The UN and Burma - news and commentary

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Websites/Multiple Documents

Description: Archive from October 2010 to October 2016
Source/publisher: Various sources via "BurmaNet News"
Date of entry/update: 2012-04-18
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: About 2,600,000 results (August 2017)
Source/publisher: Various sources via Youtube
Date of entry/update: 2017-08-24
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: This report is collect the information from The Global New Light of Myanmar, 9 June 2019, Eleven Myanmar, 11 June 2019, Myanmar Times, 18 Jun 2019 , and Myanmar Business Today, 17 Jun 2019..."
Source/publisher: UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency
2019-06-34
Date of entry/update: 2019-07-29
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
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Description: "Publication of IIMM Analytical Reports Reports on Myanmar military’s anti-Rohingya hate speech campaign and Myanmar authorities’ failure to investigate and punish sexual violence committed against Rohingya Statement by Nicholas Koumjian, Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar Geneva, 27 March 2024 – Today the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar is publicly releasing two analytical reports. One report details the Myanmar military’s covert Facebook network that systematically distributed hate speech against the Rohingya at the time of the 2017 clearance operations. The second report examines the response of Myanmar state authorities to allegations of sexual and gender-based crimes committed by security forces against the Rohingya. This report concludes that the authorities failed in their duty under international law to investigate and punish these acts. These reports form a small part of the evidence and analysis that the Mechanism has shared with authorities working on ongoing cases concerning the Rohingya at the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and in Argentina. These two reports have been made public on an exceptional basis. The vast majority of the material the Mechanism has collected and analyzed must remain confidential. Confidentiality protects the security and privacy of witnesses and sources. It is also standard procedure to maintain the confidentiality of ongoing criminal investigations before evidence is presented at trial to prevent efforts to hide or destroy evidence, to protect the integrity of witness testimony, and to avoid alerting suspects who could evade arrest or detection. However, the Mechanism recognizes that there is a significant public interest in our work, and we aim to be transparent whenever possible. Perhaps some of our analysis can be used by others to advance the purpose of creating the Mechanism: ensuring accountability for the most serious international crimes committed in Myanmar and contributing to ending the very worst violence inflicted upon Myanmar’s people. After careful evaluation we have decided to publish these reports. Some redactions have been made in the versions of the reports released today in order to preserve future investigative opportunities, avoid disclosing information that could assist perpetrators’ efforts to destroy or conceal evidence, and protect the safety and privacy of witnesses, sources and other persons. The material that has been redacted includes several annexes to the hate speech report. Report on hate speech The hate speech report provides a rigorous analysis of content posted on 43 Facebook Pages between July and December 2017. All of these Pages were removed by Facebook in 2018. Six Pages were removed because they were connected to individuals or organizations that Facebook banned from the platform as international experts had found evidence that they had “committed or enabled serious human rights abuses (in Myanmar)”. The other 37 Pages were removed for engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” in violation of the company’s misrepresentation policies.1 The Mechanism’s analysis concluded that these seemingly unrelated Pages, some of which were devoted to celebrity news and popular culture, were part of a network with clear ties to the Myanmar military. These Pages often shared creators, administrators, and editors and regularly posted material using the same IP addresses used by the Myanmar military. Identical material was often posted on multiple Pages in this network, sometimes within minutes. The report identifies more than 10,000 posts on these Pages that the Mechanism considered hate speech. One such post received more than 200 comments calling for Rohingya to be shot, killed, or permanently removed from Myanmar. The report concludes that at the very time of mass violence against the Rohingya, the Myanmar military was carrying out a coordinated hate speech campaign against the group. Report on failure to investigate and punish sexual and gender-based crimes The report analyzes how state authorities in Myanmar responded to multiple allegations of sexual and gender-based crimes against the Rohingya during the 2016 and 2017 clearance operations. Under international law, military and civilian leaders are obliged to investigate and, where appropriate, punish acts of those under their command that could amount to serious international crimes, including acts of sexual violence. Furthermore, rape can constitute an underlying act of genocide if committed with the intent to destroy a group. Therefore, the failure to investigate and punish these crimes could amount to a violation of Myanmar’s obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The report summarizes a variety of material that was publicly available about sexual and gender-based crimes against the Rohingya during the clearance operations, including information published by the media, NGOs and various UN bodies, as well as discussions in the UN Security Council and findings of the International Criminal Court Pre-Trial Chamber and demonstrates that Myanmar state authorities would have been aware of these very serious allegations. The report then examines the response of Myanmar state authorities, including several investigations and inquiries, and explains why these were grossly inadequate both in the process and the results. The report notes that there is no evidence that any soldier or police officer was charged or prosecuted for sexual and gender-based crimes, nor any commander dismissed, demoted, or sanctioned for failing to stop or punish those committing these crimes. The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM or Mechanism) was created by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2018 to collect and analyze evidence of the most serious international crimes and other violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011. It aims to facilitate justice and accountability by preserving and organizing this evidence and preparing case files that can be used by authorities to prosecute individuals in national, regional, and international courts..."
Source/publisher: UN Human Rights Council (Geneva) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
2024-03-27
Date of entry/update: 2024-03-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Size: 18.96 MB
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Description: "Myanmar: This morning, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, briefed the General Assembly.She said that the military takeover in Myanmar, which is now in its third year, has had a devastating impact on the country and its people as violence continues at an alarming rate, adding that despite the brutal repression, widespread popular resistance to the military continues by non-violent and violent means across much of the country. I will be taking her to the Security Council stakeout soon, you will know when that happens..."
Source/publisher: UN Department of Global Communications
2023-03-16
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Human Rights Council Fifty-second session 27 February–31 March 2023 Agenda items 2 and 4 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention Summary Prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 47/1, this report identifies trends and patterns of human rights violations that occurred in Myanmar between 1 February 2022 and 31 January 2023. Two years after launching a coup, the military has brought the country into a perpetual human rights crisis through continuous use of violence, including killing, arbitrarily arresting, torturing, forcibly disappearing, prosecuting, and sentencing anti-coup opponents. Urgent, concrete actions are needed to ensure that all people in Myanmar enjoy their fundamental rights and freedoms. Recommendations are made to all parties, including military authorities, the ‘National Unity Government’, and the international community. Introduction and methodology In resolution 47/1, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to monitor and follow up on the implementation of the recommendations made by the independent international fact-finding mission, including those on accountability, and to continue to track progress in the situation of human rights in Myanmar, including of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities, with the support of specialist experts and in complementarity to the work of the Independent Mechanism for Myanmar and reports of the Special Rapporteur and to present…a written report at its 52nd session. This report covers human rights concerns documented by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) between 1 February 2022 and 31 January 2023 analyzing verified patterns of human rights violations and of international crimes committed by the Myanmar military and other groups. It highlights relevant trends and patterns in respect of violations of international human rights, humanitarian, and criminal law. OHCHR collected testimonies and information from primary sources, including victims, survivors, witnesses, and satellite images, and verifiable secondary sources – all of which underwent a credibility assessment in accordance with OHCHR’s standard methodology. Without access to Myanmar, OHCHR conducted its documentation activities remotely. A total of 96 interviews were conducted with on-the-ground sources despite significant challenges, including long-term, localized internet shutdowns. OHCHR organized formal and informal consultations with civil society and non-governmental organizations, thematic experts, and other relevant interlocutors. This report also reflects regular collaboration, data and information exchanges within the United Nations (UN) system. OHCHR submitted questionnaires to the Myanmar military authorities and the ‘National Unity Government’; their responses are explicitly referenced in the report. Given the continuous protection and personal safety risks people in Myanmar face daily, OHCHR has prioritized the safety of interlocutors above all other considerations. Factual determinations of incidents and patterns were made where there were reasonable grounds to believe that relevant incidents had occurred. Figures of casualties likely represent an underestimation of realities on the ground..."
Source/publisher: United Nations Human Rights Council (Geneva)
2023-02-24
Date of entry/update: 2023-03-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "GENEVA (22 December 2022) – While noting that the UN Security Council has adopted a resolution on Myanmar for the first time since a military coup nearly two years ago, Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, responded by stating that the crisis in Myanmar will worsen unless and until Member States of the UN respond with action. The UN expert released the following statement: “It is notable that the UN Security Council has passed a resolution on Myanmar for the first time since the military unleashed a brutal crackdown on the people of Myanmar nearly two years ago. I appreciate the efforts made by the United Kingdom and other Security Council Members to craft and advance a resolution that managed to avoid a veto. With all due respect to the Security Council, however, ‘expressing deep concern’ and demanding that certain actions be taken without any use of the Security Council’s Chapter VII authority, will not stop the illegal Myanmar junta from attacking and destroying the lives of the 54 million people being held hostage in Myanmar. What is required is action. The systematic gross human rights violations -- amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity -- being perpetrated daily on the people of Myanmar by an illegal military junta requires strong, coordinated action by UN Member States. The demands put forward in the resolution -- including ‘an immediate end to all forms of violence,’ the release of political prisoners, the need for unimpeded humanitarian access, and the need to respect the rights of women and children -- are critically important but what is missing are consequences for the failure to meet them and the imposition of sanctions and accountability for crimes the military has committed to date. I wholeheartedly agree with Security Council members Norway, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Iceland, and Mexico that the language of the resolution should have been stronger. “What the content of this resolution makes clear is that the action that is required to end this crisis will not come from the Security Council. It is therefore imperative that those nations with the political will to support the people of Myanmar take coordinated action immediately to end the carnage. The Security Council resolution should not become a dead-end that is followed by more international inaction. It should be a wake-up call for those nations who support a people under siege. It is clearly time for the creation of a working coalition of nations who are willing to stand with the people of Myanmar by providing what they need most -- action. UN Secretary-General Guterres was correct when last month he declared that, with respect to Myanmar, the international community has failed. This failure cannot be rectified by resolutions that have no consequences. It can only be responsibly addressed with targeted, coordinated action. There are viable options for Member States who are prepared to address this failure, including coordinating sanctions, cutting off the flow of revenue that is financing the junta’s military assaults, an embargo on weapons and dual-use technology and robust humanitarian aid that can reach those most in need, among other measures. What is required is the political will to seize them.” ENDS Mr. Thomas Andrews (United States of America) is the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. A former member of the US Congress from Maine, Andrews is a Robina Senior Human Rights Fellow at Yale Law School and an Associate of Harvard University’s Asia Center. He has worked with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and parliamentarians, NGOs and political parties in Cambodia, Indonesia, Algeria, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine and Yemen. He has been a consultant for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma and the Euro-Burma Network and has run advocacy NGOs including Win Without War and United to End Genocide. The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Comprising the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, Special Procedures is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity..."
