Overview

The human rights crisis in Myanmar worsened as the military authorities continued their crackdown on peaceful opposition and intensified operations against growing armed resistance. Unfair trials of pro-democracy activists and others regarded as opponents of the military authorities continued and more than 1,600 people were sentenced to imprisonment, hard labour or death. More than half a million people were displaced by internal armed conflicts. Tens of thousands of ethnic Rohingya people forcibly displaced over a decade ago remained in squalid displacement camps in Rakhine State. The military authorities prevented humanitarian aid from reaching them after a devastating cyclone in May. Multiple countries imposed sanctions on companies and individuals responsible for supplying the Myanmar military with aviation fuel which it has used to carry out aerial attacks including on civilians and houses, places of worship and other civilian infrastructure. Rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly remained severely curtailed and journalists were among those imprisoned for their legitimate work.