Human Rights Watch urged the Burmese government to drop charges against activists, following their peaceful demonstrations on International Peace Day on September 21.
Over a dozen protesters face charges for violating the governments public assembly law, following the organisation of a march, consisting of over 1000 people, calling for peace in the conflict ridden Kachin state.
According to Human Rights Watch, two ethnic Kachin participants have already been charged for the alleged offence.
Commenting on the government proceedings, the deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, Phil Robertson, warned,
“The Burmese government will quickly lose its new reformist label if it acts like past military governments by arresting and prosecuting peaceful protesters”
“The charges against peaceful protesters should be dropped immediately,”
Human Rights Watch described the failure to uphold the public assembly law, which was signed by President Thein Sein in 2011, as further evidence of the Burmese governments use of law to prosecute peaceful protesters.
Though the new assembly law accepts the right to peaceful assembly, its provisions make it a criminal offense to give speeches that ‘contain false information.’ Therefore making the right to assembly subject to restrictions that are at the discretion of the authorities.
“President Thein Sein should demonstrate his commitment to rights reform by making it clear that his government welcomes peaceful protests,”
“The Burmese government’s new friends in places like Washington and Brussels should challenge Naypyidaw to uphold basic freedoms. This is a test case not only for the Burmese authorities but for the international community,” said Robertson.