Source/publisher: United Nations Human Rights Council (Geneva) via Reliefweb (New York)
2022-12-22
Date of entry/update: 2022-12-22
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Description: "The Security Council today called for the immediate end to all forms of violence in Myanmar and urged restraint, the de-escalation of tensions and the release of all prisoners. Adopting resolution 2669 (2022) (to be issued as document S/RES/2669(2022)) by a vote of 12 in favour to none against, with 3 abstentions (China, India, Russian Federation), the 15-member organ demanded an immediate end to all forms of violence throughout the country and urged restraint and the de-escalation of tensions. It also urged the Myanmar military to immediately release all arbitrarily detained prisoners, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. By its terms, the Council reiterated its call to uphold democratic institutions and processes and pursue constructive dialogue and reconciliation in accordance with the will and interests of Myanmar’s people. All parties must respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, it urged while acknowledging the central role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in finding a peaceful solution to the crisis and encouraging the international community to support the ASEAN-led mechanism and process in this regard. It called for concrete and immediate actions to effectively and fully implement ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus — which called for an immediate cessation of violence and constructive dialogue among all parties, among other things — and requested that the Secretary-General or his Special Envoy on Myanmar provide an oral report to the organ by 15 March 2023 on the Organization’s support to that end. Also by the text, the Council reiterated its support for the ASEAN Special Envoy’s efforts to engage intensively with all relevant parties in Myanmar with a focus on promoting fully inclusive and representative dialogue, encouraged close cooperation with the United Nations Special Envoy and urged all parties in Myanmar to work constructively with both Envoys to commence dialogue to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of that country’s people. In reiterating the necessity for full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, the Council underlined the need for scaled-up humanitarian assistance to all people in need in Myanmar and to ensure the full protection, safety and security of humanitarian and medical personnel. The Council also underscored the need to address the root causes of the crisis in Rakhine State and create the conditions necessary for the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees and internally displaced persons. It encouraged diplomatic efforts between the parties concerned to help address the issues facing the Rohingya, further stressed the importance of providing continued protection and assistance to refugees and displaced persons, and decided to remain seized of the matter. Following the adoption of the resolution, many Council members voiced their support for ASEAN with several commending the organ for its action as others voiced their concerns over the text’s nature and content. Through this first resolution on the situation in Myanmar, the Council has responded to the calls of ASEAN leaders for support and sent a firm message to the military, the representative of the United Kingdom commended. It also sent a message to the people of Myanmar that it seeks progress in line with their rights, wishes and interests. The Council must use this opportunity to seek additional ways to support the implementation of the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus and promote accountability for the regime’s actions, the United States’ speaker encouraged. Despite being a strong next step in addressing the military regime’s egregious behaviour, the Council did not go far enough and should have directly addressed the severe violations of the freedom of religion and belief. It could have also recognized and condemned the continued sale and transfer of arms to Myanmar, widespread sexual and gender-based violence and the importance of accountability mechanisms, his colleague from Ireland added. The representative of the Russian Federation then spotlighted proposals which were ignored by the penholders to demonstrate the counterproductiveness of unilateral restrictive measures. Council members must not destabilize the situation on the ground and undermine ASEAN’s mediation efforts, he cautioned before turning his attention to the text’s lack of balance. Given the main focus on the human rights situation in Myanmar, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) would have been a better discussion forum, he suggested while noting that his country did not block the resolution. Agreeing with his fellow Council member over the text’s imbalance, China’s speaker said it would have been more appropriate to adopt a presidential statement as he explained his country’s abstention. The complex situation in Myanmar calls for quiet, patient diplomacy, the representative of India stressed in explanation of her country’s abstention. Any other course will not help resolve outstanding issues and may even entrench the parties in inflexible positions. The Council must carefully weigh its action and consider the interests of neighbouring countries most affected by instability in Myanmar, she urged. Also speaking today were the representatives of France, Norway, United Arab Emirates, Ghana, Ireland, Brazil, Albania, Mexico and Gabon. The meeting began at 3:03 p.m. and ended at 3:39 p.m. Statements BARBARA WOODWARD (United Kingdom) pointed out that the Council resolution — the first on the situation in Myanmar — is the result of many weeks of careful consultation with that organ’s members, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other key regional partners. In February 2021, she recalled, the military overturned the results of a democratic election, seized power and plunged that country into a series of cascading humanitarian, economic and political crises. The coup has also had negative consequences for the region and its stability including by exacerbating the challenges facing the Rohingya. Through its adoption, the Council has responded to the calls of ASEAN’s leaders for the Organization to support its efforts. As the Secretary-General’s mandated briefing next March will be an important opportunity to assess developments on the ground, her Government stands ready to take further action as necessary. Today, the Council sent a firm message to the military that it expects the full implementation of this resolution and to Myanmar’s people that it seeks progress in line with their rights, wishes and interests, she said. NATHALIE BROADHURST ESTIVAL (France), welcoming the adoption of the resolution, stressed that it was essential for the Council to express its concerns and demands towards the junta in support of Myanmar’s people and in light of the situation’s continued deterioration. The gravity of this situation requires unanimity, she said, regretting the abstentions of other members while recalling the resolution’s four main messages. Civilians, especially women and children, must stop suffering violence by that country’s security forces. France, she continued, denounces the serious violations committed by the junta against the civilian population who have been severely affected by repression. On the situation of the Rohingya, she spotlighted her country’s response and support, which included voluntary contributions to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 2022. ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus must be a central part of the conflict’s resolution, she emphasized. ZHANG JUN (China) pointed out that it would be more appropriate for the Council to adopt a presidential statement, noting that the tone of the text lacks balance. Therefore, China abstained, he said, stressing that there is no quick fix for the Myanmar issue and the solution to the conflict depends on Myanmar itself. The large-scale prisoner release in November by the Myanmar authorities should be recognized and encouraged, he noted, underscoring that ASEAN has a unique advantage in dealing with Myanmar-related issues. He thus encouraged the international community to listen to ASEAN’s views, support its leadership and allow the organization time and space to build consensus. Recalling that the Council unanimously issued 10 outcome documents on Myanmar in 2021, he spotlighted China’s participation and consensus. Reiterating China’s policy of friendship towards Myanmar, he expressed full support for ASEAN and the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus. TRINE SKARBOEVIK HEIMERBACK (Norway) saying that her country voted in favour of the resolution, condemned the military coup in 2021, emphasizing that the people of Myanmar deserve sustained attention and support. She encouraged a closer collaboration between the United Nations and ASEAN in implementing the Five-Point Consensus. Commending the adoption of the resolution, she expressed regret that it was not possible to agree on a more substantial draft and recalled that Norway advocated for stronger language on the protection of children and education in armed conflict; combating sexual and gender-based violence; ending impunity; and preventing the flow of arms and financial assets of the military. AMIERA ALHEFEITI (United Arab Emirates), welcoming today’s adoption, said that the resolution conveys an important message regarding the need to address the challenges facing the Rohingya and the crisis in Rakhine State. This is important for the whole region, especially at a time when international interest in the Rohingya is regressing. She noted, however, that the language of the resolution — despite the importance of the crisis — is insufficient, stating that her delegation hoped for stronger language that would address the scope of the challenges in Myanmar. She called for further international efforts to solve the Rohingya crisis, respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation and create an enabling environment for the voluntary, safe, sustainable and dignified return of refugees and internally displaced persons. For its part, the United Arab Emirates will continue assisting refugees — especially women and children — and act to reduce their suffering, including through support to Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) efforts to address the conflict. She went on to welcome that the Council supported ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus, which is the most effective way to end the crisis. Underlining the importance of regional efforts, she called on the international community to support the same to achieve peace in the region. ROBERT A. WOOD (United States) welcomed the adoption of the resolution, noting that it is a strong next step in the Council’s efforts to address the Myanmar military regime’s egregious behaviour. However, it does not go far enough, he said, adding that the Council should directly address the regime’s severe violations of freedom of religion and belief and call directly for the regime to face justice for the crimes it has reportedly committed. Moreover, the Council should not overlook the General Assembly’s resolution in support of an arms embargo and pursue a mechanism to prevent the flow of financial resources to the regime. Those measures are critical to ending the bloodshed, he added. Given those realities, the adoption of the resolution is an important start forward in the conversation within the Council on Myanmar, he said, noting that the Council must use this opportunity to seek additional ways to support implementation of the Five-Point Consensus and promote accountability for the regime’s actions. HAROLD ADLAI AGYEMAN (Ghana) said the Council has responded to ASEAN’s call for the United Nations and other external partners to support its efforts in the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus. There should be no doubt that the international community expects the military junta to reverse its repressive policies and commence actions which show respect for the rule of law and the fundamental human rights of all of Myanmar’s people. Not surprisingly, the persistent overruling of the will of Myanmar’s people by the military authorities since February 2021 has only worsened the plight of that country, he pointed out. Only through dialogue can this unsustainable governance situation — which has created insecurity in the country and beyond with widespread humanitarian consequences — be resolved. As such, State authorities should embrace the efforts of ASEAN, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy and other stakeholders to bring this crisis to an end, he encouraged. FERGAL TOMAS MYTHEN (Ireland) reiterating that the Council’s actions in response to the violence in Myanmar have been inadequate, suggested that the Council should have convened an open briefing. Noting that Ireland voted in favour of the resolutions to combat the cycle of violence, he outlined that the Council could have recognized and condemned the continued sale and transfer of arms to Myanmar, the widespread sexual and gender violence and violations against children, and the importance of the accountability mechanisms, such as the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar. Further, it could have directly called on the military to stop its assault on the people of Myanmar. Spotlighting that the resolution is a pivotal moment in the Council’s response, he urged it to maintain a dedicated focus on the situation. RONALDO COSTA FILHO (Brazil), spotlighting the difficulty in achieving a Council reaction to ongoing developments in Myanmar, welcomed the positive engagement of all Council members that has finally allowed the organ to speak on the situation in that country. Further, he welcomed the inclusive, transparent manner with which the United Kingdom conducted negotiations and allowed the Council to arrive at the text adopted today. Adding that Brazil has always stressed the need for the international response to the situation in Myanmar to take its lead from ASEAN, he welcomed that the Association was involved and consulted throughout the process. FERIT HOXHA (Albania) said the milestone text should go a long way to support the basic aspirations of the Myanmar people denied by the brutal military coup. “It was about time that the Council did its part,” he underscored, noting that the decision shows the Council’s ability to respond to the growing calls for support in Myanmar in finding a peaceful solution to the deep crisis in the country. With today’s result, the Council has responded to ASEAN leaders and has made the right choice to stand with the Myanmar people. He welcomed the focus on the plight of the Rohyinga, emphasizing that they must not be forgotten. He commended the work of the United Kingdom as file sponsor for producing a balanced, yet important text. He called on all relevant parties to support the full implementation of the Five-Point Consensus from ASEAN and ensure accountability for crimes committed. LUIS GERARDO ELIZONDO BELDEN (Mexico), noting that his delegation voted in favour of the resolution, highlighted its focus on cessation of violence, respect for human rights and the need for an inclusive dialogue. The text calls for safe and unhindered humanitarian access, he said, adding that it also underscores the need to protect the civilian population, in particular women, children and minorities. It also stresses the need to establish the right conditions for the voluntary and dignified return to Myanmar of refugees. However, he noted that his delegation would have preferred that the text also include references to the importance of preventing the flow of weapons. MICHEL XAVIER BIANG (Gabon) stressed that his country’s vote was a message of solidarity with Myanmar’s people against violence targeting that country’s civilian population and an appeal to resolve the Rohingya crisis. It is also a message in support of ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus and the humanitarian response. Gabon, he pledged, will continue to support the search for a solution based on dialogue and encourage the preference for a regional approach with ASEAN taking on a leading role. VASSILY A. NEBENZIA (Russian Federation) saying that his country abstained from voting, noted that the situation in Myanmar does not represent a threat to international peace and security. Pointing out that the text mainly focused on the human rights situation, he suggested that the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) would be a better discussion forum. Expressing dissatisfaction with the work of the penholders, who did not strive to agree on a balanced text, he pointed to proposals that were ignored as an indication of the counter productiveness of unilateral restrictive matters. While recognizing that States can have different opinions about the policies of the military Government, he stressed that Council members should not destabilize the situation on the ground and undermine ASEAN’s mediation efforts. Urging all Myanmar political forces to show restraint, he pointed out that the Myanmar military has confirmed its commitment to the Constitutional provisions that establish the timeframe for the state of emergency, with a view towards holding parliamentary elections in 2023. Noting that the resolution is not consensus-based, he said that the Russian Federation decided not to block it, recalling that the only topic on the Council’s agenda on Myanmar should be the situation in Rakhine State. RUCHIRA KAMBOJ (India), Council President for December, spoke in her national capacity to point out that her country shares a long border with Myanmar, along with historic and cultural links with its people. Therefore, any instability in that country directly impacts India, and resolving the current crisis is matter of national security. The welfare of Myanmar’s people remains India’s priority, and she said that the complex situation in Myanmar calls for quiet, patient diplomacy. Any other course will not help resolve outstanding issues and, under the current circumstances, a Council resolution may entrench the parties in inflexible positions — rather than encourage them to pursue inclusive political dialogue. She called on all parties to immediately cease hostilities, abandon extreme positions and initiate an inclusive political dialogue to restore democracy. On that point, she stressed that political leaders should be released and allowed to resume political activities. Adding that it is important to carefully weigh Council action, she urged the organ to consider the interests of neighbouring countries, who will be most affected by instability in Myanmar. In view of these concerns, her delegation abstained from the vote, she said..."
