Abstract
Events such as the liberation of famous activist Aung Saan Yuu Kyi last year, Hillary Clinton's visit to Yangon, or the first pluralistic elections for more than two decades, give Myanmar1 the image of a new and progressive country (The Economist: 2011). Despite such trends of political improvement, the country remains 129 out of 177 on the human development index rankings and remains under close surveillance (EEAS:2010:9). The case of Myanmar is interesting because of its peculiar geographic location. Surrounded by fast developing states, referred to as "Asian tigers", Myanmar has been ostracized, as decades of military rule have kept Myanmar isolated from international concern. Myanmar was left lagging behind not only in terms of economic development but also regarding social and political rights.
In order to shed light on the current situation in Myanmar rand more particularly on the contemporary human right breaches, this essay will first analyse the theoretical background to the concept of human rights, then in a second part it will look at the historical background explaining the conditions that lead to the regime's behavior and finally, we will look at the international legal breaches of physical integrity rights.
