Developing an Understanding of COVID-19 Pandemic Health Restrictions, Laws and Penalities in Myanmar
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
In 2021, Myanmar faced a profound social, political, and human rights crisis, resulting in armed conflict, which continues, at the time of writing. COVID-19, a global pandemic, added fuel to the fire. Arising from this, our study gives an overview of the state of justice among offenders against COVID-19 pandemic health restrictions in Myanmar. First, we use a literature review to identify relevant laws, regulations and guidelines implemented during Myanmar’s COVID-19 response. We then explore a lack explore a lack of equity in penalties and use a qualitative phenomenological method that yields insights from discussions conducted with four informants — judge, prosecutor, offender and legal researcher — that were interpreted and translated over September 2021 to March 2022. These two approaches demonstrate that the government issued overlapping legal measures regarding COVID-19. We found penalties for those who violate such laws were different, even though cases were similar. Therefore, we form recommendations that suggest the government must consider advocating better civic awareness and education, in particular by using technology more effectively with respect to sharing COVID-19 information, supporting personal citizen rights to access timely information, and embracing international human rights law.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The views, opinions, and pictures expressed in this journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and viewpoints of the editor and the editorial board. All rights are reserved by the authors and the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies of Mahidol University. No part of this journal may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing from the journal’s editor, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Non-commercial use of information in this journal must be properly referenced.
References
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. (2020a, July 17). COVID-19 newsletter July 2020. AAPP. https://aappb.org/?p=11700
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. (2020b, June 5). Cases related to COVID-19 pandemic. AAPP.https://aappb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Chronology-of-COVID-19-in-May-English.pdf
Aung, S. Y. (2020a, June 19). Over 8,000 citizens prosecuted in Myanmar for COVID-19 breaches. The Irrawaddy. https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/8000-citizens-prosecuted-myanmar-covid-19-breaches.html
Aung, S. Y. (2020b, May 18). Myanmar to introduce tougher law to control communicable diseases. The Irrawaddy. https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/myanmar-covid-19/myanmar-introduce-tougher-law-control-communicable-diseases.html
Beagle, J. (2020, March 20). The vital role of law in the COVID-19 response, key lessons from advancing the right to health: The vital role of law. International Development Law Organization. https://www.idlo.int/news/policy-statements/statement-director-general-idlo-jan-beagle-rule-law-based-response-covid-19
Bill on Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law. (2020, February 10). Myanmar Alinn Daily. https://www.burmalibrary.org/sites/burmalibrary.org/files/obl/mal_10.2.20.pdf
Costa, P., Kessler, M., & Gajasinghe, K. (2022). Ethnography. In S. Li, P. Hiver, & M. Papi (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and individual differences (pp. 427-440). Routledge.
Creswell, J, W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. SAGE.
Day, M. J. (2014). Web 3.0 = Digital citizens, not semantics? Reconstructing digital citizenship to build the foundation of a future ‘pro-human Web’. [Master’s thesis, University of Southampton]. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355771887/
Day, M. J. (2019). Teaching the web: Principles for web education. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Southampton]. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/448000/
Day, M. J., & Skulsuthavong M. (2022). Turbulence in Thailand? The Thai digital civil rights movement and a ‘pro-human’ contract for the web. In C. Yamahata, D. M. Seekins, & M. Takeda (Eds.) Social transformations in India, Myanmar, and Thailand: Volume II: Identity and grassroots for democratic (pp. 263-290). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7110-4_16
Day, M. J., & Skulsuthavong, M. (2021b). Newton’s socio-technical cradle? Web Science, the weaponisation of social media, hashtag activism and Thailand’s postcolonial pendulum. JOMEC Journal, 16, 100-129. DOI: 10.18573/jomec.207
Day, M. J., Carr, L., & Halford, S. (2015). Developing the 'pro-human' web. In WebSci '15: Proceedings of the ACM Web Science Conference Article 20 (pp. 1–10). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). https://doi.org/10.1145/2786451.2786458