Source/publisher: United Nations Security Council (New York)
2022-12-21
Date of entry/update: 2022-12-21
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Description: "“The painful situation that I see our children in pushes me to work even harder,” said Shar Myar, * a humanitarian worker with an international organisation working in Myanmar. Since the military takeover in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, hundreds of children have been abducted, recruited into armies, arrested, and killed by landmines or artillery. Many have no access to basic social services, and millions need humanitarian assistance. Yet international agencies are staying on the ground, working with national organizations to deliver much-needed assistance. Shar Myar, who is from Myanmar and whose job is to monitor and report incidents of grave violations against children and link the children and families with response and support services, recently helped secure the release of two abducted children. As they have done for thousands of other children, her organisation supported them with health care, food, cash support and mental health counselling. Yet other cases end tragically. Shar Myar mentioned the case of four abducted boys, who were found dead in a pit latrine. “I can’t even find the words to express how I felt,” she said. The military takeover came on top of the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and exacerbated protracted conflicts already ongoing in many parts of the country. About 14.4 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance in Myanmar in a country of about 55 million, according to UN data. Moreover, most states and regions are contaminated with landmines, making Myanmar one of the world’s most mine-affected countries. Finding ways to cope Most aid workers in Myanmar have been personally affected. While on a short stay in her home state of Kayah, Shar Myar had to flee with her family. She now lives with seven members of her extended family in Yangon, in a small apartment. She has recently learned her family’s house in Kayah was burnt down. Kyaw Moe*, who works for another humanitarian organisation in Shan State, was in the office when he heard about the sudden military takeover. “It reminded me of the past,” he said. “I was scared for my country. I was so depressed that for the first week I found it difficult to get out of bed.” Another humanitarian worker, Aung Tun*, said that talking with children and families since the military takeover has been challenging. “I found it traumatising. I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “But I had to toughen up.” Aung Tun said he practises meditation and encourages his friends, particularly his male friends who are not used to seeking mental health support, to ask for help. New ways of operation Most aid and civil society organisations have had to find innovative ways to help affected people. Many staff of Myanmar origin find it hard to believe how the nature of their work has changed so quickly. Kyaw Moe used to work with the government. Now, much of his work is managing humanitarian assistance and addressing human rights violations, including organizing legal aid support. Security challenges and restricted access have hampered the provision of humanitarian assistance. However, this year, some humanitarian access has been granted, particularly to provide supplies and services for children and families living in towns. Aung Tun recently visited Kachin State, bordering China. Young people there - most of whom had to drop out of school or university – now take part in activities, including vocational training. While Aung Tun witnessed the positive impact of the activities, he also felt the pain that the young people had experienced. “They are only a few years younger than me,” he said. “They feel their future has been thrown away. I could see it in their eyes.” And Aung Tun talked on behalf of all humanitarian workers when he said, “The world shouldn’t forget Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher: United Nations Myanmar
2022-08-19
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The Special Envoy of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General to Myanmar can now look forward to holding constructive and public meetings with the National Unity Government of Myanmar, having fulfilled the absolute minimum requirement of her mandate by meeting with the leader of the military junta in Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing, says the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M). SAC-M was pleased to learn that nine months after her appointment, the UN Special Envoy was finally able to fulfil the minimum requirement of her mandate and travel to Nay Pyi Taw to meet with the leader of the military junta, Min Aung Hlaing. The members of SAC-M have been calling for Min Aung Hlaing to be prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes since their respective tenures as UN mandate-holders on Myanmar. “We can only imagine how awful it must have been for the UN Special Envoy to meet with murderer-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, and the revulsion she must have felt at having to shake his blood-soaked hand,” said Chris Sidoti of SAC-M. “Meeting with Min Aung Hlaing may have been essential to the Special Envoy in attempting to fulfil her mandate, but it is clear that nothing of significance will come of it.” Previous Special Envoys of the UN Secretary-General, a mandate that has existed for many years, have repeatedly tried to appeal to leaders of the Myanmar military for clemency towards the people of Myanmar. These include failed attempts to end the genocidal persecution of the Rohingya. More recent international efforts to curb the atrocities orchestrated by Min Aung Hlaing have been made following the military’s attempted coup, by successive Special Envoys of the Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to Myanmar, all of which have been met with contempt. “The UN Special Envoy can surely have been under no illusions as to Min Aung Hlaing’s true character and intentions, however cordial their meeting may have been,” said Yanghee Lee of SAC-M. “The Special Envoy, coming from the region and with past experience as the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, is well aware of the will of the Myanmar people. Their aspirations were clearly expressed in the 2020 general elections, and the Special Envoy must now be looking forward to formally engaging with the National Unity Government, which was, of course, formed on the basis of the results of those elections. She must go the extra mile to find a solution acceptable to the peoples of Myanmar.” The National Unity Government of Myanmar has made clear its support for the Special Envoy’s mandate and its commitment to working with the Special Envoy and the UN to reach a durable solution to Myanmar’s multiple, protracted military-induced crises. In addition to being the legitimate representative of the Myanmar people, the National Unity Government and its allied Ethnic Resistance Organisations control more of Myanmar’s territory than the military junta and are increasing their capacity to administer government functions even in the face of the military’s massive ongoing campaign of destruction. “In order to have a positive influence on Myanmar’s political landscape, the UN Special Envoy will know that she must support the real agents of democratic progress in the country, and that is the people, represented by the National Unity Government,” said Marzuki Darusman of SAC-M. “It is the people’s movement that has resisted the military’s attacks and, by forming administrative systems to provide life-saving and other governance services in the majority effective controlled areas, prevented Myanmar from becoming a failed state. The sooner that tangible international support can be channelled to the people through the National Unity Government, the sooner the massive human suffering in the country can be alleviated and the sooner Myanmar’s democratic future can be realised.”..."
