`Midnight inspections’ set to end in Myanmar

Members of the governing National League for Democracy (NLD), many of whom had been a victim of surprise house raids under the former military regime, are supporting the bill currently going through parliament.
"Previous governments used this law to arrest political activists. As the ruling party, the NLD wants to amend this law in line with human rights standards," party spokesman Win Htein said Monday.
"The new law will end warrant less household inspections," he told dpa by phone.
Myanmar's upper house last week discussed the proposed bill to amend the 2012 Ward or Village Tract Administration Law, which has required residents to inform government officials when visitors spend the night in their homes.
Authorities enforce the guest registration requirement through late-night raids, commonly known as midnight inspections.
The raids frequently targeted individuals working with civil society organisations and political activists.
The law is expected to be approved as the parliament is dominated by the NLD lawmakers, led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, following the party's landslide election win in November.
Military lawmakers have argued that national security will be in jeopardy if the bill is approved.
"Such guest registration and unwarranted searches have no place in a rights-respecting democracy," said Matthew Smith, director of rights group Fortify Rights.
"For too long the military has used this law to suppress rather than protect human rights."
- DPA