The military regime in Burma (Myanmar) is one of the world's most repressive and abusive regimes, as human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science have reported on human rights abuses by the military government.

The military junta of Burma rules at its will, controls the judiciary, suppresses all basic rights, and commits human rights abuses with impunity. Military officers hold all cabinet positions, active or retired military officers hold all top posts in all ministries.

According to Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (HRDP), on April 18, 2007, several of its members were met by approximately a hundred people led by a military official U Nyunt Oo, and beaten up and some were badly injured and hospitalized. HRDP was formed in 2002 to raise awareness among the people of Burma about their human rights.

Burma holds one of the worst records as regards children’s rights. Child labour is very common, especially in view of the fact that an estimated 70,000 of the country’s 350,000 to 400,000 soldiers are children. According to Human Rights Watch, not only recruiting but kidnapping of children by the military is commonplace.

Several hundred thousands of men, women, children and elderly people are forced to work against their will by the military administration. Those who refuse to work are made victims of torture, rape or murder. The International Labour Organization has continuously called on Burma to end the practice of forced labour since the 1960s. In June 2000, the ILO Conference adopted a resolution calling on all governments to cease any relations with countries that might support the military junta to continue the use of forced labour.

The military government restricts Internet access through software-based censorship that prevents ordinary citizens accessing internet or contacting online.

A 2002 report by The Shan Human Rights Foundation and The Shan Women's Action Network, License to Rape, details 173 incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence, involving 625 girls and women, committed by Burmese army troops in Shan State, mostly between 1996 and 2001. According to the report, "the Burmese military regime is allowing its troops systematically and on a widespread scale to commit rape with impunity in order to terrorize and subjugate the ethnic peoples of Shan State. There is a strong case that war crimes and crimes against humanity, in the form of sexual violence, have occurred and continue to occur in Shan State. The report gives clear evidence that rape is officially condoned as a 'weapon of war' against the civilian populations in Shan State." Furthermore, the report states that "25% of the rapes resulted in death, in some incidences with bodies being deliberately displayed to local communities. 61% were gang-rapes; women were raped within military bases, and in some cases women were detained and raped repeatedly for periods of up to 4 months." In a 2003 report, "No Safe Place: Burma's Army and the Rape of Ethnic Women", Refugees International document the widespread use of rape by Burma’s soldiers to brutalize women from five different ethnic nationalities.

The Burmese regime has marked certain ethnic minorities such as the Karen for extermination or 'Burmisation'. In early August 2009, a conflict known as the Kokang incident broke out in Shan State in northern Burma. For several weeks, junta troops fought against ethnic minorities including the Kokang, Va, and Kachin. From August 8 to 12, the first days of the conflict, as many as 10,000 Burmese civilians fled to Yunnan province in neighboring China.

According to Amnesty International, the Muslim Rohingya people have continued to suffer human rights violations under the Burma military rulers since 1978 and many have fled to neighboring Bangladesh as a result. "The Rohingyas’ freedom of movement is severely restricted and the vast majority of them have effectively been denied Burma citizenship. Muslim Rohingya people are also subjected to various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation, land confiscation, forced eviction and house destruction, and financial restrictions on marriage. Muslim Rohingyas continue to be used as forced laborers on roads and at military camps, although the amount of forced labor in northern Rakhine State has decreased over the last decade."

In 1978 over 200,000 Muslim Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh, following the ‘Nagamin’ (‘Dragon King’) operation of the Burma army. Officially this campaign aimed at "scrutinizing each individual living in the state, designating citizens and foreigners in accordance with the law and taking actions against foreigners who have filtered into the country illegally." This military campaign directly targeted civilians, and resulted in widespread killings, rape and destruction of mosques and further religious persecution." During 1991-92 a new wave of over a quarter of a million Muslim Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh. They reported widespread forced labor, as well as summary executions, torture, and rape. Muslim Rohingyas were forced to work without pay by the Burma army on infrastructure and economic projects, often under harsh conditions. Many other human rights violations occurred in the context of forced labor of Rohingya civilians by the security forces.

The military authorities permitted only believers registered religious groups to worship as they choose. However, the Government imposed restrictions on certain religious activities and is accused of abusing the right to freedom of religion.

The military is notorious for rampant use of sexual violence as an instrument of control, including systematic rapes and taking of sex slaves as porters for the military. There is a growing international movement to defend women's human rights issues.

A 2004 Amnesty International report says that, between 1989 and 2004, more than 1,300 political prisoners have been imprisoned after unfair trials. The prisoners, including National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo, have "been wrongfully denied their liberty for peaceful acts that would not be considered crimes under international law", Amnesty International claims. The Freedom House report notes that the authorities arbitrarily search citizens' homes, intercept mail, and monitor telephone conversations, and that the possession and use of telephones, fax machines, computers, modems, and software are criminalized.

Since 1992, the government has encouraged tourism in the country. But few tourists visit Burma, because of restrictions and insulting controls. May be due to this, Aung San Suu Kyi has requested international tourists not visit Burma. The military junta's forced labor programs were focused around tourist destinations which have been heavily criticized for their human rights records. Much of the country is completely off-limits to tourists, and the military very tightly controls interactions between foreigners and the people of Burma. They are not to discuss politics with foreigners, under penalty of imprisonment, and in 2001, the Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board issued an order for local officials to protect tourists and limit "unnecessary contact" between foreigners and ordinary Burmese people.

The above restrictions explain the John Yettaw case. On 4 May 2009, the American John Yettaw swam across a lake to the house of Aung San Suu Kyi and remained there for two nights, resulting in the arrest of Yettaw and Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi was charged with violating the terms of her house arrest. Suu Kyi's current house arrest term was due to end on 27 May 2009. On 11 August 2009 Suu Kyi was sentenced to an additional 18 months of house arrest following conviction on charges of violating the terms of her previous incarceration.

John Yettaw told the BBC's Newshour program that he had a dream that Ms Suu Kyi was going to be murdered, and swam to her home wearing home-made flippers to warn her. The real reason why the military wants to keep Suu Kyi under house arrest is what British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated, "This is a purely political sentence designed to prevent her from taking part in the regime’s planned elections next year."