Source/publisher: Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
2022-08-19
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-19
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Description: "When the UN Secretary General’s special envoy on Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer met Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing on Wednesday, the world’s attention was focused on what they discussed and the substance of the meeting. Largely overlooked were other details—like how and where she was received—reflecting the host’s attitude toward his guest. Sadly, in this respect, contrary to other international dignitaries who preceded her, Heyzer received a low-key reception from the junta despite her status as the UN special envoy making her first visit to Myanmar since the military coup last year. The meeting took place at the junta leader’s office in Naypyitaw at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. According to the regime’s announcement, the meeting venue turned out to be the parlor of the State Administration Council (SAC) Chairman’s Office, not the Credentials Hall, where Min Aung Hlaing normally receives international guests. In June, when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s special envoy on Myanmar was in the country for the second time, Min Aung Hlaing welcomed Prak Sokhonn at the Credentials Hall, which is dominated by a huge gilded throne—a symbol of Myanmar’s sovereignty—inside the Presidential Residence. The same month last year, the junta chief received ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi and Erywan Yusof, Brunei’s foreign affairs minister, there. It was the same hall where Min Aung Hlaing received Prak Sokhonn as the ASEAN envoy in March. Since 2011, the Credentials Hall of the Presidential Residence, which has been occupied by Min Aung Hlaing since the takeover, has been used by successive Myanmar presidents to welcome international diplomats. Early this month when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in Naypyitaw, he was ushered into the hall to see his host Min Aung Hlaing. The same treatment was even granted to an ex-diplomat: Bill Richardson, the former New Mexico governor, was greeted there when he was in Naypyitaw in November last year. So, why didn’t UN special envoy Heyzer get the same reception? There is a long history of feuding between the UN and Myanmar’s successive military dictators. The current regime leaders are taking their grudges out on Heyzer, as the world body’s special envoy to their country. The Singaporean diplomat arrived in Yangon on Tuesday on her inaugural mission to Myanmar since succeededing Christine Schraner Burgener of Switzerland as the UN special envoy in October last year. Heyzer was however received by Min Aung Hlaing in the parlor of the latter’s office. It was the same venue in which he received Hiromichi Watanabe, a member of Japan’s lower house of representatives for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, on Monday. It is speculated that the lawmaker sought the release of a Japanese filmmaker who was arrested on July 30 at a protest in Yangon. Prior to receiving permission to travel to Myanmar, Heyzer came under fire for controversial remarks deemed to be supportive of the regime. At her meeting with the junta leader, she wore a green skirt; an eyesore to some people, who wondered if she was trying to appease Min Aung Hlaing. The color green is associated with the Myanmar military. Sadly for Heyzer, Min Aung Hlaing was only too eager to give the UN a slap in the face. The junta media devoted only one line to the meeting in their reports, saying that the two sides discussed “promoting trust”, meaning no breakthrough came out of the meeting. At the same time, the junta used Heyzer to create the impression that it has legitimacy to govern Myanmar. Shortly before the meeting, the regime spokesperson said the UN special envoy was due to have an official meeting with the “current Myanmar government,” implying that they are the rightful government of Myanmar and that’s why the envoy came to see them. But in a statement released late Wednesday, the envoy said: “UN engagement does not in any way confer legitimacy.” Furthermore, the regime harbors grudges against Myanmar Ambassador to the UN U Kyaw Moe Tun, who was appointed by the ousted National League for Democracy government and has utilized his UN platform to humiliate the junta on the international stage. The regime is angry that the UN has decided to continue recognizing U Kyaw Moe Tun, while refusing to accept the junta’s representative. In retaliation, the regime closed Schraner Burgener’s office in Myanmar. nd it took nearly one year for Heyzer to meet the generals—receiving lowly treatment when she did. Under the previous military regime led by Than Shwe, Myanmar was known as a “diplomatic graveyard”, chiefly for the UN’s repeated failed missions to the country. To Myanmar’s generals, UN representatives are nothing more than diplomatic pawns in a game to deceive the international community..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2022-08-18
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Burma Campaign UK today called on the UN Secretary General to personally take the lead in diplomatic initiatives to address the crisis in Burma and abandon the decades long failed approach of appointing UN Special Envoys. UN Myanmar Special Envoy Noeleen Heyzer has concluded her controversial visit to the Burmese military unable to cite a single tangible outcome. This should come as no surprise as this has been the outcome of the vast majority of UN Special Envoy visits to Burma for decades. Ignoring warnings that the visit would give an appearance of legitimacy to the military, Noeleen Heyzer proceeded with the trip, and posed for photographs with military leader Min Aung Hlaing. These pictures are now displayed across military-controlled state media, handing him a propaganda coup. Prior to 2010, previous UN Envoys held out for meetings with Aung San Suu Kyi and others. Noeleen Heyzer chose not to do so. Officials may cite as an excuse the fact that the focus of the visit was humanitarian, but this compromise will be seen by the military as a sign of weakness. A senior UN official accepting the sidelining of key political actors in the country will only encourage the military to believe it can continue to jail, torture and execute them with impunity. On the face of it, a focus on the humanitarian issues would be hard to argue against given the dire situation in the country, but it comes in a context of the military consistently using humanitarian access as leverage to gain international legitimacy. In the past, UN agencies and many international donors have been willing to go along with that. There is clear opposition to this approach within the country. Many millions of people in Burma who are in desperate need of international aid could be reached using cross border mechanisms, local civil society, some of the ethnic armed organisations, and the National Unity Government. However, most UN agencies and international donors provide little or no aid in this way. This leaves millions of people without the humanitarian aid they desperately need. Arguing that compromises have to be made negotiating with the military for humanitarian access while at the same time refusing to provide significant funding via Burmese civil society and the democracy movement where lives can be saved right now is an incoherent approach and requires explanation. In addition to questionable decisions regarding this most recent trip, there are broader concerns about the UN Special Envoy position. The Burmese military have long seen UN Special Envoys as a valuable diplomatic tool, playing games with visa access in order to push the bar so low that just being able to visit the country was judged as a success, despite there being no tangible outcome. For the Burmese military, UN Special Envoys are used to try to avoid or delay international action against them. Before 2010 they were frequently successful in this. The military know that a visit by a UN Special Envoy will be seized on by allies like China and Russia to claim there is a UN process and argue against further international action to promote human rights and democracy. In Asia and the West, the Special Envoy position was also often used as a fig leaf for inaction, also arguing that there is a process, and we must ‘wait and see’. With this visit and previous comments about power sharing, the current UN Special Envoy has lost the trust of many people in Burma. Previous UN Special Envoys have also been controversial, with Christine Schraner Burgener backing the racist National Verification Cards, which are part of the genocidal policies against the Rohingya. One previous Special Envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, was nicknamed ‘Gullible Gambari’ because of his apparent belief in everything the military told him. Regardless of the controversial positions or missteps of various Special Envoys, the position itself is a poisoned chalice doomed to failure. UN Envoys are mandated to engage in dialogue with stakeholders and the military but if they speak out publicly and honestly about the situation, they will be denied access to Burma. From the outset the military have veto power over what they can and cannot say. The Burmese military are well aware that they can safely ignore requests from UN Envoys without facing any consequences. UN Special Envoys on Burma have not been able to count on powerful UN members, and in particular on influential members like Russia and China, to provide critical support and reinforcement of their diplomatic efforts. The Burmese military lie to UN Special Envoys, attempt to manipulate them and break commitments. Eventually UN Envoys either finally realise they are being played or realise the military will never keep to commitments and start speaking out, and they are then denied visas. Then their term ends, a new UN Special Envoy is appointed, and the farce begins all over again. A day after the attempted coup began, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Washington Post: “We will do everything we can to mobilize all the key actors and international community to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails.” Now his Special Envoy poses for pictures with the leader of that coup. The Secretary-General appears to have abandoned the goal of ensuring the coup fails. For decades the Burmese military have held Burma back from economic development and democracy. The Burmese military are a violent extremist armed group which have committed genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. They are causing conflict, are linked to drug production, drug trafficking and money laundering. They are destabilising Burma. They should be treated as an illegal armed group. The goal of the United Nations should be the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of the Burmese military. This is the approach the United Nations is taking towards armed groups in more than 20 countries around the world. This should happen in tandem with ensuring justice and accountability for members of the Burmese military who have committed violations of international law and other crimes. “Decades of diplomatic efforts by UN Special Envoys to Burma have not only failed to produce positive results, but have in fact been used by the military to their benefit,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The goal of the United Nations should be disarm and dismantle the Burmese military, while also ensuring justice and accountability for members of the military who have committed crimes and violated international law. This effort should be led by the UN Secretary General himself. It is time that the UN Secretary General and governments stopped hiding behind UN Special Envoys, whose efforts they know are doomed to fail.”..."
Source/publisher: "Burma Campaign UK" (London)
2022-08-18
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General Noeleen Heyzer is travelling today to Myanmar. Following the latest call from the Security Council for an immediate cessation of all forms of violence and unimpeded humanitarian access to all those in need, she will focus on addressing the deteriorating situation and immediate concerns as well as other priority areas of her mandate. The Special Envoy’s visit follows her extensive consultations with actors from across the political spectrum, civil society as well as communities affected by the ongoing conflict..."
Source/publisher: Secretary-General, United Nations
2022-08-15
Date of entry/update: 2022-08-15
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Description: "The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres: The Secretary-General strongly condemns the executions carried out this weekend by the Myanmar military against four political activists in Myanmar — Phyo Zeya Thaw, Kyaw Min Yu (Ko Jimmy), Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw — and offers his condolences to their families. The Secretary-General opposes the imposition of death penalty in all circumstances. These executions, the first to be conducted since 1988 in Myanmar, mark a further deterioration of the already dire human rights environment in Myanmar. The Secretary-General reiterates his call for the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained prisoners, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi..."
Source/publisher: United Nations
2022-07-25
Date of entry/update: 2022-07-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: The political crisis unleashed in Myanmar following the 1 February military coup last year, has “opened new frontlines that had long been at peace,” the UN Special Envoy told the General Assembly on Monday, noting that challenges in the country have “both deepened and expanded dramatically.”
Description: "Noeleen Heyzer said that since she took up the job six months ago, Myanmar has “continued to descend into profound and widespread conflict”. Already one of the world’s largest refugee emergencies, she reminded that multidimensional crises there have left over one million internally displaced people (IDPs) across the country with “serious regional and international ramifications”. Happening today: General Assembly is briefed by Special Envoy Noeleen Heyzer on the conflict and multidimensional crisis in Myanmar. Happening now in the Trusteeship or via @UNWebTV https://t.co/VkMZREJH7m pic.twitter.com/47zamXlJaj — Paulina Kubiak Greer (@KubiakPG) June 13, 2022 Nearly one million mainly Muslim Rohingyas live in refugees camps in neighbouring Bangladesh, and hundreds of thousands of others are scattered across the region. ‘Disillusioned’ generation This crisis has resulted in collapsing State institutions, disrupting social and economic infrastructure – including health, education, banking, food security and employment – while increasing criminality and illicit activities. And over the past five years, the number of people living in poverty has doubled to encompass half the population. “Today, 14.4 million people, or one-quarter of the entire population of Myanmar urgently require humanitarian assistance,” said the Special Envoy. At the same time, following the COVID-19 pandemic and political crisis, school enrolment has dropped by up to 80 per cent in two years, leaving at least 7.8 million children shut out of the classroom. “A generation that benefitted from the democratic transition is now disillusioned, facing chronic hardship and, tragically, many feel they have no choice left but to take up arms,” she warned. Conflict, the norm As military violence and distrust have continued to deepen, including against peaceful protestors, armed conflict “has become the norm” for all Burmese. “The military continues its disproportionate use of force, has intensified its attack on civilians and increased operations against resistance forces, using aerial bombings,” said the senior UN official. “Civilian buildings and villages have been destroyed by fire and internally displaced populations have been attacked”. Meanwhile, there are reports of up to 600 armed resistance groups, or “people’s defense forces” engaged in fighting, with some conducting assassinations targeting those seen as “pro-military”. Feel of abandonment Ms. Heyzer said she was continuing to work closely with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to de-escalate hostilities. However, she pointed out that continued differences, regionally and more broadly among UN Member States, “have left the people of Myanmar feeling abandoned in their time of need.” “I will continue to play a bridging role…in Myanmar, in the region, and the international community to address the protection needs and suffering of the most vulnerable, and to support the will of the people for a future federal democratic union based on peace, stability and shared prosperity.” Remembering the Rohingya Instability and conflict place vulnerable communities at further risk, including the Rohingya. The Special Envoy has developed a multi-track strategy that focuses on humanitarian and protection needs; a return to civilian rule; effective and democratic governance; and durable solutions for the Rohingya – the majority of whom fled following violent persecution by Government forces in 2017, characterized by the then UN human rights chief as a text-book example of ethnic cleansing. “Sustainable solutions for the Rohingya people must be built into the design of a peaceful, inclusive and democratic Myanmar,” she said. ‘Face of human tragedy’ In direct contact with the Burmese people, Ms. Heyzer said: “I have learned the face of human tragedy behind these figures.” Rohingya refugee women shared with her how prolonged camp displacements in Bangladesh and elsewhere, have affected their daily lives and limited opportunities to build skills and livelihoods. They also mentioned that camp shops in Cox’s Bazar and community-run learning centres have shuttered. “Women also told me of the many protection risks that face women and girls, including trafficking, child marriage and sexual violence”, she stated. “They described how the lack of accountability has normalized violence against women and girls in the camps.” Durable solutions Ms. Heyzer advocated for “integrated and inclusive humanitarian, peace and development action” to strengthen rights and support Rohingya. Turning to the Rakhine Advisory Commission, which aims to improve conditions in Rakhine state, from which many Rohingya fled north across the border, she told the General Assembly that she supported their recommendations for changes at both a “vertical” level – involving the de-facto authorities, pro-democracy actors and the separatist ethnic militia known as the Arakan Army – and the “horizontal”, such as grassroots initiatives that promote inclusivity, peaceful co-existence, and equality for all. Ultimately, she said, it was “Myanmar’s responsibility” to address these fundamental issues..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2022-06-13
Date of entry/update: 2022-06-13
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Description: "Myanmar’s military has terrorized the country with systematic and widespread human rights violations and abuses, since staging a coup in February 2021. The military junta, also called Tatmadaw, has killed some 1,700 people, displaced half a million people, and hunger levels are growing. This humanitarian crisis must be addressed by the international community: the people of Myanmar need to be supported. The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned Myanmar security forces’ violations of international human rights in a March 15, 2022 report, stating, “The military and security forces have shown a flagrant disregard for human life, bombarding populated areas with airstrikes and heavy weapons and deliberately targeting civilians, many of whom have been shot in the head, burned to death, arbitrarily arrested, tortured or used as human shields.” The crisis in Myanmar requires urgent action, and the people need immediate assistance. The civilians have been unable to receive necessary aid, food, shelter, or healthcare due to the military blockades for over a year now. The Human Rights Council should call for U.N. member states to halt the flow of weapons into Myanmar, while imposing stronger sanctions. The international community should be more urgent in their response. They can assist local groups that are trying to bring aid to trapped communities within the country: a collective effort has the potential to be more substantial and sustainable. The military took over in Myanmar last February, the day before the Parliament of Myanmar was due to swear in the 2020 elected officials, thereby preventing this from occurring. As peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations commenced in the country, the ruthless military responded with firing rocket launchers and burning down homes to put down the movement. According to The New York Times, Myanmar protestors believe that they should fight the Tatmadaw on its own terms, so they are training with firearms and hand grenades in the jungles. This could lead to a civil war. Since February 2021, the crisis has escalated: the military is blocking humanitarian aid in an effort to curb the anti-coup movement and force the population into submission. The U.N. estimates that the number of people needing assistance has grown from one million before the coup to 14.4 million now, including more than five million children. So far, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union have imposed sanctions on military officials. The Tatmadaw has committed serious human rights violations and abuses, some of which may be considered war crimes or crimes against humanity. The Myanmar population is in dire need of assistance as they have been deprived of the necessary means to survive. The United Nations should call for more critical action to protect the civilians and halt this crisis..."
