III. THE EXERCISE OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
30. The exercise of economic, social and cultural rights has been greatly marked by the ethos of militarism inherent in the very nature of a military regime. The regime has constituted for itself a highly centralized system of decision-making and enforced execution with no representative or public participation in the decision making process, whether with regard to policy or implementation. The only organization which participates in implementation is the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) which is, however, under the complete direction and control of the military and for the purposes for which the military alone decides to use it.
31. In particular, and above all else, budgetary allocations are largely determined by military considerations and objectives. Thus, high and growing military spending contrasts with diminishing allocations to basic social services such as health, education and essential services, all necessary not only to translate growth, however modest, into human development and welfare but also to sustain growth.
32. According to a recent economic and social assessment of Myanmar by the World Bank which is soon to be published, the country is “trapped in abject poverty despite its rich resources base. Although there has been notable moderate growth in the economy, the trickle-down effect of this growth did not reach the poor. The country’s poverty and development indicators have lagged behind those of its neighbours”. Flawed government policies are considered to be responsible for these outcomes.
33. The study adds, with regard to prospects for the future:
“The recent slowdown in economic activity, the sharp worsening of foreign reserves and severe contraction of public expenditure on basic services, are inflicting further hardship on the poor. If the present policies are maintained, the people of Myanmar are unlikely to benefit substantially from a resumption of growth in the region ... Continuing lackluster economic performance that fails to improve living standards for the majority of the population could have devastating consequences for poverty, human development and social cohesion in Myanmar.”
34. The World Bank study concludes that if Myanmar is to enjoy broad‑based economic growth and create significant gains in human welfare on a par with those enjoyed in other countries in South‑East Asia, it must consider a comprehensive review of the Government’s role in the economy with a view to abandoning inefficient policies and reforming budgetary priorities that squeeze expenditure on social services and infrastructure. If the country is to meet its full economic potential, it will be necessary both to establish domestic incentives and capable institutions, and to attract high-quality foreign investment. However, in order to receive the support of the international community, Myanmar must demonstrate a commitment to a broad‑based policy that would not only address the economic and social issues elaborated in the Bank’s report, but also the other concerns of the international community, in particular United Nations resolutions concerning political and civil rights.
35. Yet a different study of July 1998, provided to the Special Rapporteur, has concluded that data concerning the ability to lead a long healthy life, to be educated, and to have command over resources needed for a decent living indicate that Myanmar’s 46 million people are generally poor. Further, the same study points to the low levels of achievement and slow progress in several critical areas of human development in Myanmar.
36. According to the World Bank study, “the level and depth of hardship among families in Myanmar is vividly reflected in high rates of malnutrition among pre-school-aged children. Even based on official statistics, far too many of Myanmar’s children suffer from wasting and stunting. Moderate wasting affects almost 3 out of 10 children under 3 years of age, and 1 in 10
is severely malnourished. This has been described elsewhere as a ‘silent emergency’ in Myanmar. It has also been noted that deprivation on this scale indicates not only immediate need, but also adverse long-term repercussions for the health and intellectual development of the affected children”.
37. In a recent report submitted to the Special Rapporteur, entitled “The People’s Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarisation in Burma, October 1999”[1], the authors received testimonies from a large number of witnesses upon which the following conclusions were reached:
“1. There exists hunger and food scarcity in both the civil war and non-civil war areas of Myanmar, in particular the Karen, Karenni and Shan states, and the Delta region;
“2. The situation of hunger is spreading both geographically (to more regions of Myanmar) and demographically (affecting people from more varied walks of life);
“3. The causes of this situation are as follows:
“3.1 the destruction of staple crops which provide the local food supply.
“3.2 uncompensated conscription of people to work on State projects which do not leave enough time for them to work their fields.
“3.3. uncompensated conscription of people to do portering to areas far from
their home villages, resulting in not being able to have time to grow food.
“3.4. forced relocation of people to areas where rice is difficult to grow, or to unfamiliar terrain making it difficult to find enough food.
