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Special Rapporteur Lallah's 4/9/97 (r)
- Subject: Special Rapporteur Lallah's 4/9/97 (r)
- From: burma1un@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 13:16:00
Subject: Special Rapporteur Lallah's 4/9/97 statement to UNCHR
STATEMENT MADE BY JUDGE RAJSOOMER LALLAH
SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR OF THE COMMSSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MYANMAR
TO THE
FIFTY-THIRD SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
9 APRIL 1997
Mr. Chairman,
In June 1996, 1 was appointed by your predecessor,
Ambassador Saboia, as the Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in Myanmar. This position was
created in 1992 by this Commission in accordance with
resolution 1992/58. The mandate required me to establish
direct contact with the Government and people of Myanmar,
with a view to submitting reports to the General Assembly
and the Commission. That mandate has since been
periodically renewed. Mr. Yozo Yokota preceded me in this
task. I wish to pay tribute to the competence with which he
discharged his mandate. I derived much assistance from his
work.
Mr. Chairman,
On assuming my mandate, I tried to identify the priority
concerns of the international community with regard to the
situation of human rights in Myanmar. These concerns are
referred to in the resolutions which the various competent
organs of the United Nations have adopted over the past six
years but more particularly in the General Assembly
resolution 51/117 and Commission resolution 1996/80, which
were the most recently adopted. These concerns may be
summarized as follows:
a. the electoral process initiated in Myanmar by the
general elections of 27 May 1990 has yet to reach its
conclusion and the Government still has not implemented its
commitments to take all necessary steps towards the
establishment of a democratic order in the light of those
elections;
b. many political leaders, in particular elected
representatives, remain deprived of their liberty;
c. violations of human rights remain extremely serious,
including, in particular, the practice of torture, summary
and arbitrary executions, forced labor, including forced
portering for the military, abuse of women, politically
motivated arrests and detention, forced displacement,
serious restrictions on the freedoms of expression and
association, and the imposition of oppressive measures
directed, in particular, at ethnic and religious minority
groups;
d. the continuing fighting with ethnic and other
political groups, despite the conclusion of cease-fire
agreements, together with the continuing violations of human
rights has resulted in flows of refugees to neighboring
countries.
Mr. Chairman,
In October 1996, 1 submitted an interim report to the
General-Assembly commenting upon the institutional framework
of Myanmar and its adverse impact on rights to personal
security and due process of law, the freedoms of opinion,
expression and movement and the requirement that the will of
the people be the basis of authority in the State. Two
months ago, I submitted my report to your Commission. I
have included more specific information relating mainly to
the situation in the border areas between Myanmar and
Thailand. This most recent information has come to me
directly through my visit to Thailand. There I received
testimonies from among the thousands of newly displaced
persons who fled Myanmar in the summer of 1996. The
testimony corroborated earlier reports I had received. While
both reports are at the disposal of all delegations, I wish
to draw attention to certain specific issues.
Mr. Chairman,
Since my appointment in June 1996 and, despite the requests
expressed in the resolutions of the General-Assembly and
this Commission that I have direct access to the Government
and people of Myanmar, I have yet to be allowed by the
Government of Myanmar to see the situation on the ground.
Following my appointment, I have written on 3 separate
occasions to the Government of Myanmar seeking their
cooperation and requesting their authorization to visit the
country in the discharge of my mandate so as to reflect the
situation in Myanmar as comprehensively as possible. My
efforts have so far failed. There has been no response to
my letters. However, in his statement to the Third
Committee of the GA in November 1996, the Permanent
Representative of Myanmar did indicate that a visit would be
possible at an appropriate and mutually convenient time.
Although I have remained ready to undertake such a visit, I
have so far had no favorable communication from the
Government.
Mr. Chairman,
I feel bound to record my regret that the Government of
Myanmar would appear to adopt an attitude of
non-cooperation. Clearly, the refusal of the Government of
Myanmar to allow me as Special Rapporteur to visit the
country considerably complicates the task I have set myself
as Rapporteur to ascertain and report on the human rights
situation in Myanmar. The absence of a response to my
letters is, in the circumstances, regrettable because it has
not rendered possible the engagement of a constructive
dialogue in the light of the analysis which I have made of
the present situation, the current laws and practices, and
the developments described in my reports and which
manifestly have an unfavorable impact on human rights in
Myanmar. I greatly hope, however, that the Government of
Myanmar will cooperate and engage in such a dialogue in
response to the concerns of the international community, as
expressed in the resolutions so far adopted by the
General-Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.