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Source/publisher: The Organization for World Peace
2022-04-14
Date of entry/update: 2022-04-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "In her virtual discussion with H.E. Mr. Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar Ms. Noeleen Heyzer urged for immediate action based on strengthened United Nations - Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) cooperation to prevent further deterioration of the situation in Myanmar and address the desperate needs of its people. She expressed deep concern about continued intensification of military operations, including aerial attacks in parts of the country, emphasising that the people of Myanmar needed to see indicators and results on the ground, requiring any goodwill to be demonstrated in concrete terms. As highlighted in her discussions with ASEAN Foreign Ministers, the Special Envoy appreciated the confidence of regional leaders in her trust-building efforts with all stakeholders in Myanmar and reliable assessment of the situation on the ground, based on regular contacts with affected communities across the country who continue to appeal for her support and urgent assistance. The Special Envoy underlined her readiness to help strengthen regional efforts towards effective urgent implementation of the “Five-Point Consensus,” aligned with the will of the people of Myanmar. The Special Envoy stressed that a Myanmar-led process, that is guided by the will of the people, towards a peaceful, democratic and inclusive future needed to be supported by a coherent international approach grounded on regional unity She committed to working closely with the Chair of ASEAN and its members towards this end, making available the wide array of comparative advantages and expertise of the United Nations to reinforce and complement regional action, grounded on the “Five-Point Consensus,” as a vital step. The Special Envoy underlined the urgency for an expanded approach to providing humanitarian assistance. In this respect, she highlighted an UN-ASEAN “humanitarian plus” umbrella could coordinate and deliver assistance to affected communities through all existing channels, and address the multiple priority needs of the people across the country. This would include civilian protection as well as food security, socio-economic resilience, humanitarian and COVID assistance. The Special Envoy welcomed the Prime Minister’s invitation to co-facilitate such efforts. She also stressed the importance of advancing the “Five-Point Consensus,” including an immediate cessation of violence, and for all parties to exercise utmost restraint. For this, the Special Envoy advocated for confidence-building measures involving all stakeholders, in addition to ethnic armed organizations. In this regard, she proposed the UN and ASEAN, as part of its “humanitarian plus” joint action, consider pursuing with all sides a humanitarian pause in targeted areas to allow safe and unhindered access. The Special Envoy reiterated her offer to work closely with the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair. This meant bringing in broader support from the international community and United Nations system around a coordinated strategy towards creating an enabling environment for inclusive dialogue. She emphasized solutions needed to derive from engaging directly with and listening carefully to all those affected by the ongoing crisis. For example, the Special Envoy encouraged the formation of an UN-ASEAN Women, Peace and Security platform to amplify the voices of women and young people, including from hard-to-reach areas. She looks forward to future discussions with the ASEAN Foreign Ministers to pave the way on the concrete recommendations for joint action..."
Source/publisher: United Nations Myanmar
2022-01-13
Date of entry/update: 2022-01-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Abdou Abarry (Niger): The members of the Security Council expressed deep concern at the sentencing of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and others. Recalling their previous statements, they reiterated their calls for the release of all those who have been arbitrarily detained since 1 February 2021. The members of the Security Council once again stressed their continued support for the democratic transition in Myanmar and underlined the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, pursue constructive dialogue and reconciliation in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar, fully respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and uphold the rule of law. They reiterated their strong commitment to the sovereignty, political independence, territorial integrity and unity of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: United Nations ( New York )
2021-12-08
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "GENEVA (6 December 2021) – A UN human rights expert derided the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint to four years in jail by a military-controlled court in Myanmar as the “theatre of the absurd”, saying the hearing underscored the complete lack of rule of law in the country. “State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint are hostages, not criminals,” said UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews. “This proceeding should not be confused with an actual trial - it is theatre of the absurd and a gross violation of human rights. “Aung San Suu Kyi, and thousands of others, are being arbitrarily detained in a system of injustice, guilty of only exercising their fundamental rights.” Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were jailed on Monday on charges of incitement and breaching coronavirus restrictions. “Today’s sentencing demonstrates why the international community must take stronger action to support the people of Myanmar by denying the junta the revenue and weapons that they need to continue their illegitimate grip on the people of Myanmar. “I call upon Member States to significantly increase pressure on the junta as a result of this outrageous action.” The junta’s arrest and sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi and thousands of others highlights the relentless assault on the people of Myanmar’s right to exercise their civil and political rights, Andrews said. One of the charges Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint were sentenced under—Section 505(b) of the Penal Code—criminalizes speech that may cause “fear or alarm to the public” or that leads others to upset “public tranquility.” Relying on this provision, as well as draconian and illegitimate amendments to other existing laws and regulations, the junta has systematically violated the people of Myanmar’s right to freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and access to information. Reports indicate that after the verdict of this sham trial was released, peaceful protesters were executed on the streets of Yangon by junta forces, Andrews said. A military vehicle ran directly into them while exercising their basic right of free speech. “What more do we need to see from this illegal military junta before the international community takes decisive, principled action?” Andrews asked. ENDS Mr. Thomas Andrews (United States of America) is the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. A former member of the US Congress from Maine, Andrews is a Robina Senior Human Rights Fellow at Yale Law School and an Associate of Harvard University’s Asia Center. He has worked with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and parliamentarians, NGOs and political parties in Cambodia, Indonesia, Algeria, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine and Yemen. He has been a consultant for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma and the Euro-Burma Network and has run advocacy NGOs including Win Without War and United to End Genocide. The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Comprising the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, Special Procedures is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity..."