“3.5 a quota system of the amount of rice to be supplied to the government substantially below market price, which must be supplied whether or not the harvest was adequate. This often leaves the people in debt and without any rice of their own to eat.”
38. The economic deterioration and the widespread human rights abuses that
accompanied the rule of SLORC since 1988 and later, in 1997, SPDC, has had a dramatic effect on the health status of the people of Myanmar, a situation that is compounded by limited access to health care, particularly in the ethnic‑minority regions. According to the World Bank study mentioned above, the last 10 years have been characterized by a sharp decline (80 per cent) in the usage of public hospitals and dispensaries. This is mainly due in principal to the low level of public spending on health (about 0.2 per cent). The widespread campaigns of forced relocation and wholesale transfers of communities such as the Karen and other minority groups, arbitrary arrests, slave labour coupled with the use of civilians as human minesweepers have further deteriorated the health situation in the country. Furthermore, about 1 million children are malnourished. The health of the people of Myanmar is further jeopardized by another threat: the increasing use of heroin and the alarming spread of HIV/AIDS. According to the World Bank report on Myanmar, “there are over 1 million HIV/AIDS cases”.
39. It is further reported that the availability of heroin in Myanmar has encouraged its local cultivation, especially for the consumption of intravenous drug users. This is considered to have contributed to a marked increase in HIV infection throughout the region. While government statistical estimates are conservative, the United Nations Drug Control Programme and non‑governmental organizations that work in the health sector estimate the number of addicts to be between 400,000 and 500,000. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) published estimates for the end of 1997 indicating the number of adults and children living with the HIV/AIDS virus to be around 440,000.
40. UNAIDS reports that the Government of Myanmar began HIV screening in 1985 of high‑risk populations and blood donors and in 1989, the National AIDS Technical Committee was formed and later restructured, within the National Health Committee, to the multisectoral National AIDS Committee, with a vertical structure of divisional, district and township AIDS committees. Further, the National Health Committee has established guidelines for the Government’s AIDS policy since then. Although the Government was reluctant to acknowledge the existence of an HIV/AIDS problem when it was first discovered in 1985, recent efforts show a change in attitude. However, resources made available to combat HIV/AIDS would appear to have been limited. The impact of these resources, meagre in comparison with the magnitude of the problem, is judged to have been limited by the Government’s reluctance to permit international non-governmental organizations to work in collaboration with community-based organizations. Permits to visit patients are difficult to obtain and access to high-risk groups and vulnerable groups is restricted.
41. Other significant factors impeding the measures taken to date to address the situation are said to be the lack of “social marketing” crucial in prevention efforts and the lack of behavioural research and assessment of prevention interventions. Equally important, little intervention has targeted women. There would also appear to be a lack of political will to tackle the HIV/AIDS problem as well as of resources at a level required for a successful HIV/AIDS care and prevention programme. Indeed, earlier this year UNAIDS warned of a growing epidemic in Myanmar and indicated that the regime was largely ignoring it. The Special Rapporteur shares this concern and urges the Government to recognize the problem and allocate sufficient resources to address the epidemic, which might quite easily affect neighbouring countries as well.
42. Universities are still closed. The authorities still fear that the demand of the students to have a say in structuring their own education might lead, as in 1988, to demands for the restoration of democracy. A whole generation, and the country itself, is being deprived of the knowledge, intellectual development and expertise which a country badly requires for its own development and human welfare.
43. Available data indicate a trend of declining expenditure on education by the Government, accounting for 1.1 per cent of GDP in 1995-1996, from 2.6 per cent in 1991-1992. The World Bank study referred to above corroborates these estimates, adding that it is impossible to provide good quality education services with the substantial erosion in education spending that has occurred over the past decade, and that “current Government spending in education as a share of national income is among the lowest in the world”.
44. In his report to the General Assembly (A/53/364), the Special Rapporteur provided details on the work of the Commission of Inquiry established by ILO to examine complaints lodged by the international Confederation of Free Trade Unions concerning the observance by Myanmar of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), as well as the observations made in the Director-General’s report (see A/54/440, paras. 21-30).
