Rights groups and the United Nations have documented widespread and systematic human rights abuses by the Burmese junta against its own population since it seized power decades ago.

Those violations include the following crimes against humanity:

• Forced displacement of ethnic minorities: An estimate 2 million people of Burmese origin are living outside of Burma, having fled political repression, violence, and forced displacement by the junta. Of those, several hundred thousands still live in refugee camps, in the jungle or are waiting to receive asylum in Thailand, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh. Over 500,000 estimated internally displaced persons (IDP’s) are currently within Burma’s borders.
• Forced Labor: Exploiting displaced and relocated people, the military junta has used and continues to use forced labor for its “state-sponsored” infrastructure and building projects. The junta has been condemned many times for these practices by the International Labor Organization.
• Recruitment of child soldiers: Rights groups estimate that the Burmese army currently includes as many as 70,000 forcibly conscripted children under the age of 18 (sometimes as young as 11). Burma is the country with the highest number of child soldiers in the world.
• Rape as a State Policy: Rights groups have documented and accused the military of the systematic use of rape as a tool used to intimidate and instill fear in ethnic minority groups and anti-government supporters.
• Enforced disappearances, Extrajudicial killings and Custodial Killings: The Assistance Association of Parents of Political Prisoners of Burma has documented 127 known murders of political prisoners since 1988. 15 of them were known to have been killed while in military custody.
• Torture: The use of torture in interrogation centers and prisons in Burma has been extensively documented, including beatings, “motorcycling” (where prisoners are forced to assume unnatural positions, as if riding a motorcycle, for hours), forced kneeling on broken glass, and hanging by the arms or feet.

In addition, the military junta has imposed stringent restricting on the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly of the Burmese population and has denied the exercise of most basic political and civil rights. For example, the possession of an unregistered fax machine is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 15 years.