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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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