Source/publisher: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
2021-12-06
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: The decision to leave Myanmar’s current representative in place comes as a blow to the junta’s bid for international legitimacy
Description: "Myanmar’s underground government has welcomed a decision by a United Nations credentials committee to keep the country’s current representative in place, calling the move a “first step” towards international recognition. The nine-member Credentials Committee of the General Assembly, responsible for approving the nominations of each UN member state’s ambassador to the world body, on Wednesday deferred a decision on who will represent Afghanistan and Myanmar. The deferral means that Kyaw Moe Tun, appointed by now-deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's government last year, will remain as Myanmar's permanent representative for now. The 52-year-old diplomat denounced the junta and chose to continue to represent the elected government shortly after the military takeover. The National Unity Government (NUG), comprised of elected lawmakers, civil society groups, and other anti-regime forces, sees the UN committee’s move as a step forward in gaining legitimacy as the official government of Myanmar. “We can say that the first step has succeeded for U Kyaw Moe Tun to continue representing Myanmar as a permanent ambassador,” Aung Myo Min, the NUG’s minister for human rights, said in an interview with Myanmar Now on Thursday. “The General Assembly’s decision would be a master key for NUG and U Kyaw Moe Tun to open every door,” he added. The next annual General Assembly gathering is scheduled for September of next year. Aung Myo Min said that the UN body’s decision on who can occupy the country’s seat will strongly influence the stance of many other international organisations. He added that Kyaw Moe Tun will be able to represent the voice of Myanmar people and NUG’s policies at the world body as an ambassador of a legitimate government if his nomination is approved by the General Assembly. “With that master key, we will also have a direction and a roadmap for the path we have to continue. [The deferral] is an opportunity for us to keep walking straight, steadily,” said Aung Myo Min. The UN’s credentials committee held a closed-door meeting on the nominations by the Taliban and Myanmar junta to replace the representatives of the governments they had deposed. The New York Times reported that Swedish ambassador Anna Karin Eneström, who chairs the committee, told reporters after the meeting that the panel “defers its decision on the credentials in these two situations.” Citing diplomats, the report said the committee would make the deferral recommendation in a report to the General Assembly next week. Aung Myo Min said the General Assembly traditionally makes decisions on member countries’ credentials according to the recommendations of the committee. He added, however, that gaining the UN seat would be only one important means of establishing the NUG’s legitimacy. More important, he said, was the conduct of the revolution at home. “Getting the UN seat will be just the white of the egg. The yolk will be our domestic force. We are doing everything we can to work on our domestic force,” he said, adding that he could not reveal everything that the NUG is doing inside the country due to security concerns. In a statement released on Thursday, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) also welcomed the UN decision and called for further action on the international front. “Political, economic and diplomatic sanctions on the junta rendered by global communities and countries are pivotal and effective actions to terminate brutalities of the military junta,” said the CRPH, which was formed by ousted lawmakers in the wake of the February 1 military coup. The Myanmar junta’s spokesman responded to the deferral by saying that it “does not reflect” the reality on the ground. “We will continue submitting [to the UN] as usual according to diplomatic procedure and the right to representation in accordance with international and local laws," Zaw Min Tun told AFP in an interview. The junta charged Kyaw Moe Tun with high treason and issued an arrest warrant against him in Myanmar. In July, the regime tried to replace him with former military official Aung Thurein..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
2021-12-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-12-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Summary: Press briefing by Christine Schraner Burgener, Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Myanmar, on the situation in Myanmar..... Categories: Media / Press Conferences Production Date: 21 Oct 2021 Video Length 00:35:48 Asset Language: English Subject Topical: CONFLICT CORONAVIRUS DISEASE - COVID 19 COUPS D'ETAT GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL TREATMENT Speaker Name: BURGENER, CHRISTINE SCHRANER Speaker Role: Special Envoy Speaker Geographic: MYANMAR Subject Geographic: MYANMAR Corporate Name: ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS - ASEAN SECURITY COUNCIL..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: UN Web TV
2021-10-21
Date of entry/update: 2021-10-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Updating journalists at the daily media briefing in New York, Stéphane Dujarric cited humanitarians in saying that “conflict, food insecurity, natural disasters and COVID-19” have left some three million women, children and men in urgent need of life-saving assistance and protection. “This includes one million people who were in need at the start of the year, plus an additional two million people identified as needing help after the military takeover on 1 February”, he said. At that time, following a general election in which Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won by a landslide, the military seized control of the country and declared a year-long state of emergency. As protesters took to the streets, security forces imposed curfews and other restrictions, leading to widespread alleged human rights abuses, thousands of arrests, and hundreds of deaths. Displaced and vulnerable people Since then, clashes between Myanmar Armed Forces, different ethnic armed organizations and people’s defense forces have left some 219,000 people newly displaced, said Mr. Dujarric. This comes as a recent wave of COVID-19 has exacerbated the dire humanitarian situation. At the same time, floods in Rakhine and Kayin states, have left tens of thousands without water and sanitation. “The UN once again calls on parties concerned to ensure that aid can be scaled up to reach people affected by the continued armed conflict”, said the Spokesperson. Despite conflict and COVID, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and its partners have been able to reach more than 33,000 people with water and sanitation supplies. Mr. Dujarric also said that UNICEF continues to help nearly 150,000 internally displaced people and others in Kachin, Northern Shan, Rakhine and Sagaing. Families flee Meanwhile, the agency on Monday posted a detailed account of the deteriorating situation in Mindat – located in the southern Chin state of western Myanmar – which has been under martial law since May. According to a UN humanitarian report, Mindat is one of the worst affected places in the country, with residents there urgent need of support. Amid continuing armed clashes and a devasting third wave of the pandemic, UNICEF told the story in a blog post of Hay Mar and her husband, who, like many others, decided to flee the violence, forced to leaving behind some of the most vulnerable - including elderly relatives, and heavily pregnant women. “My mother-in-law could have run with us, but she said she didn’t want to. She wanted to stay in her home”, said Hay Mar. The family fashioned makeshift shelters in the forest, which left them with little protection from the monsoon rains. Future of uncertainty Two weeks after Hay Mar and her family left, she began to worry about her mother-in-law. With her three children in tow, she decided to return to the town. Although her youngest was petrified as they re-entered, she said that he is now slowly showing signs of overcoming the trauma and is returning to the lively boy he once was. While Hay Mar is happy to see positive changes in him, she is unsure how long this period of peace and calm will last. Like most of the other children in Mindat, her 12 and 17-year-olds have been out of school for almost two years – first because of the pandemic and then due to the life-threatening security crisis. “If we live in this situation, how will my children grow? I’m very worried about their future. I just want to live in peace”, she told UNICEF..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-10-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-10-20
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "For more than two years, a UN-appointed team of 59 people has been collecting and analyzing more than two million pieces of evidence about possible human rights violations in Myanmar. Working out of Geneva, there are experts in gender violence and crimes against children; analysts with experience in international justice; specialists in open source evidence; and investigators working with sophisticated information systems. The team of professionals are formally known as the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, (IIMM) or Myanmar Mechanism, and was created in 2018 by the Human Rights Council. The Mechanism was established after an Independent International Fact-Finding Mission found “clear patterns” of violations by the military, known as the Tatmadaw, and insisted that the perpetrators of the “gross human rights violations”, including those against the Rohingya, must not go unpunished. The IIMM is not a court, neither does it have the power to prosecute. The hope is that all the information that could otherwise be lost, is preserved, and then shared with national, regional or international courts. In an extensive interview with UN News, the head of the Mechanism, Nicholas Koumjian, explains the importance of preserving this evidence before it is potentially lost. “Crime scenes get disturbed, bodies decompose, wounds can heal, people’s memories can fade, witnesses with information can pass away”, he explains. “So it’s very important to collect the information while you can.” *The interview has been edited for clarity and length. * **UN News: You and your colleagues have been working for over two years. What has been your focus? What has been achieved so far? ** Nicholas Koumjian: We started two years ago, in July of 2019, and we've been building up the Mechanism, acquiring all of the expertise that we believe would be necessary. We have those with expertise in International Criminal law, in things like gender violence, investigation of crimes against children, investigation of sexual assaults, analysts with experience in very complex international cases. We have those with experience in using open source evidence and very sophisticated and secure information systems, so that the information that we collect and preserve, is held confidentially and no one has access to it, and that also allows us to analyse the very vast quantities of data that we have collected. We're now looking at the evidence that we've collected, over two million pieces, and analysing that in various situations, that we believe have the potential to amount to criminal cases against individuals responsible for those offences. **UN News: Are there any preliminary conclusions? Can you share any? ** **Nicholas Koumjian: **What's different about our mechanism is that we're not really a reporting mechanism. We're not a court or prosecution service. We're collecting the evidence and preparing files to share them with those courts that might, or judicial authorities that might have the authority, and the willingness, to hold fair proceedings to hold individuals to account. We've specifically been asked to cooperate with the International Criminal Court, which has an investigation related to Rakhine State [home to many of those mostly-Rohingya Muslims who have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh], and we're doing that. We also have been asked by the parties at the International Court of Justice to share evidence, and we looked at that situation. We want to help the judges in that case reach the best decision, and so we've agreed to look for relevant evidence that we can share, with the permission of those that provided it to us. UN News: Can you tell me how you're conducting this work without having access to the country? Nicholas Koumjian: It's unfortunate that we don't have access. The Human Rights Council specifically asked Myanmar to cooperate with us and we've reached out to them and we will continue to reach out and seek cooperation and access to the country, to the crime scenes, and to witnesses inside Myanmar when we can do so safely. UN News: Do you have any hope that it can happen at any time soon? **Nicholas Koumjian: **I don't think there's an immediate prospect of that happening. But what I've learned is, in International Criminal law, and generally in history, it's very hard to predict the future. Things can change much quicker than we imagined, so we will continue to reach out and hope that things do change and that we will eventually have access. UN News: Regarding the military coup in in February, has it impacted your work? If so, in what ways? Nicholas Koumjian: We said, when the coup first happened, that the change of government itself, the overthrow of the constitutional authority, the question of fair elections and democratic process, is not within our mandate, which is limited to the most serious international crimes and violations of international law. But we said that we were very concerned, given the history of Myanmar, of so many crimes against civilians occurring in political conflicts, that we would be watching the situation closely. What we've seen since then is, unfortunately, that it appears that very serious crimes have been happening, throughout the country, in different regions, systematically and on a widespread basis. So, we're collecting that information. Many different sources have been voluntarily reaching out to us to provide us with information. Others we have contacted. I believe we received over 200,000 communications just in the first few months after the coup, so it's increased the burden on us, but it's also given us the opportunity to have more individuals and organizations willing to speak to us, more opportunities to talk to those who have information about what is happening or has happened in the past in Myanmar. And this has created some opportunities for investigations. UN News: Is it correct to say that some of these investigations, some of the information you're collecting, wouldn't otherwise happen, or be collected, if your mechanism didn't exist? Nicholas Koumjian: Yes, I believe that it is absolutely fair to say that. I've worked on different war crime tribunals, different processes to seek accountability, and one of the things that we've seen in other conflicts is the importance of preserving information while it's still fresh, while you can, because, of course, crime scenes get disturbed, bodies decompose, wounds can heal, people’s memories can fade, witnesses with information can die, can pass away without that information being collected. So, it's very important to collect the information while you can, because unfortunately international justice often is a long process. I came to the Myanmar mechanism from being the co-prosecutor at the Extraordinary Chambers for the courts in Cambodia, otherwise known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, which was looking into crimes committed between 1975 to 1979. Even in 2019, 40 years after those crimes were committed, that process was ongoing, and the evidence was being used. Fortunately, a lot of the evidence that was used there had been collected by a civil society organization, DC-Cam, in the 1990s, and that was very helpful to us. So we think what we're doing now is very important, to preserve the evidence so that someday – and we hope it certainly will be much sooner than 40 years – this evidence can be used in courts that can hold those responsible for crimes accountable. UN NEWS: When you talk about information and evidence, what are you talking about? Electronic communications? Forensic evidence? Nicholas Koumjian: It's a broad category of information. We will be collecting information from individuals, sometimes interviewing individuals, collecting information that different organizations have previously collected, consolidating that, and analysing it. Looking at digital information, looking at photographic and video information, analysing that with the most modern information technologies. We can locate where videos were taken and identify the duplicates, because we're getting so many thousands and thousands of videos and photographs, this is very important for us to do. UN NEWS: And you're getting those from civil society organizations? People in the country? **Nicholas Koumjian: **We're getting it from a broad range of different sources, and of course one of the basic premises of our work is that we don't name the individuals or organizations that we received the information from. But I would say from a very broad range of different types, organizations, businesses, individuals, many different types of sources. UN NEWS: You spoke about having justice. What does it look like in this case? Nicholas Koumjian: I think in Myanmar, as in many other conflicts around the world, many, many people have suffered. Some of them continue to suffer. There are hundreds of thousands of refugees living outside of their homes, either inside Myanmar or outside the borders of the country, wanting to go home. Unfortunately, the crimes that they fled from continue to occur in some way or another, so they don't feel it's safe to go home. Part of justice is assuring that those who committed crimes previously with impunity will now be held responsible, so that hopefully that will deter future crimes from occurring, and that the people of Myanmar who suffered can have some hope that these crimes will end and that they will receive some justice for what happened to themselves or to their family members..."
