Thousands of people have signed a petition to reform the national human rights commission and sack staff for negligence in the case of two children allegedly forced to work as slaves at a tailor shop in Yangon.
The letter – containing the signatures of 1,211 people and referring to a further 1,912 who signed an online document – was handed into the commission at its office on Yangon’s Pyay Road today.
The petition states objections to the performance of the commission in responding to the mistreatment of two girls, now aged 16 and 17, who say they were kept prisoner and tortured for five years.
They were freed earlier this month after a journalist intervened but their families say numerous complaints to police were ignored.
When the reporter, Swe Win from Myanmar Now, approached the Myanmar Human Rights Commission, the body acted to negotiate with the tailor for the girls’ release.
After a payment of around $4,000 was made, the pair were freed, but a public outcry followed when it appeared there would be no further action against the alleged perpetrators. The tailor and two family members were finally arrested last Wednesday.
But activists are calling for reform of the human rights body, with the letter stating that Myanmar citizens can’t keep faith in the organization if there is no legal action taken in cases of human rights violations.
