“There were no crimes against humanity in Myanmar…(w)ith regard to the issue of impunity, any member of the military who breached national law was subject to legal punishments…there was no need to conduct investigations in Myanmar since there were no human rights violations there.” – U Wunna Maung Lwin, Myanmar Ambassador to the Human Rights Council (HRW/Mizzima)

There are six weeks to go before Burma’s first election in 20 years, but many feel that the result is already clear. (more…)

Reports from Burma say soldiers in many areas are refusing to carry out routine tasks in protest at short rations and lack of access to their pay. (more…)

A periodic review of human rights transgressions in Burma reveals a spike in election related violations as the date for the country’s first general election in twenty years draws ever nearer. (more…)

Burma’s Election Commission (EC) last week rejected without official reason the script for a Democratic Party (Myanmar) campaign ad intended to be broadcast on state-run television and radio, said members of the party’s central executive committee. (more…)

Exclusion of ethnic groups from the coming general election in Burma will lead to a consolidation of rebellious armed forces along the border with Thailand to fight against the new militarybacked government, an ethnic minority leader said. (more…)

China is yet to ignore ceasefire groups based along its southwestern border because they are like the fence of the country. As such she will maintain her friendly relations with both the ruling junta and the ceasefire groups, according to Chinese security officials and border watchers on the Sino-Burma border. (more…)

hiang Mai– French representative Jean-Baptiste Mattei expressed at a UN Human Rights Council meeting last Friday his government’s support to “establish an international commission of inquiry” on human rights abuses in Burma. (more…)

Vienna – Myanmar told the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Thursday that allegations it was trying to develop atomic bombs were unfounded and that its nuclear activities had solely peaceful ends. (more…)

Some 140 heads of state are in New York to mark five years until the target date of the UN Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), but observers say that governments around the world are failing billions of people. (more…)

Given the blatant bias by authorities and the Union Election Commission towards the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), critics say that the result of the elections is already known generally. The USDP and the National Unity Party are the main rivals in most of the constituencies with little challenge by the National Democratic Force and and other parties. (more…)

US-ASEAN Summit is Moment to Align Divergent Policies Ahead of Elections

New York – US and Southeast Asian leaders meeting in New York this week should press the Burmese government to end an escalating campaign of repression, release political prisoners, and begin a dialogue with opposition groups ahead of Burma’s coming flawed elections, Human Rights Watch said today. September marks the third anniversary of the brutal 2007 crackdown on peaceful protests led by monks and known as the “Saffron Revolution.” (more…)

Burmese poet and writer Moe Hein died of throat cancer in Rangoon on Thursday at the age of 68. (more…)

On the third anniversary of the violent crackdown on the “Saffron Revolution”, Amnesty International calls on the Myanmar government to immediately and unconditionally free all political prisoners arrested for their peaceful activism. (more…)

Burma News International (BNI) members, other independent media and Burmese civil society groups have established a website providing a unique (in-depth news and analysis from each ethnic state) Burmese perspective on the upcoming general election. (more…)