Research and choose a particular country with a history of denying what is regarded

as a human right to its citizens. What happened in the history of that particular
place? Were they peaceful or war-torn? Submit this short research to your facilitator
in a separate sheet.

MYANMAR: Serious Rights Abuses Persist

According to Maizland (2021), Myanmar, also known as Burma' has suffered
decades of repressive military rule, poverty due to years of isolationist economic
policies, and civil war with ethnic minority groups. In the latest Human Rights Watch:
World Report (2021), the Myanmar government has repeatedly violated civil and
political rights and failed to hold the country's security forces accountable for
atrocities against ethnic minorities. Since Myanmar gained independence from
British colonial rule in 1948, the union of Burma began as a parliamentary
democracy but, representative democracy only lasted until 1962, when General U
Ne Win led a military coup and held power for the next twenty-six years. Ne Win
instituted a new constitution in 1974, in which the economic situation deteriorated
rapidly, and a black-market economy took hold. By 1988, widespread corruption,
rapid shifts in industry policy related to the currency of Myanmar, and food shortages
led to massive student-led protests. In August 1988, the army cracked down on
protesters, killing at least three thousand and displacing thousands more. In the
aftermath of the 1988 crackdown, Ne Win resigned as a chairman of his party,
although he remained active behind the scenes as another military junta took power.
Hence, Ambassador Eileen Donahoe (2011) stated that the government of Burma
(Myanmar) denies its citizens rights, including freedom of speech, movement, and
association. There are roughly 2,000 political prisoners and ongoing attacks against
ethnic minority populations that resulted in the displacement of millions of people,
internally and the region, over the past five decades. The newly formed National
Human Rights Commission should work closely with the HRC and other bodies to
investigate human rights abuses and take concrete steps to begin a national
reconciliation process. The United States urges the Burmese government to follow
its words and commitments with concrete actions that lead to genuine reform,
national reconciliation, and respect for human rights.

The history of Myanmar people's human rights was war-torn because of the
governments' power misuse and makes the people engraved in violence and
molestation.

References:
Human Rights Watch: World Report, 2021. Myanmar: Serious Rights Abuses
Persist.
 https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/01/13/myanmar-serious-rights-abuses-persist
Maizland, 2021.Myanmar’s Troubled History: Coups, Military Rule, and Ethnic
Conflict
| Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/myanmar-
history-coup-military-rule-ethnic-conflict-rohingya
Statement by the Delegation of the United States of America Delivered by Ambassad
or Eileen Donahoe (Human Rights Council 18th Session Geneva, September
22, 2011). U.S. Lists Countries of Grave Concern on Human Rights - U.S. Mis
sion to International Organizations in Geneva.
https://geneva.usmission.gov/20
11/09/22/human-rights-situation/