45. The Commission of Inquiry submitted its report in July 1998. Its findings were updated in subsequent reports of which the most recent was published in November 1999 for the 276th session of the ILO Governing Body. This report (document GB.276/6) presented comprehensive information on such measures as had been taken by the Government of Myanmar following the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry and action taken in that regard by ILO. The report, inter alia, notes that in spite of the Commission’s recommendations, the exaction of forced or compulsory labour by the authorities continued and the attention of the Government was drawn to the “relevant and consistent evidence of the persistence of forced labour” in Myanmar.
46. The evidence presented to the ILO Governing Body also shows that a considerable number of orders addressed to village heads were issued by military officers demanding the supply, without fail, of a number of “servants”, “rotation servants” or “volunteer workers”. Further, the report indicates that it is often specified that if the village head fails to comply, it would be entirely his or her responsibility and would be severely punished. While the focus of the report of the Commission of Inquiry was on forced labour, it highlighted the human rights violations suffered by the various ethnic groups in Myanmar in general. The human rights violations recorded include extrajudicial killings, rape, torture, ill-treatment and forced relocation.
47. With respect to the right to form and join trade unions, although Myanmar ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948 (No. 87) in 1955, the competent organ of ILO reports that workers and employers in Myanmar do not enjoy the right to join organizations of their own choosing. Furthermore, such organizations do not have the right to join federations and confederations or to affiliate with international organizations without impediments.
48. The issue of freedom of association and protection of the right to organize has again been discussed before the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards and the Committee of Experts. Both committees have deplored the absence of any progress towards the application of this fundamental Convention despite their repeated calls upon the Government for over a decade.
49. In the absence of genuine cooperation on the part of the Government and the total absence of progress in the application of this convention, the Committee on the Application of Standards has noted in a special paragraph of its report the continued failure of the Government of Myanmar to implement the Convention. Both the Committee on the Application of Standards and the Committee of Experts have strongly urged the Government of Myanmar to adopt, as a matter of urgency, the measures and mechanisms necessary to ensure, both in legislation and actual practice, the right of workers to establish, without previous authorization, and to join, subject only to the rules of the organizations concerned, first-level unions, federations and confederations of their own choosing for the furtherance and defence of their interests and to ensure the right of such organizations to affiliate with international organizations. The Government of Myanmar was invited by the Committee on the Applications of Standards to consider appropriate forms of ILO assistance to ensure that real progress was achieved by 2000 in the observance of its obligations under this fundamental convention. Top
50. In a previous report (E/CN.4/1999/35) the Special Rapporteur identified some of the problems that affect especially women and children in Myanmar and expressed his concern over the situation. Because rape and abuses are a regular feature in the mode of operation of the army in its campaign of incursions into the insurgency zones or else in the relocation sites, women and children continue to seek refuge within and outside the country. As those abuses continue to devastate the lives of many, they migrate. Many women are reported to fall through the safety net of refugee camps along the borders and into the hands of traffickers or become victims of other forms of exploitation. Recent reports received by the Special Rapporteur indicate that such abuses and their consequences afflict women from several ethnic groups in general and the Rohingyas in particular.
51. As an ethnic group, it is said that the Rohingyas continue to suffer from the consequences of discrimination and gross abuses. They practice Islam. Many generations ago they migrated from East Bengal. They are denied citizenship, as explained in the Special Rapporteur’s previous reports. While Rohingya women, men and children are all affected, the women are at particular risk of exploitation by traffickers luring them into becoming sex workers or to “sweatshops” working as underpaid labour .
52. The Special Rapporteur’s attention has been drawn to the interview of a 19-year-old educated Rohingya woman who complained that “the major problem is rape. Rape is very common. We are not respected. That is why women are too afraid to leave their homes and even work outside. Often the military kidnap girls and take them to their camps. They are only released after being gang raped ... and assaulted.”
53. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), six major circumstances constituted the “push factor” for the outflow some years ago of the Rohingyas from Myanmar: (1) the lack of citizenship and, by extension, nationality rights; (2) imposed restrictions on movement by the Myanmar authorities; (3) forced labour and portering for the army; (4) compulsory food donations, extortion and arbitrary taxation; (5) land confiscation or relocation; and (6) deliberate food (rice) shortages in combination with high prices. These factors, coupled with systematic human rights violations and imposed underdevelopment, led to the mass exodus of Rohingyas.
