Burma Fact Sheet

Name:
Burma was renamed "Myanmar" by the country's ruling military regime in 1989. However, the democracy movement inside the country, the European Union, the United States and many major media outlets continue to use the term "Burma" as a symbolic protest against the military regime.

Human Rights/ Democracy/ Freedom
The U.S. State Department and two credible NGOs found in 2002 that Burma's military regime is using rape as a weapon of war.

There were 1,600 political prisoners in Burma as of 8/07, including 38 elected members of Parliament.

Millions of Burmese have been pressed into what the International Labor Organisation, a United Nations Agency, calls "a modern form of slavery".

More people died from landmines in Burma in 2002 than in any other country in the world.

Burma is ranked "Not Free" in Freedom House's international reports.

The Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, which passed the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly, found that Burma's regime is using ethnic cleansing against Burma's ethnic people.

Political History:

Britain colonized Burma, and ruled the country as part of India until 1947. General Aung San, father of Aung San Suu Kyi, worked through the Japanese occupation to gain Burma's independence in 1948, but was assassinated just before the handover. The country functioned as a parliamentary democracy until 1962, when General Ne Win assumed power, ostensibly to prevent Burma's ethnic groups from seeking autonomy or independence. Many attempts were made to overthrow Ne Win and reinstate democracy, but he held onto power until a nationwide uprising in 1988. A group of military leaders formed a military junta, now known as the State Peace and Development Council, and has ruled ever since. The junta held an election in 1990, presumably believing it would win, but lost in a landslide to the National League for Democracy, which was led by future Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The junta has locked Aung San Suu Kyi up off and on ever since, from 1989- 1995, again from September 200- May 2002, and most recently in May 2003. NLD members and supporters are regularly killed. New uprisings continue-- most recently this month.