Source/publisher: UN News via "Reliefweb" (New York)
2021-10-15
Date of entry/update: 2021-10-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Both the National Unity Government (NUG) and the military junta seek to represent Myanmar in the United Nations. At the UN General Assembly in New York, Myanmar is currently represented by Permanent Representative Kyaw Moe Tun, who has held the position since 2020. Now affiliated with the NUG, on 26 February 2021 in the General Assembly he called on States not to recognise or legitimise the military coup of 1 February. A “Credentials Committee” of nine UN Member States will review the issue of Myanmar’s representation from mid-September, when the General Assembly opens its annual session. The decision on Myanmar’s representation will occur in the General Assembly, by vote if necessary. It will affect Myanmar’s representation in all UN forums, including at the International Court of Justice. By December 2021 at the latest, the General Assembly is expected to have come to a decision. It could “accept the credentials” of the representative of the NUG or the junta, enabling one to represent Myanmar in the UN. But it could be a more complicated outcome, such as a deferred decision. This briefing paper: Myanmar’s Representation in the United Nations by SAC-M, outlines the processes of the Credentials Committee and possible scenarios in the current case of Myanmar. Download the Briefing Paper: SAC-M Briefing Paper Myanmar’s Representation in the UN ENGLISH It concludes that an acceptance of the military junta’s credentials in the current circumstances would be unprecedented in the UN. Furthermore, any action fully depriving the State of representation would likely be contrary to the UN Charter..."
Source/publisher: Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
2021-08-11
Date of entry/update: 2021-08-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: It’s been six months since the military coup in Myanmar where there’s grave concern over the widening impact of the deepening political, human rights and humanitarian crisis affecting the country’s people.
Description: "Speaking to UN News, the organisation’s top aid official in Myanmar, Acting Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator Ramanathan Balakrishnan, described how people have been severely impacted across the country since the junta’s power grab on 1 February. “The situation in the country is characterized now by instability and a deteriorating socio-economic and security situation and to add to that we have a raging third wave of COVID-19,” said Mr. Balakrishnan in an exclusive interview. Highlighting the ongoing nature of armed resistance to State security forces “in several ethnic minority areas” including in the states of Shan, Chin and Kachin, the UN official said that more than 200,000 people had been uprooted from their homes there to date. Displacement swelling In Rakhine state before the coup, the UN Humanitarian Response Plan pointed to some one million people including internally displaced people in need of urgent assistance, but “this number has only swelled”, Mr. Balakrishnan insisted. More widely, “following the coup, an additional two million were identified as those in urgent need of humanitarian aid, and those were largely in the urban areas of Yangon and Mandalay”, he said, adding that the intensification of clashes and the worsening socio-economic situation was pushing “tens of thousands of people” into a humanitarian space” every day. Echoing concerns over rights abuses by UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and others, Mr. Balakrishnan condemned the ongoing and widespread use of lethal force by the military against civilian protesters. Rising hunger Looking ahead, the UN’s priorities include ensuring that millions of people do not fall further into hunger, the aid official said. “There has been an increase in the price of basic commodities for many people…this has also resulted in a reduction of the nutrition value of the food basket that people usually take as they substitute their regular food with cheaper, more readily available items.” Turning to Myanmar’s health system, which is facing extreme pressure because of the coronavirus crisis, as well as attacks on medical personnel and facilities in Myanmar - and a civil disobedience movement by some health professionals - Mr. Balakrishnan warned that even basic services had been disrupted across the country. Standing with Myanmar’s people In a message of solidarity, the top aid official insisted that the UN remained committed to respecting the will of the country’s people. This was despite limited access to parts of the country linked to security concerns and disruption to the banking system, which limited the UN’s ability to transfer funds to humanitarian partners responsible for delivering aid. “The UN will continue to call out human rights violations and is committed to stay and deliver lifesaving humanitarian assistance to the people of Myanmar, in addition to sending in the COVID-19 response,” Mr. Balakrishnan said..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-07-30
Date of entry/update: 2021-07-31
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Sub-title: Human rights defenders in Myanmar are being targeted under a “brute force terror campaign” by the military junta, United Nations independent experts said on Monday, calling again for a stronger international response to the coup.
Description: "In a statement, Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, and Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders highlighted credible reports of activists forced into hiding after having arrests warrants issued against them, under Section 505 (a) of the Penal Code. Their homes were raided, possessions seized, and family members threatened and harassed, they said, noting that many others who where unable to flee, have been arbitrarily arrested. Lawyers representing those detained after the coup have themselves been detained, as have journalists covering the protests, the statement added.....Citizens ‘held hostage’: Special Rapporteur Andrews said that the people of Myanmar appreciate the expressions of concern from the international community, “but what they desperately need, is action”. “It is critical that nations stand with and for the besieged people of Myanmar who are being held hostage by an illegal military junta. It is time for strong, focused and coordinate action that includes economic sanctions and an arms embargo.” “A more determined, unified international solidarity with human rights defenders in Myanmar is required to avoid further attacks”, Mr. Andrews added, reiterating his call for an Emergency Coalition for the People of Myanmar to stop what he described as the junta’s “reign of terror” in the country. More than 892 men, women and children have been killed and countless more wounded by security forces in a brutal crackdown since the 1 February coup. According to humanitarians, thousands of people across Myanmar have also been displaced due to clashes between the military and regional armed groups, and the situation is further complicated by the worsening COVID-19 situation, which risks overwhelming health and medical services across the country. ‘Astonishing’ bravery Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, applauded the bravery of rights defenders, in the face of massive risks for their own safety. “Women human rights defenders are particularly at risk in remote rural areas and are often beaten and kicked before being sent to prison where they can face torture and sexual violence with no medical care provided”, Ms. Lawlor said. “We have heard from women human rights defenders from different ethnic groups in various areas of the country. Their bravery in continuing to speak out against the human rights violations being perpetrated by the military against the country’s population, coming as it does in the face of threats of gender-based violence and massive risks for their safety, is astonishing.” The Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. The experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-07-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-07-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: What began as a coup by the Myanmar military has ‘rapidly morphed’ into an all-out attack against the civilian population that has become increasingly widespread and systematic, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned on Tuesday.
Description: "Speaking at the 47th session of the Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet reiterated that the situation in the country has evolved from a political crisis in early February to a “multi-dimensional human rights catastrophe”, repeating a formulation she first used a month ago. Since the coup, nearly 900 people have been killed while around 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes because of violent military raids on neighbourhoods and villages.....Downward spiral: “Suffering and violence throughout the country are devastating prospects for sustainable development and raise the possibility of State failure or a broader civil war”, she cautioned. Ms. Bachelet explained that the catastrophic developments since February have had a severe and wide-ranging impact on human rights, peace and security, and sustainable development. “They are generating clear potential for massive insecurity, with fallout for the wider region”. The UN High Commissioner urged the international community to stand united in pressuring the military to halt its continuing attacks on the people of Myanmar and return the country to democracy, reflecting the ‘clear will of the people’.....The UN must act: She said the UN system must not fail the country a second time”, she added, citing the 2019 review of UN action in the country, by Gert Rosenthal. She also advised swift action to restore a working democracy before the human rights situation in the country deteriorates further. “This should be reinforced by Security Council action. I urge all States to act immediately to give effect to the General Assembly's call to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar”, Ms. Bachelet said.....Hunger, violence and poverty: Ms. Bachelet said COVID had had a ‘disastrous’ impact on an economy that relied on remittances, the garment industry and other sectors which have been devastated by the resultant global recession. UN Agencies estimate that over 6 million people are severely in need of food aid and forecast that nearly half the population could fall into poverty by early 2022. “A void has been opened for the most harmful – and criminal – forms of illicit economy to flourish”, she underscored. Meanwhile, a countrywide general strike, combined with the widespread dismissal of civil servants – including educators and medical personnel – has cut off many essential services in the country. Since 1 February, at least 240 attacks on health-care facilities, medical personnel, ambulances and patients have disabled COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccination.....Intense violence and repression: She denounced indiscriminate airstrikes, shelling, civilian killings and mass displacement. Civil voices are also being silenced: over 90 journalists have been arrested and eight major media outlets shuttered. “We have also received multiple reports of enforced disappearances; brutal torture and deaths in custody; and the arrest of relatives or children in lieu of the person being sought”, she said.....New equation: Despite the repression, the UN High Commissioner indicated that the military leadership has not successfully secured control of Myanmar, nor won the international recognition it seeks. “On the contrary, its brutal tactics have triggered a national uprising that has changed the political equation”, she said. She added that people across the country continue peaceful protests despite the massive use of lethal force, including heavy weaponry, and a ‘civil disobedience movement has brought many military-controlled government structures to a standstill’. Some people, in many parts of Myanmar, have taken up arms and formed self-protection groups. These newly formed groups have launched attacks in several locations, to which the security forces have responded with disproportionate force, she noted.....Consequences: “I am concerned that this escalation in violence could have horrific consequences for civilians. All armed actors must respect and protect human rights and ensure that civilians and civilian structures such as health centres and schools are protected”. “Any future democratic government in Myanmar must have the authority to exercise effective civilian control over the military. The international community should build upon the range of international accountability mechanisms already engaged, until transitional justice measures also become genuinely possible at the national level”, the High Commissioner concluded..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-07-06
Date of entry/update: 2021-07-06
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Description: " Former U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged his successor on Monday to engage directly with Myanmar's military to prevent an increase in post-coup violence and said southeast Asian countries should not dismiss the turmoil as an internal issue for Myanmar. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, has communicated with the military since it ousted an elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, but the army has not allowed her to visit. "Given the gravity and urgency of the situation, I believe the secretary-general himself should use his good offices to engage directly with the Myanmar military, to prevent an escalation of violence," Ban, secretary-general from 2007 to 2016, told a U.N. Security Council meeting. Guterres is "very actively involved" on Myanmar and "has been for a long time," said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, adding: "His good offices, along with his special envoy, are always available. We all want to see an end to the violence." Guterres told the Security Council on Monday that a "robust international response grounded on a unified regional effort" was needed, urging "regional actors to leverage their influence to prevent further deterioration and, ultimately, find a peaceful way out of this catastrophe." The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to find a way out of the violence tearing at fellow member Myanmar. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is due to attend an ASEAN summit in Indonesia on April 24. "ASEAN must make it clear to the Myanmar military that the current situation is so grave that it cannot be regarded only as an internal matter," said Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister who is now a member of The Elders global leaders group. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group, 737 people have been killed by security forces since the coup and 3,229 remain in detention. "The military's use of lethal force and the gross violations of human rights being perpetrated against the civilians are not compatible with the ASEAN Charter," he said. "These actions are clear violations of international law, and constitute a threat to the peace, security and stability of the region." Ban also urged the Security Council to move beyond statements to collective action. However, some diplomats say Russia and China are likely to prevent any stronger action..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
2021-04-20
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "I would like to draw your urgent attention to the horrible situation in Myanmar, in particular in Mindat, Chin State. After the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) staged the coup d’état on 1 February 2021, it killed over 800 people and arrested over 4,000 people. The murderous military and security forces have persistently committed irresponsible, irrational and disproportionate actions against the civilians. Despite the continued calls by all relevant stakeholders, including the international community, the military has failed to end all forms of violence against the innocent people. It instead has accelerated acts of terrorism in many places acr oss Myanmar. In this regard, I wish to enclose herewith an announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the National Unity Government of Myanmar dated 15 May 2021 calling for immediate attention on Mindat (see annex). Owing to the Tatmadaw’s terrorist actions against the innocent people of Mindat, Chin State, the Chinland Defense Force, by exercising the right to self-defence, has been defending the defenceless people of Mindat. Since 14 May 2021, the Tatmadaw has been sending more forces to the areas near Mindat, while attack helicopters are hovering about the houses of the people in Mindat. The military is shooting inside the town using heavy artillery. Within the next 48 hours, Mindat could potentially become a battleground and thousands of people are facing the danger of being displaced. There have been 5 innocent people killed by the military actions against the civilian population and 10 people injured. Many more are potentially under the threat of fatalities and serious injuries. The military has arrested the health workers who were volunteering to provide health-care assistance to the injured people. Therefore, we would like to urge the international community to take immediate action to end all violence of the Tatmadaw and protect the defenceless people of Mindat, Chin State. I would like to echo the announcement by calling for your urgent attention to the situation in Mindat and for immediate and decisive action from the United Nations and the international community to save the lives of civilians in Mindat and to protect the people of Myanmar. I kindly request that the present letter and its annex be circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 34 and 72 (c). (Signed) Kyaw Moe Tun Permanent Representative..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations (New York)
2021-05-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Format : pdf
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Source/publisher: Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations (New York)
2021-06-02
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-14
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Sub-title: Escalating violence across Myanmar including attacks on civilians must be halted to prevent even greater loss of life and a deepening humanitarian emergency, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Friday.