Mr. Chairman,
Although I have not been able to visit Myanmar itself, I
have gathered much information which I considered reliable
from a number of sources: these sources have included
governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental
sources, including individuals who either have recently left
Myanmar or else had relevant information about the situation
in Myanmar. Further, in my continuing effort to obtain the
must accurate and up-to-date information on the situation in
Myanmar, I visited Thailand in December 1996 to assess the
situation of the recently displaced who had fled from
Myanmar to the refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border.
I wish in this regard to thank warmly the Government of
Thailand for authorizing me to visit the border areas.
Mr. Chairman,
I wish to draw special attention to the fate of
persons belonging to the ethnic minorities living in the
border areas. Displacement has become a way of life for
many of them. For the past 30 years, Karen, Mon, Karenni
and Shan have had to flee their homes and lands in order to
avoid conscription into compulsory labor for the military,
in particular portering or for development projects. I must
also mention frequent violent attacks against persons and
property, which have often resulted to forced displacement.
As a result, family units and communities are invariably
destroyed and the displaced lose their natural and cultural
environment if not their lives. In addition to all these
developments, which cause serious consequences and social
problems for the population living in that area, military
operations have recently been undertaken by the military in
the Karen State and artillery bombardments are reported to
have caused damage not only to property but also to human
suffering and loss of life. Reports from refugees who have
been coming out of the border area describe in horrifying
detail the situation in the Karen State and it is feared
that there is little hope for improvement of the situation
in the near future.
Mr. Chairman,
I now come to the politico-legal system in Myanmar.
The present legal and institutional framework through which
legislative, executive and judicial powers continue to be
exercised in
Myanmar is not in conformity with established international
norms governing human rights. These norms require that the
authority of government should be based on the will of the
people and that this will shall be expressed in genuine
elections in which everyone is entitled to participate
either directly or through freely chosen representatives.
More than 6 years have now passed since the will of the
people in Myanmar was freely expressed in general elections
in 1990. That will continues to be frustrated. The
National Convention established by the Authorities since
1993 to devise principles to govern a new constitution has
been afflicted by criticisms of unrepresentativeness and of
procedures obstructing meaningful debate. There is no
indication as to when its proceedings will end.
Mr. Chairman,
In the meantime the suppression of the exercise of
civil and political rights is reported to attain new
heights. A panoply of laws continues to be used to
criminalise and punish the very exercise of civil and
political rights. There are still frequent allegations of
the arbitrary killings of civilians and insurgents by
members of the armed forces. Acts of torture or other cruel
or inhuman treatment are frequently reported to continue to
occur, especially in the case of the large-scale
displacement of persons belonging to ethnic minorities. Due
process of law continues to be flouted. In particular, the
National Democratic League (NLD) and its leadership are
reported to be the constant subject of harassment and
oppression to the extent that the NLD found it necessary to
write to the authorities to highlight specific instances of
arrests, harassment and other unjustified action by
officials. On the other hand, peaceful protests are
reported to have been met by the closure of the
universities, thus putting in jeopardy the education of a
generation of the youth of the community.
Mr. Chairman,
In conclusion, I have to say with profound regret, at this
time, that there has been no change in the situation of
human rights in Myanmar in the past year and that there is
still no concrete sign of improvement. It is clearly not
sufficient to point out and dwell upon systematic violations
of human rights. Constructive measures are called for. It
seems to me that the absence of respect for the rights
pertaining to democratic governance as expressed in the
elections of 1990 by the people is at the root of all the
major violations of human rights in Myanmar. Clearly the
establishment of a democratic order in itself would create
the most secure basis to remedy the situation and further to
create the proper infrastructure for the protection and
enjoyment of human rights. To this end a new process would
be required to be engaged by the authorities of Myanmar.
Recommendations in this regard are contained in paragraph
64, in Chapter II I F and Chapter IV B of the Report.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.