UN To Review Burma's Appalling Human Rights Record

24 January 2011

The Burmese junta's appalling human rights record will receive close scrutiny this week, as the United Nations conducts a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Burma. The UPR operates under the UN Human Rights Council, and is charged with reviewing of the human rights records of all 192 UN members once every four years.

Burma's military regime has one of the world's worst human rights records. Over the last 50 years it has brutally suppressed opposition, leading to growing calls from the international community for Burma's ruling generals to be charged with crimes against humanity. The generals have attempted to shield themselves internally by drafting a new constitution that provides the military with immunity for its crimes.

Representatives from the Burma Forum on the Universal Periodic Review - a coalition of fourteen human rights and civil society organizations - will host a public event on January 27 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, following the UPR session.

ENDS

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