW’s newly released 113-page report documents the use and abuse of a range of broad and vaguely worded laws to criminalize peaceful expression, including debates on matters of public interest in Myanmar, which has moved away from direct military rule since 2011.

It said the previous pro-military government relied on draconian laws -- that violate internationally protected rights to expression and peaceful assembly, some dating from the British colonial era, some enacted under successive military juntas, and others the products of ostensible reform efforts by former President Thein Sein -- to silence dissents over past five years.

The report is based on an in-depth analysis of provisions of Myanmar’s Penal Code, as well as laws such as the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Processions Law, the Telecommunications Act and the News Media Law.

“They can arrest you at any time under these laws. There is no guarantee,” Pang Long, an attorney in commercial capital Yangon, was quoted as saying in the report.

Myanmar, once ruled by a total authoritarian dictatorship following a military coup in 1962, elected its first civilian government in Nov. 8 polls won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).

HRW urged the NLD-led government to use its parliamentary majority to repeal or amend the many military and colonial-era laws used to criminalize peaceful speech and assembly.

“After its landslide election victory, the new government has a mandate to overhaul Burmese law to ensure that everyone can peacefully express their views without a knock on the door from the police or being hauled into court and charged with a crime,” Adams said.

“But the window for bold reforms will not stay open forever, so the government should put this at the top of its agenda when parliament reconvenes.”