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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Myanmar lifts ban on public gatherings



Posted by: PNA
Post Date: 29  Jan 2013

After nearly 25 years of a silenced  public, the  2-year-old reformist government of Myanmar has abolished a ban on public gatherings of more than five people. The ban was initially ordered in 1988 on the day the  military junta took power after squashing nationwide pro-democracy protests.

It was reported Tuesday that Order No 2/88 was abolished as it was not in line with a section of the constitution that says existing laws should remain valid as long as they are not contrary to the constitution. The order was in direct violation of a constitutional law which guarantees basic rights such as freedom of expression.

The  military junta used many catch-all or vaguely defined orders and laws as a means of suppressing dissent, and courts generally handed out stiff sentences, jailing thousands of political prisoners.

 The order had been applied selectively to crush dissent against the military regimes that held power until the government of President Thein Sein took office in 2011. His administration has instituted political liberalization, including lifting strict censorship.
In December 2011, a "Peaceful Assembly Law" was implemented specifically allowing public protests. However, permission must be obtained in advance, without which organizers are subject to penalties including prison terms. Several people have been arrested under the statute.

Last month, Buddhist monks held rallies across Burma in defiance of the ban on public gatherings to demand further apologies from the authorities over a crackdown in November on a protest at a copper mine.Large crowds came out to support the monks as they marched in Rangoon, Mandalay and other major cities.

Sources believe that the abolition of the ban means that fewer draconian measures will remain in place because the government is the process of reforms. As the wave of diplomatic change continues, the Myanmar government also promised in December that  privately-owned newspapers would be allowed to operate from April 2013 for the first time in almost 50 years.

The lift on the ban is aimed at improving relations between Myanmar’s various ethnic groups and the current government; tensions have been exacerbated due to increased fighting in the country’s western regions.

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