THURSDAY, 29 MARCH 2012<\/p>\n
The ruling this week that the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) was formed without Parliament\u2019s approval will have no effect on the operations of the agency, commission officials said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The agency will continue to operate and redress the problem of its formation when Parliament reconvenes, according to a statement issued by the commission.<\/p>\n
The commission said it will continue to promote the fundamental rights of Burmese citizens \u201cwith added momentum,\u201d with or without government funding. It defended its creation through a decree issued by President Thein Sein.<\/p>\n
Benjamin Zawacki, a Burma researcher at Amnesty International, told VOA<\/em> from Bangkok the incident raises a more important question of whether the organization is independent from President Thein Sein.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile it is not illegal to have such a commission appointed by a president, it does raise fundamental questions of the commission\u2019s level of independence \u2026 Each and every one of the members of the commission was handpicked by the president, and some have gone on record defending the country\u2019s rather abysmal human rights record.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the organization may be able to be more independent if it receives the support of both the parliament and the president.<\/p>\n The issue of the commission\u2019s independence was questioned by U.N. human rights envoy to Burma Tomas Ojea during his visit in early February, saying it appeared not to have the necessary autonomy it needs to be fully independent.<\/p>\n On March 16, Parliament removed the commission\u2019s funding from its appropriations bill, after a ruling by a bill committee that the commission had been created by order of President Thein Sein without the approval of Parliament.<\/p>\n The Constitution stipulates that such commissions with ministerial rank must be approved by Parliament.<\/p>\n To overcome the problem, the commission said in a statement: \u201cTo strengthen the MNHRC in the long run, the commission, pursuant to the guidance of the president, is already drafting an enabling national human rights commission act. The commission will submit the draft to the president and, if approved, present it to the Union Assembly for adoption.\u201d<\/p>\n