BURMA (MYANMAR) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION (COI) REPORT COI Service 2 February 2012 BURMA (MYANMAR) 2 FEBRUARY 2012 Contents Preface USEFUL NEWS SOURCES FOR INFORMATION Paragraphs Background Information 1. GEOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 1.01 Map ........................................................................................................................ 1.08 2. ECONOMY ................................................................................................................ 2.01 3. HISTORY (INDEPENDENCE (1948) – APRIL 2011) ........................................................ 3.01 Constitutional referendum – 2008 ....................................................................... 3.03 November 2010 elections .................................................................................... 3.05 Release of Aung San Suu Kyi ............................................................................. 3.12 Opening of Parliament ......................................................................................... 3.14 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS (MAY 2011 – JANUARY 2012) .............................................. 4.01 5. CONSTITUTION .......................................................................................................... 5.01 6. POLITICAL SYSTEM ................................................................................................... 6.01 Human Rights 7. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 7.01 8. SECURITY FORCES .................................................................................................... 8.01 Police ..................................................................................................................... 8.02 Armed forces ........................................................................................................ 8.05 Other government forces ..................................................................................... 8.11 Intelligence agencies .......................................................................................... 8.14 Human rights violations by government forces ................................................ 8.21 Convict and civilian porters ................................................................................ 8.27 Arbitrary arrest and detention ............................................................................. 8.33 Torture ................................................................................................................ 8.36 Extra-judicial killings and ‘disappearances’ ........................................................ 8.45 Avenues of complaint .......................................................................................... 8.48 9. MILITARY SERVICE .................................................................................................... 9.01 10. ABUSES BY NON-GOVERNMENT ARMED FORCES .......................................................... 10.01 Forced conscription ............................................................................................. 10.10 11. JUDICIARY ................................................................................................................ 11.01 Organisation ......................................................................................................... 11.01 Independence ....................................................................................................... 11.02 Fair trial ................................................................................................................. 11.07 Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure .................................................... 11.13 12. ARREST AND DETENTION – LEGAL RIGHTS .................................................................. 12.01 Arrest warrants ..................................................................................................... 12.08 13. PRISON CONDITIONS ................................................................................................. 13.01 14. DEATH PENALTY ....................................................................................................... 14.01 15. POLITICAL AFFILIATION.............................................................................................. 15.01 Freedom of political expression.......................................................................... 15.04 Political prisoners ............................................................................................... 15.09 Freedom of association and assembly ............................................................... 15.20 Demonstrations outside of Burma ...................................................................... 15.28 Opposition groups and political activists .......................................................... 15.39 ii The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 22 January 2012. 2 FEBRUARY 2012 BURMA (MYANMAR) National League for Democracy (NLD) .............................................................. 15.42 National Democratic Force (NDF) ...................................................................... 15.49 Dissident groups .................................................................................................. 15.52 All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) ............................................. 15.53 All Burma Monks Alliance (ABMA) ..................................................................... 15.55 88 Generation Students ..................................................................................... 15.58 Generation Wave ............................................................................................... 15.63 16. FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND MEDIA ............................................................................... 16.01 Internet usage ....................................................................................................... 16.13 Journalists ............................................................................................................ 16.25 17. HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS, ORGANISATIONS AND ACTIVISTS .................................... 17.01 18. CORRUPTION ............................................................................................................ 18.01 19. FREEDOM OF RELIGION .............................................................................................. 19.01 Overview ............................................................................................................... 19.01 Demography ......................................................................................................... 19.09 Constitution and legislation ................................................................................ 19.11 Buddhism .............................................................................................................. 19.14 Christians .............................................................................................................. 19.19 Muslims ................................................................................................................. 19.26 20. ETHNIC GROUPS ....................................................................................................... 20.01 Map ........................................................................................................................ 20.23 Chin (Zomi) ........................................................................................................... 20.24 Kachin .................................................................................................................. 20.28 Karen and Karenni (Red Karen or Kayah) .......................................................... 20.36 Mon ........................................................................................................................ 20.41 Rakhine (Arakanese) ............................................................................................ 20.44 Rohingya ............................................................................................................... 20.47 Shan ....................................................................................................................... 20.54 21. LESBIAN, GAY AND BISEXUAL (LGB) PERSONS ........................................................... 21.01 Legal rights ........................................................................................................... 21.01 Treatment by, and attitude of, state authorities ................................................. 21.06 Societal treatment and attitudes ......................................................................... 21.08 22. TRANSGENDER PERSONS .......................................................................................... 22.01 23. DISABILITY ............................................................................................................... 23.01 24. WOMEN ................................................................................................................... 24.01 Overview ............................................................................................................... 24.01 Legal rights ..........................................................................................................