54. The General Assembly, in resolution 49/166, defined the practice of trafficking as the “illicit and clandestine movement of persons across national and international borders, largely from developing countries and some countries with economies in transition, with the end goal of forcing women and girl children into sexually or economically oppressive and exploitative situations from the profit of recruiters, traffickers and crime syndicates, as well as other illegal activities related to trafficking, such as forced domestic labour, false marriages, clandestine employment and false adoption”.
55. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, transmitted to the Government of Myanmar last June information on alleged instances of violence against women and, in particular, alleged violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949, and Protocol II Additional to the Geneva Convention.
56. Examples of the cases that have been brought to the attention of the Government of Myanmar by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, include the following: Naw May Oo Paw, who was forced to pay soldiers with rice and other food to avoid working as a porter; the wives of Bo Pha Palaw Pho and Bo Kyaw Hair, two Karen National Union leaders, forced to carry extra-heavy loads for the army to the point of becoming unconscious; Nam Nu, who was allegedly kidnapped by MI officers and later beaten during interrogation; and Mugha Lwee Paw, who was allegedly arrested twice by soldiers and tortured.
57. There are many reports of forced labour of women. Women are said to be regularly taken from their homes and forced to undertake manual labour for the army. This labour involves cooking, cleaning, digging ditches, building bridges and roads, and carrying heavy loads. Moreover, they are allegedly beaten if they are unable to work or become tired; they are left behind in the jungle if they become unconscious from beatings or fatigue and are malnourished.
58. Many reports indicate that police and intelligence officers use rape and sexual harassment in order to extract information from women in detention. Women are allegedly beaten, starved, and kept in solitary confinement while in detention. Top
V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
59. The Special Rapporteur, as in his previous reports to the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights, regrets that in spite of the Government’s recent indications that “serious consideration” would be given to a visit by him, he has not so far been given permission to enter the country. He therefore has to rely on his personal interviews with refugees or other displaced persons as well as valuable information given to him by various organizations and institutions, both governmental and non-governmental, as well as by individual Governments.
60. A most welcome feature has been the resumption of cooperation by the Government in relation to the valuable work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which is now able to operate in accordance with its own procedures, as the Special Rapporteur has already been able to highlight in his last interim report to the General Assembly.
61. No concrete progress, most unfortunately, can be reported on the general situation of human rights in Myanmar. On the contrary, repression of political and civil rights continues in Myanmar, including summary or arbitrary executions, abuse of women and children by soldiers and the imposition of oppressive measures directed in particular at ethnic and religious minorities, including the continuing use of forced labour and relocation.
62. Persecution of the democratic opposition, in particular members of the NLD, continues as in previous years, including long prison sentences and the use of intimidation and harassment.
63. Well-documented reports and testimonies continue to be received by the Special Rapporteur which indicate that human rights violations continue to occur, as in the last decade.
These include extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, torture, portering and forced labour, particularly in the context of the “development” programmes and of counter-insurgency operations in ethnic areas.
64. With regard to the exaction of forced or compulsory labour, the Special Rapporteur reiterates, as in his previous reports, that information he has received from refugees and displaced persons indicates that the practice of forced labour continues, although there is an official order directing that the offending provisions of the the Village Act and the Town Act should not be enforced. No law has been passed to make forced labour an offence and no prosecution against those exacting forced labour is possible. Impunity remains a serious problem.
65. As no concrete progress can be discerned from the totality of the information provided to the Special Rapporteur, he considers it necessary to reiterate the recommendations he made in paragraphs 80 to 83 of his last report to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/1999/35) and paragraphs 50 to 55 of his last interim report to the General Assembly (A/54/440).
[1] The report has been compiled by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on the basis of the work of a tribunal established to assess evidence of human rights violations, particularly concerning the right to food, committed against the people of Myanmar by their Government.
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