Day, M. J., Du Preez, S., Low, D. S., & Skulsuthavong, M. (2021). ‘Reinventing’ Thai universities: Ajarn, Thailand 4.0 & cross-cultural communication implications for international academia. Journal of Mass Communication, 9(1), 102-144. https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/masscomm/article/view/246159
Day, M. J., Skulsuthavong M. (2021a). Towards social transformation in Thailand: Orwellian power struggles and ‘digital’ human rights under the socio-technical Thai Internet Panopticon. In C. Yamahata, D. M. Seekins, & M. Takeda (Eds.) Social transformations in India, Myanmar, and Thailand: Volume I: Social, political and ecological perspectives (pp. 279-311). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9616-2_17
Deshpande, A., Hnin, K. T., & Traill, T. (2020, December 1). Myanmar's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Brookings Blog.https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2020/12/01/myanmars-response-to-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Englander, M. (2018). General knowledge claims in qualitative research. The Humanistic Psychologist, 47(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/hum0000107
Human Rights Watch. (2020, May 28). Myanmar: Hundreds jailed for COVID-19 violations. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/28/myanmar-hundreds-jailed-covid-19-violations
Human Rights Watch. (2021, December 6). Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced: First verdict in slew of fabricated charges. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/12/06/myanmar-aung-san-suu-kyi-sentenced
Khine, N. K. (2020, July 06). Hitting where it hurts: Impacts of COVID-19 measures on Myanmar poor. Transnational Institute. https://www.tni.org/en/article/hitting-where-it-hurts-impacts-of-covid-19-measures-on-myanmar-poor
Kurlantzick, J. (2021, September 16). Myanmar is a failing state—and could be a danger to its neighbor. Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/myanmar-failing-state-covid-19-crisis-global-response
Low, D. S., Aung, M., & Day, M. J. (2020). Cognitive sociology: Developing the 'Diversity Pathways' model in cultural neuroscience. Human Behavior, Development and Society, 21(4), 66-77. https://so01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/hbds/article/view/243179//
Lwin, T. (2020, June 1). NLD warns Yangon Chief Minister over breach of COVID-19 rules.The Irrawaddy. https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/myanmar-covid-19/nld-warns-yangon-chief-minister-breach-covid-19-rules.html
Mann, Z. (2020, May 13). Different laws applied to Myanmar COVID-19 restrictions lead to inconsistent punishments for violators. The Irrawaddy. https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/myanmar-covid-19/different-laws-applied-myanmar-covid-19-restrictions-lead-inconsistent-punishments-violators.html
Ministry of Health and Sports. (2020, April 16). Republic of the Union of Myanmar Ministry of Health and Sports Order No 37/2020 9th Waning 1381 ME. The Global New Light of Myanmar. https://www.burmalibrary.org/en/the-global-new-light-of-myanmar-friday-17-april-2020
Ministry of Health and Sports (MoHS). Ministry of Health overview: Health related laws no.1-26. https://mohs.gov.mm/Main/content/law/health-related-laws
Molly, S. (2021, March 26). Emergency law responses to COVID-19 and the impact on peace and transition processes. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. https://doi.org/10.31752/idea.2021.24
Natural Disaster Management Law. (2014). Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law No. 21/2013 [Natural Disaster Management Law]. Myanmar Law Library. https://myanmar-law-library.org/law-library/laws-and-regulations/laws/myanmar-laws-1988-until-now/union-solidarity-and-development-party-laws-2012-2016/myanmar-laws-2013/pyidaungsu-hluttaw-law-no-21-2013-natural-disaster-management-law-burmese-and.html
Oo, M. M., Tun, N. A., Lin, X., & Lucero-Prisno, D. E. III. (2020). COVID-19 in Myanmar: Spread, actions and opportunities for peace and stability. Journal of Global Health, 10(2). doi: 10.7189/jogh.10.020374
President Office. (2020, March 13). Announcement No. 1/2020. Myanmar Information Management Unit (Unofficial Translation OHCA). https://themimu.info/sites/themimu.info/files/documents/President_Office_Statement_13Mar2020_ENG.pdf
Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases Law. (1995). State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No 1/95. Burma Library. https://www.burmalibrary.org/en/the-prevention-and-control-of-communicable-diseases-law-slorc-law-no-195-english
PROTECT. (2020, August 31). Briefing paper: Freedom of expression concerns relating to Myanmar's COVID-19 response. Article 19/ PROTECT Consortium. https://www.article19.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2020.08.31-COVID-19-briefing-paper-Myanmar.pdf
RSF Hub. (2020, June). COVID-19 in Myanmar: Effects of the pandemic on the rule of law. COVID-19 Paper No. 4. RSF Hub. https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/rsf-hub/_medien/RSF_Hub_CP04.pdf
Saldana, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. SAGE.
