Date: Tuesday 26 March 2019
Time: 08:30 – 09:30
Place: Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, Menneskerettighetenes plass 1, Bergen
The past decade the world has witnessed a dramatic change in the political system in Myanmar. In 2011 a government led by President Thein Sein, a former General, replaced the military junta and initiated reforms that took the world by surprise. In the parliamentary elections in 2015, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won with an overwhelming majority of the votes, and Aung San Suu Kyi took power of the civilian government as State Councilor. Yet the military still holds a strong grip on the political situation, controlling three powerful ministries, controlling the country’s security situation without governmental consent and 25% of the parliament. Three years after Aung San Suu Kyi’s government took power, the main political problems in Myanmar like the peace process, military’s political domain and the unfortunate situation in Rakhine State remains unsolved.
We ask: What happened with democracy and peace in Myanmar? How is the political situation and conditions for human rights activists?
Join our conversation together with Audun Aagre, the director of the Norwegian Myanmar Committee and Jostein Hole Kobbeltvedt, Executive Director at the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights.
A plain breakfast will be provided for participants, with orange juice and coffee.
In 1990 Aung San Suu Kyi received the Rafto Prize. Recent years, Aung San Suu Kyi has been heavily criticized for not renouncing the abuses and human rights violations committed by the military against a Muslim minority, the Rohingyas. The Rafto Foundation met with Aung San Suu Kyi in December 2017, and challenged her to acknowledge the human rights violations against the Rohingya people.
Join our event on Facebook here. We hope to see you at the Rafto House!