The Rohingya Crisis in Myanmar – 2015 Elections and Beyond

February 11, 2015 - February 11, 2015
CSO Event

Civil Rights Defenders invites you to listen to Maung Zarni, exiled Burmese democracy advocate, human rights campaigner and visiting lecturer on racism, violence and genocides at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School. He will share his thoughts on the face of the persecution of the Rohingya, the risks ahead and how they are connected to the elections.

This year, the people of Myanmar will go to the polls for the first democratic elections in 25 years. But the hopes for a positive future are being clouded.  Serious and widespread human rights violations persist, including politically motivated arrests, restrictions on the work of journalists and writers, hate speech, harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons and systematic discrimination against certain ethnic minority groups.

The state-led ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority continues to be one of the most severe violations of human rights in Myanmar and warnings of a coming genocide are increasingly common.   Former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana has said that there are “elements of a genocide” and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen dubs it “a slow genocide”, with “institutionalized killings”.  But the situation can still change.

With Myanmar at a crossroads between political reforms and military rule, Civil Rights Defenders invites you to listen to Maung Zarni, exiled Burmese democracy advocate, human rights campaigner and visiting lecturer on racism, violence and genocides at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School. He will share his thoughts on the face of the persecution of the Rohingya, the risks ahead and how they are connected to the elections.

Date and Time: February 11, 9:00 to 10:00 (breakfast will be served from 8.30)

Address: Stora Nygatan 26, Stockholm

Moderator: Brittis Edman, Programme Director for Southeast Asia at Civil Rights Defenders

The seminar will be in English and broadcasted live through Civil Rights Defenders’ Bambuser channel. The Q&A-session will be open also for the audience following the seminar online. Questions can be emailed to [email protected] during the seminar.

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