Description:
''Burma has a quasi-parliamentary system of government in which the national
parliament selects the president and constitutional 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. The National League for
Democracy (NLD) party leader Aung San Suu Kyi was the civilian government’s
de facto leader and, due to constitutional provisions preventing her from becoming
president, remained in the position of state counsellor. During the year parliament
selected NLD member Win Myint to replace Htin Kyaw as president, and the
country held peaceful and orderly by-elections for 13 state and national offices.
Under the constitution, civilian authorities have no authority over the security
forces; the armed forces commander in chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing,
maintained effective control over the security forces.
Independent investigations undertaken during the year found evidence that
corroborated the 2017 ethnic cleansing of Rohingya in Rakhine State and further
detailed the military’s killing, rape, and torture of unarmed villagers during a
campaign of violence that displaced more than 700,000 Rohingya to neighboring
Bangladesh. Some evidence suggested preparatory actions on the part of security
forces and other actors prior to the start of violence, including confiscation of
knives, tools, iron, and other sharp objects that could be used as weapons in the
days preceding attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). An
additional 13,764 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh between January and September.
The government prevented assistance from reaching displaced Rohingya and other
vulnerable populations during the year by using access restrictions on the United
Nations and other humanitarian agencies. The military also committed human
rights abuses in continuing conflicts in Kachin and Shan States...'
Source/publisher:
[US] Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Date of Publication:
2019-03-14
Date of entry:
2019-03-14
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Geographic coverage:
- Myanmar
Countries:
Myanmar
Language:
English
Local URL:
Format:
pdf
Size:
330.9 KB
Resource Type:
text
Text quality:
- Good