It expressed more concern during the year over the prospect of the erosion of civil liberties in Hong Kong than over the virtual elimination of the dissident movement on the mainland. The term refers to a system of detention and punishment administratively imposed on those who are deemed to have committed minor offenses but are not legally considered criminals. Freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion are under sharp and constant attack, and official rhetoric against the Dalai Lama is increasingly virulent. Human Rights violations are widespread and well-documented, and they stem from the authorities' intolerance of dissent, fear of unrest, and the absence or inadequacy of laws protecting basic freedoms. Abuses include torture and mistreatment of prisoners, forced confessions, and arbitrary and lengthy incommunicado detention.
Prison conditions are harsh.
The Government has placed severe restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, religion, privacy, and worker rights. In many cases, the judicial system denies criminal defendants basic legal safeguards and due process. Human rights and democracy in Burma continue to be a dream, rather than reality. The country is ruled under martial law by a dictatorship, and Burmese citizens do not enjoy freedom of expression, of assembly or due process guarantees. Hundreds of political prisoners remain in prison, and hundreds of more people are arrested every year.