Myanmar parliament agrees to punish some rights commission members

Myanmar's House of Representatives has passed a proposal to punish some human right commission members, who failed to protect victims of human rights violation, according to parliament sources Tuesday.

The Myanmar National Human Right Commission (MNHRC) was blamed for not taking serious action over the recent case of two girl house maids who were tortured by their employers.

The resolution was approved with 374-1 votes in favor Monday.

In 17 lawmakers' debate in the House's session, some members of the MNHRC were criticized as handling the ruthless case in a very unjust manner and turned a blind eye to human rights.

The commission's mediation between the abusers and the victims to settle the case for five million kyats (over 4,000 U.S. dollars) instead of bringing the case to the court tarnished the country's image.

The MPs called for protecting their rights in line with the Child Rights of UN Convention and the Human Trafficking Law as the abused victims are under the age of 18.

The 17-year and 16-year old girls, who have been working for the Inwa tailoring shop in Yangon for two years, were persecuted by the employers by crushing their hands and cutting bodies with knife.

Through formal complaint to the police, the two maids were returned to their parents early this month.

The Myanmar Anti-Human Trafficking Unit and Yangon Region Social Welfare Department have filed lawsuits against the employers.

The President's Office also issued an announcement on Thursday, saying that the government is closely watching the torture case. Enditem