EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "Burma has a quasi- parliamentary system of government in which the national parliament selects the president and c onstitutional provisions grant one -quarter of parliamentary seats to active duty military appointees. The military also has the authority to appoint the ministers of defense, home affairs, and border affairs and one of two vice presidents, as well as to assume power over all branches of the government should the president declare a national state of emergency. In 2015 the country held nationwide parliamentary elections that the public widely accepted as a credible reflection of the will of the people. In 2016 parliament selected National League for Democracy ( NLD) member Htin Kyaw as president and created the position of S tate Counse llor for NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyi, formalizing her position as the civilian government? s de facto leader. Under the constitution, civilian authorities have no authority over the security forces; armed forces Commander -in -Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing maintain ed effective control over the security forces. Ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya minority in Rakhine State occurred during the year. In early August some security forces deployed throughout northern Rakhine State, committing enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests and displacing villagers, the majority of whom were Rohingya . On August 25, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) claimed responsibility for coordinated attack s against 30 security outposts in northern Rakhine State , killing 12 security personnel. Augmented security forces, as well as local vigilante groups acti ng independently or in concert with security forces, then reportedly committed widespread atrocities against Rohingya villagers, including extrajudicial killings , disappearances, rape, torture, arbitrary arrest, and burning of tens of thousands of homes an d some religious structures and other buildings . Th is displaced more than 655,000 Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh as of December , as well as an unknown number within Rakhine State , and more than 20,000 villagers from other ethnic groups, many of whom were evacuated by the security forces. In addition to the atrocities in Rakhine State , the most significant human rights issues included: arbitrary or unlawful killings; politically motivated arrests; authorities? hum an rights violations against civilians in other ethnic minority areas and conflict zones, particularly in Kachin State and Shan State ; continued harsh conditions in prisons and labor camps; restrictions on freedom of speech, BURMA 2 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor assembly, and association, including intimidation and arres t of journalists; restrictions on freedom of religion; continued statelessness for some populations and severe restrictions on freedom of movement ; criminaliz ation of same -sex sexual activities, although the law was rarely enforced; and trafficking in pers ons, including forced labor of adults and children. Although the government took some limited actions to prosecute or punish officials responsible for abuses, the vast majority of such abuses continued with impunity. Some nonstate groups committed human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, forced labor of adults and children , and failure to protect civilians in conflict zones"