"How to Defend the Defenders? A Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in Burma and Appropriate Protection Mechanisms", July 2015

[T]he Report...explains the background to the issue of HRDs in Burma, and outlines the current political situation in the country...[S]ince early 2011...Burma has undergone a series of reforms that gave many hope that the situation of HRDs would improve...However...as the 2015 national elections draw ever closer, the democratic and civil society space within which HRDs can operate has started to contract alarmingly once again. Those who try to defend human rights now seem to be operating in as dangerous environment as ever...The objectives of the Report are to outline the specific risks and challenges that HRDs in Burma face in 2015, and to set out some practical protection mechanisms and policy recommendations that might improve the situation of HRDs. The long term aim is an improvement not only in the lives of the HRDs themselves, but also in the human rights situation in Burma as a whole...