On February 23, the Wilson Center will be hosting an event with Human Rights Watch’s senior Burma researcher, to discuss recent political changes in the country.

David Scott Mathieson, Human Rights Watch’s senior Burma researcher, has just returned from Rangoon and will discuss recent political changes in Burma and prospects for the upcoming elections. He will also talk about the challenges of resolving the long-running armed conflicts in ethnic minority areas, and the failure to seriously address ongoing human rights violations. Mathieson joined Human Rights Watch in 2006, where he has worked on reports and investigations focusing on the 2007 crackdown on peaceful protests in Burma; child soldiers; internal displacement and refugees; and harassment of Burma’s political opposition. He has been living in the Thailand-Burma borderlands since 2002, and working on issues related to military rule and repression in Burma since 1995. He has also taught at several universities in Australia.