Steffen, E. (2014). Double book review of 'Qualitative research methods in psychology: Combining core approaches' by N. Frost and 'Phenomenology for therapists: Researching the lived world' by L. Finlay. Existential Analysis, 25(1), 176-184. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A361352884/LitRC?u=anon~a82ebe9d&sid=googleScholar&xid=e229532e
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar. (2008). Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). https://www.constitutionaltribunal.gov.mm/lawdatabase/en/law/1480
Theresa, N. (2021, July 19). Myanmar plunges into deadly third COVID-19 wave. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2021/07/myanmar-plunges-into-deadly-third-covid-19-wave/
Thompson, A., Sigdel, D. R., & Cifuentes, M. (2020, December 22). Reporting on Myanmar’s COVID-19 first wave and its impact on civic and political space. ActionAid Myanmar https://myanmar.actionaid.org/publications/2020/reporting-myanmars-covid-19-first-wave-and-its-impact-civic-and-political-space
Tracy, S. J. (2013). Qualitative research methods: Collecting evidence, crafting analysis, communicating impact. Wiley-Blackwell.
Tun, Z. T. (2020, Aug 6). Canadian pastor jailed in Myanmar for defying coronavirus ban. Bangkok Post. https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1963895/canadian-pastor-jailed-in-myanmar-for-defying-coronavirus-ban
United Nations Development Programme. (2021, April 30). COVID-19, coup d’état and poverty: Compounding negative shocks and their impact on human development in myanmar. UNDP Myanmar Blog. https://www.undp.org/asia-pacific/publications/covid-19-coup-detat-and-poverty-compounding-negative-shocks-and-their-impact-human-development-myanmar
United Nations General Assembly. (1948, December 10). Universal Declaration of Human Rights (217 A (III)). https://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2020, June 7). CARE rapid gender analysis of COVID-19 in Myanmar. Relief Web. https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/care-rapid-gender-analysis-covid-19-myanmar-7-june-2020-version-1
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (1976, January 3). International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966 entry into force 3 January 1976, in accordance with article 49. OHCR. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2020). Ensuring access to justice in the context of COVID-19: Guidance note. UNODC. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2020/May/unodc-and-undp-issue-guidance-note-on-ensuring-access-to-justice-during-the-covid-19-pandemic.html
United Nations Sustainable Development Group. (2020, June). A UN framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19 in Myanmar. United Nations Myanmar. https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/un-framework-immediate-socio-economic-response-covid-19-myanmar
Wittekind, C. T. (2021). Crisis upon Crisis: Fighting COVID-19 Becomes a Political Struggle after Myanmar's Military Coup. ISEAS Perspective. YusofIshak Institute, Issue: 2021 No. 67.
World Bank Group. (2020, June 26). Myanmar economic monitor: Myanmar in the time of COVID-19. World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/806001593183687694/Myanmar-Economic-Monitor-Myanmar-in-the-Time-of-COVID-19
World Bank. (2021). Myanmar economic monitor, July 2021: Progress threatened; resilience tested. World Bank, Myanmar. World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/36020 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
World Health Organization. (2021, November 22). WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. https://covid19.who.int/
Yaing, N. (2020, July 2). EMG reporter from Nay Pyi Taw sued for Facebook comment about COVID-19. Eleven Media.https://elevenmyanmar.com/news/emg-reporter-from-nay-pyi-taw-sued-for-facebook-comment-about-covid-19