Free Burma

ND-Burma is a collaborative group of 12 member organizations documenting human rights violations committed in Burma. We are developing a human rights database that will serve to centralize information collected by Burma human rights groups through interviews and other forms of fact-finding. ND-Burma embarked on this project in order to enhance the analysis of trends of human rights violations, to engage in advocacy to prevent the occurrence of human rights violations, and eventually to assist in the development of transitional justice measures in Burma. This series of manuals is designed to provide guidelines on how to document violations in Burma in accordance with international human rights law and based on the experience of ND-Burma members.

Each manual is structured in three chapters. "Chapter 1: Documentation" sets out the relevant international law concerning the category of human rights violation and provides guidelines on possible ways to document these violations. It then provides information about the historical and political context of the violation. Chapter 1 also provides a sample good and bad interview based on a hypothetical fact pattern involving obstruction of freedom of movement. "Chapter 2: Analysis" discusses how to assess the evidence in order to establish a violation of international law. It discusses how to identify trends and patterns that will strengthen the evidence of violations. Chapter 2 also includes information on establishing serious crimes under international law such as genocide and crimes against humanity. "Chapter 3: Advocacy" includes information on how to present evidence of human rights violations to international actors and bodies. This chapter focuses on the role of the United Nations and provides an overview of the mechanisms that are available to deal with violations of freedom of movement.

This manual series covers the 15 categories of human rights violations (some categories have been combined in the manuals, giving us 13) that ND-Burma chose as priority issues as it developed a "controlled vocabulary" to assist with the challenging prospect of standardizing and managing data from 12 different organizations. Additional manuals will be developed if ND-Burma expands the range of violations we cover. We are also developing a "general documentation manual" and in future editions, we plan to add sections on War Crimes and on Discrimination to the "Analysis" chapter.

ND-Burma is grateful to the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB), an ND-Burma member integral in the formation and facilitation of the network, which provided essential administrative support to this project, and to the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Bangkok and the Open Society Institute, which made the compilation and publication of this manual possible.

ND-Burma will likely publish updated editions of these manuals in the future, so we welcome feedback and constructive criticism so that we can improve any weaknesses and correct any mistakes that may exist in these documents. The manuals are available on the ND Burma blog (http://www.ndburma.blogspot.com) and will soon be available on the forthcoming ND-Burma website (address to be announced). Please feel free to further distribute these manuals, and please acknowledge ND-Burma if you use any of the material in your own publications.

For more information about this documentation manuals series or about ND-Burma, please contact ND-Burma Coordinator, Han Min Soe, at mghanpai@gmail.com and +66 (0)810231354 or +66 (0)819615992.