Myanmar [BBC profile] has abolished a law from 1950 that was used by the military to jail dissidents within the country. Myanmar’s President, Htin Kyaw, signed new legislation abolishing the Emergency Provisions Act [text, PDF] on Tuesday. The Act provided the military the ability to impose seven-year prison terms for those deemed to be dissidents. Such behavior could include reading foreign papers or watching foreign new services. The Act was introduced in 1950 after Myanmar had attained independence from Britain. In order to combat ethnic insurgencies. U Aung Kyi, the chairman of a Parliamentary panel that helped draft the legislation, stated [NYT report] “We have abolished the Emergency Provisions Act because it was the tool used by military regimes to suppress political dissidents” and “does not fit with the current situation of democratization in the country.”

Human rights has been on the forefront of Myanmar’s new democratic government since ending a decades-old military rule. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a report in June stating that human rights abuses against the Rohingya in Myanmar may amount to crimes against humanity [JURIST report]. Also in June UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed [JURIST report] shock at the increasing number of children recruited and killed in armed conflicts in several countries; the government of Myanmar alone released [JURIST report] 46 underage child recruits from the military in March as part of a UN join action plan made in 2012. In May Human Rights Watch urged [JURIST report] the Myanmar Parliament to reconsider a proposed law that they say has the advocacy organization says has the potential to limit free expression and peaceful assembly. Also in May US Secretary of State John Kerry offered support to Myanmar’s newly democratic government and urged [JURIST report] the country to push more democratic reform and address human rights issues.