Describe the nature and degree of human rights violations reported in the country and the legal/ethical basis for identifying practices as human rights violations. Study case: Myanmar

Résumé du document

Events such as the liberation of famous activist Aung Saan Yuu Kyi last year, Hillary Clinton's visit to Yangon, or the first pluralistic elections for more than two decades, give Myanmar1 the image of a new and progressive country (The Economist: 2011). Despite such trends of political improvement, the country remains 129 out of 177 on the human development index rankings and remains under close surveillance (EEAS:2010:9). The case of Myanmar is interesting because of its peculiar geographic location. Surrounded by fast developing states, referred to as "Asian tigers", Myanmar has been ostracized, as decades of military rule have kept Myanmar isolated from international concern. Myanmar was left lagging behind not only in terms of economic development but also regarding social and political rights.

In order to shed light on the current situation in Myanmar rand more particularly on the contemporary human right breaches, this essay will first analyse the theoretical background to the concept of human rights, then in a second part it will look at the historical background explaining the conditions that lead to the regime's behavior and finally, we will look at the international legal breaches of physical integrity rights.

Extraits

[...] 26.) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), (edited on January 25th 1997). Accessed at on 13 February 2012 27.) US Department of State, ‘2010 Human Reports report : Burma', (April 8 2011), Bureau of Human rights, democracy and labor. Accessed at on 14 February 2012 28.) Venkateswaran, K. [...]

[...] Describe the nature and degree of human rights violations reported in the country and the legal/ethical basis for identifying practices as human rights violations. Study case: Myanmar. Events such as the liberation of famous activist Aung Saan Yuu Kyi last year, Hillary Clinton's visit to Yangon, or the first pluralistic elections for more than two decades, give Myanmar1 the image of a new and progressive country (The Economist: 2011). Despite such trends of political improvement, the country remains 129 out of 177 on the human development index rankings and remains under close surveillance (EEAS:2010:9). [...]

[...] Violations of international customary law Now that the historical background of Myanmar has been overviewed, this part will look at the extent and degree of human rights violation that the Burmese military junta has been exercising. Confronting the actions and behaviour of the Burmese military junta to legal jurisdiction is complex as Burmese jurisdiction is vague and quite inaccessible. The military junta abolishes previous constitutions and inserts new legal rules frequently, legislation that constantly conflicts with international customary law (Venkateswara:1996). [...]

[...] Fair trial rights and due process, and legal political imprisonment are guaranteed under Articles and 11 of the UDHR and articles 14 and 15 of the ICCPRR (Oxford: 10). Unfair trials resulting in political imprisonment result from the Burmese weak judicial system. The ICJ states in Section of the Judiciary Law (No. 5/2000), ‘justice is required to be administered independently and in accordance with the law'. In 1988, the Burmese constitution was suspended and since then a clear separation of power remains history, as the courts remain under control of the military (ICJ:2010). [...]

[...] Concepts of human rights This part will look at the philosophical backbone to the concept of human rights by exploring the logic behind rights and universality. The militaty junta changed the name of the country from Burma to Myanmar in 1989. However, both names are used internationally as the country's democracy movement holds that the military junta does not have the legitimacy to change the country's name (UK FCO,2011). This paper uses both terms interchangeably The post WWII era saw the introduction of growing number of international treaties founded on the principle of human rights, establishing a general global lead of conduct based on the assumption that basic moral principles have a universal characteristic. [...]