Burma and the farce of women's rights

by Myint Myat

Thursday, 06 November 2008 15:31

When I ask my Burmese friends about women's rights in Burma, they often joke that the Burmese military tortures both women and men equally. In fact, before colonization by the British, Burmese women enjoyed greater property rights and literacy rates than women in any country between Lebanon and Japan. As they showed with their support of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the 1990 election, the people of Burma would accept female political leaders. Sadly, rather than building upon this tradition, the past 45 years of military rule has undermined the status of Burmese women. On Monday November 3, a United Nations committee overseeing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) held a session to discuss the state of women's rights in Burma. Burma ratified CEDAW in 1997, agreeing to take measures to reduce discrimination against women, prevent sex trafficking, stop violence against women and rape, and establish a way for women to lodge complaints if their rights have been violated. As such, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) agreed to periodic reviews by the U.N. CEDAW Committee. Normally, U.N. committee members avoid asking government delegations aggressive or political questions. However, several of members of the CEDAW Committee appeared frustrated with the Burmese delegation's answers and repeated their questions when the government avoided answering - which, according to one veteran CEDAW Committee watcher, is almost unheard of. The CEDAW Committee hearing started with Ambassador Wunnah Maung Lwin ironically claiming there was no discrimination of women in Burmese society because husbands give their salaries to wives and women administer the household. One committee member pointed out that the ambassador's characterization of women as housewives was itself a stereotype. The government delegation had trouble explaining the legal definition of "discrimination" under Burmese law. In its written submission to the CEDAW Committee, the SPDC even stated that there was no need to define "discrimination" since Burmese women enjoyed an equal status to that of men. Several committee members also expressed concern that the military's draft constitution discriminates against women. Article 352 of the constitution allows the government to appoint "men to the positions that are suitable for men only." When committee members asked what this phrase means, Colonel Sit Aye, head of the Myanmar Human Rights Group, responded that the government could use it to prevent the appointment of women as soldiers, teachers, nurses, or any other job in "hazardous terrain" or areas with active insurgencies. As such, even though thousands of women live in such areas every day, they will not have the opportunity to work or provide an income for their families. The Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation (MWAF), best known for attacking Aung San Suu Kyi, also came up in the CEDAW Committee's deliberations. The government delegation introduced MWAF as a NGO, yet referred to it as the primary organization to screen and handle complaints of women's rights violations in Burma. According to a delegation member from MWAF, in 2007 the organization received 2,461 complaints and referred 1,284 of them to government ministries. Upon hearing this, CEDAW Committee members expressed surprise that the government had handed over protection of women's rights to a NGO. Several members seemed skeptical that the SPDC took women's rights violations seriously if the primary organization to receive complaints did not have any official government role. Ironically, by showcasing MWAF, the government exposed the shallowness of its commitment to women's rights in Burma. The CEDAW Committee also aggressively pushed the Burmese government delegation to explain why there were so few women in high government or political positions. Article 7 of CEDAW requires countries to promote women into high-ranking political positions. However, there are no women among the army's senior leadership or the SPDC. Out of the 1,080 delegates to the National Convention, only 67 were women. Moreover, since the majority of army officers are men, the CEDAW Committee asked whether females would account for any of the one-fourth of Hluttaw (Parliament) seats reserved for the military. Ambassador Wunnah suggested there might be some females among the representatives since there are female colonels, but he also noted that most women in the army work in medical services, which are not politically influential. One CEDAW Committeeman boldly asked about Aung San Suu Kyi and whether placing her under house arrest sent a discouraging signal to women that they could not participate in politics. The government's response, that it imprisons many male political activists as well, only served to highlight the depth of political repression in Burma. The government of Myanmar did promise to establish a Human Rights Commission in order to comply with the ASEAN Charter's proposed Human Rights Body. However, the only NGO members on the commission would be government-controlled organizations, including the MWAF, Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association, Myanmar Committee of the Red Cross, and the Union Solidarity and Development Association. Furthermore, the government downplayed the role of independent courts in enforcing women's rights, preferring to focus on administrative measures that the military could control. Women in Burma have much to be proud of, despite the military. Compared to women in many low-income countries, women in Burma enjoy relatively equal property rights and access to education. Women make up the majority of professors in Burmese universities. From Aung San Suu Kyi to Charm Tong, women have taken the lead in the fight for freedom in Burma. Unfortunately, as the CEDAW Committee's questions showed, the Burmese government is not serious about protecting the rights of women. The government's insensitivity to gender issues shocked even the normally reserved committee members. Hopefully, the United Nations will continue this frank dialogue with the Burmese government to make sure it fulfills its obligations under CEDAW. Myint Myat is a third year law student participating in an International Women's Human Rights Clinic. < Prev   Next >