Burma's nominally civilian government has established a human rights panel to safeguard the rights of citizens, officials said Tuesday, but some groups are concerned about a possible cover-up of abuses committed during decades of military rule.
The 15-member National Human Rights Commission was formed nearly two weeks after the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, visited the country and expressed continued concerns over rights issues.
Quintana had called for the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners and underlined concerns over the country's unending bloody ethnic conflict, including attacks on civilians, extrajudicial killings, and sexual assault.
The commission members—comprising retired senior officials, diplomats, academics, doctors, and lawyers—were appointed by President Thein Sein, a retired general and the last prime minister under the military dictatorship that ruled the country since 1962.
Commission chairman Win Mya, a former ambassador, told RFA that the panel would strive to be independent in its work.
"The president appointed the experts who have experience in human rights issues," he said. "We also see various ethnicities [in the commission].
"As a human rights commission, we will be able to work more freely and widely, and we will strive for more human rights for Burmese people," Win Mya added.
Fundamental rights
State-run media said the commission is intended to promote and safeguard the fundamental rights of citizens in accordance with the 2008 Constitution.
"The commission was formed to focus on Mr. Quintana's report," a government official who did not want to be named told Agence France-Presse, without providing further details about its mandate.
A similar commission led by government officials was set up in 2000 by the ruling military junta, but did little to improve the human rights situation.
Although the military allowed general elections in November 2010, the exercise was deemed a farce by human rights groups.
Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi did not contest the elections, but she was released from house arrest immediately after the event and enjoys some degree of political freedom now.
The president and most of the cabinet are retired military officers, and the military dominates the parliament.
Some rights groups are skeptical of the commission's functions.
"We are concerned over the purpose of this commission. We worry if this very commission is to cover up the government's human rights abuses in the international front," said Maung Maung Lay, leader of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters network.
He told RFA: "There have been human rights organizations formed before by government organizations, such as the Justice Department and Interior Ministry. They are the one who commit human rights [abuses] the most. And now they form with retirees."
Judgment reserved
The Burmese government has taken various steps recently to show that it wants to engage with opposition groups and allow for greater freedom.
President Thein Sein met with Aung San Suu Kyi for the first time last month.
Aung San Suu Kyi's spokesman Nyan Win said their National League for Democracy party will not rush to judgment on the commission's effectiveness.
"The capability of the new commission depends on how independent and how much authority the body will be given," he told the Associated Press.
Reported by RFA's Burmese service. Translated by Khin May Zaw. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.