The country has been in turmoil since the ousting of Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 2021 coup.
Myanmar’s military rulers have been urged to stop egregious violations of the conventions on forced labour and freedom of association.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted the democratically-elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 2021 coup. The commission of enquiry concluded that the Myanmar junta had imposed wide-reaching restrictions on basic civil liberties and trade union rights.The commission “urges the Myanmar military authorities to immediately cease all forms of violence, torture and other inhumane treatment against trade unionists, and to end all forms of forced or compulsory labour”, the ILO said.
“Trade union members and leaders have been killed, arbitrarily arrested, subjected to sham trials, convicted, detained, abused and tortured, threatened, intimidated, subjected to surveillance, forced into exile…due to their trade union membership and activities,” it said. The commission called on the junta to release and withdraw all criminal charges against trade unionists detained in relation to their legitimate activities, and to restore the protection of basic civil liberties suspended since the coup.