Description: "Ms. Bachelet’s appeal follows reports of a continuing military build-up in various parts of the country including Kayah State in the east – where more than 108,000 people have fled their homes in the last three weeks – and in Chin State in the west. This runs contrary to commitments made in April by Myanmar’s military leaders to regional powers ASEAN, to cease brutal violence against civilians which has followed the 1 February coup.....Rising toll: “As I had feared, armed conflict and other violence are intensifying in many parts of Myanmar, including Kayah State, Chin State and Kachin State, with the violence particularly intense in areas with significant ethnic and religious minority groups”, Ms. Bachelet said in a statement. “State security forces have continued to use heavy weaponry, including airstrikes, against armed groups and against civilians and civilian objects, including Christian churches.” The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights cited credible reports that security forces had used civilians as human shields, shelled civilian homes and churches in Loikaw, Phekon and Demoso, in Kayah State. She also appealed for hospitals, schools and places of worship to be protected throughout the country, after several reported incidents in which hospitals, schools and religious institutions were entered and occupied by State security forces, “fired upon and damaged in military actions”.....Aid workers blocked: Soldiers had also blocked humanitarian access, including by attacking humanitarian actors, Ms. Bachelet insisted, noting with concern that more than 108,000 people had fled their homes in Kayah State over the last three weeks alone, many into forest areas where they are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also warned that “sweeping arrests” have continued of activists, journalists and opponents of the regime. At least 4,804 people remain in arbitrary detention, Ms. Bachelet’s office noted, before citing reports of torture and collective punishment of family members of activists – including one mother of an activist who was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in place of her son on 28 May.....‘Human rights catastrophe’: “In just over four months, Myanmar has gone from being a fragile democracy to a human rights catastrophe. In addition to the loss of life, people are suffering from severe impacts on the social and economic rights. The military leadership is singularly responsible for this crisis, and must be held to account,” the High Commissioner said. Since the military takeover, a minimum of 860 people have been killed by security forces, mostly in the context of protests, the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) noted. More than 100 self-styled “people’s defence forces” and opposition armed groups also operate across the country, said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani, although there was “little centralised command”.....ASEAN appeal: Appealing for an “intensification” of regional diplomacy, including by regional power bloc ASEAN and other influential States, Ms. Bachelet urged them to insist on the immediate cessation of violence and ongoing violations. “Dialogue is urgently needed with the National Unity Government and civil society stakeholders”, she said. The High Commissioner noted that she intends to update the UN Human Rights Council on the situation in Myanmar on 7 July..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-06-11
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: In Myanmar, international action is needed urgently to prevent “mass deaths” there, after civilians fled attacks by so-called “junta bombs”, a top independent UN rights expert has warned.
Description: "“Mass deaths from starvation, disease and exposure could occur in Kayah State after many of the 100,000 forced to flee into forests from junta bombs are now cut off from food, water and medicine by the junta. The international community must act”, UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar, Tom Andrews, tweeted late on Monday. In his alert, Mr. Andrews noted that the Kayah state attacks were just the latest in a series throughout Myanmar that had caused mass displacement and suffering, from Mutraw in Karen state to Mindat in Chin state and Bago city. The independent rights expert, who reports to the Human Rights Council, emphasised that that the lives of many thousands of men, women and children were under threat from indiscriminate attacks, on a scale not seen since the 1 February coup, “that likely amount to mass atrocity crimes”. The development echoes concern by the UN Country Team in Myanmar, which on Monday underscored the rapidly deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Kayah State and other parts of the country, linked to protests caused by the military takeover.....Basic needs blocked: Citing credible reports, Mr. Andrews said that people were in dire need of food, water, medicine and shelter after reported clashes with volunteer community militias, while the UN country team said that many had also sought safety in host communities and forests across Kayah and southern parts of neighbouring Shan state. Aid deliveries had been allegedly blocked to those forced to flee their homes to escape bombing raids and artillery fire and the military had also placed landmines on public roads, said the Special Rapporteur. “Any pressure or leverage UN Member States can put on the junta must now be exerted” to encourage junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to allow lifesaving aid in, and to stop “terrorising the population by ceasing the aerial bombardment, shelling and shooting of civilians”.....Medical teams a target: In its appeal, the UN Country Team reiterated earlier calls for all parties to protect all civilians and civilian infrastructure, “particularly medical units and health workers”. Despite that fact that UN aid teams and their partners had supplies that were ready to be deployed “insecurity, travel restrictions imposed by security forces, and poor road conditions are delaying the delivery of supplies”, the team said in a statement. The team called on "the security forces to allow for a safe passage of humanitarian supplies and personnel and to facilitate our ability to directly provide aid to all those who need it." “Now, more than ever, the international community must cut off access to the resources that the junta needs to continue these brutal attacks on the people of Myanmar,” Mr. Andrews said..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-06-09
Date of entry/update: 2021-06-10
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Description: "When Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations Kyaw Moe Tun took the floor of the General Assembly on Feb. 26 to condemn the weeks-old military coup and announce his loyalty to the elected government, he not only shocked all those tuning in who expected a pro forma defense of the Tatmadaw’s power grab and denunciation of U.N. interference. He also provided Myanmar’s democratic movement a potentially powerful new tool, both to help secure their legitimacy, and to shift the historic dynamics of U.N. failure in Myanmar. To make the most of this tool, the nascent National Unity Government (NUG) must quickly learn how to work with the U.N. system and leverage it for its intrinsic utility as well as to build out their footprint internationally. To date, the results have been mixed, but there are signs that the NUG is learning. Whether these efforts ultimately will be effective also depends on whether the U.N. system can learn from its own failures in Myanmar and make the necessary course corrections at this pivotal moment.....Past Imperfect: The U.N.’s history with Myanmar has been a multi-decade case study in the moral hazards that international organizations face when dealing with regimes that do not care about either the welfare of their own people or the opinions of outsiders. After being one of the first of the newly independent post-colonial countries to join the U.N., Myanmar enthusiastically participated in U.N. activities during the parliamentary democracy period. It even requested the U.N.’s help in dealing with spillover from the Chinese civil war, when both Kuomintang (KMT) and Communist troops breached Myanmar’s border. After Ne Win’s 1962 coup, however, successive military regimes rigorously limited their engagement with international organizations out of an almost fanatical devotion to neutrality. Like other autarkic dictatorships, the Ne Win regime deeply distrusted the U.N. and particularly eschewed involvement with its field-based activities, even though his countryman U Thant served as U.N. Secretary General during much of the first decade of Burmese Socialist Program Party (BSPP) rule. It was not just the U.N. that drew Ne Win’s suspicions: nearly all foreign organizations were kicked out of Myanmar during the 1960s and diplomats based in the country were heavily restricted. The BSPP’s fetishization of neutrality was such that Ne Win withdrew Myanmar from the Non-aligned Movement in 1978 because he was concerned it had become too partisan toward the Soviet Union. Given the role of Southeast Asia as a major theater of Cold War contestation, and China’s mercurial role in these geostrategic games, one can hardly blame Myanmar for wanting to remain aloof from it all. But Ne Win’s autarky also ensured that Myanmar essentially was suspended in amber for more than a decade. Faced with a ruinous economic situation, however, the post 1974-BSPP and its successors in the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), while no less xenophobic, recognized that the U.N.’s rapidly expanding aid agencies could be useful as they attempted to address the country’s disastrous economic situation. The Tatmadaw generals seemed to innately grasp that these various humanitarian and development agencies cared more about their agency’s particular development and humanitarian mission set than about the quality of Myanmar’s governance and these agencies were competing for “clients” in the developing world. Having been locked out of Myanmar at the height of the BSPP’s autarky, these agencies were desperate to experiment on its broken economy and what they viewed as a tabula rasa society ripe for their modernization efforts. This gave the BSPP the ability to arbitrage aid agencies’ ambitions and silos, strictly limiting their staffing and physical access and insisting on a high degree of control over their activities in the country. Even after Ne Win resigned as BSPP chairman in 1988, the SLORC and SPDC continued to use humanitarian access as a bargaining chip to ensure that agency operations were compliant. In the most striking—but far from the only– example of its extreme suspicion toward the U.N., the Burmese regime initially rejected U.N.-led humanitarian assistance in the wake of 2008’s devastating Cyclone Nargis, which killed tens of thousands of people, wiped out the critical Irrawaddy Delta rice production zone, and left millions homeless.....Political Battles at – and Over – the U.N.: In contrast to the aid agencies ostensibly apolitical approach, the U.N.’s Member State bodies have periodically attempted to involve themselves in Myanmar’s politics, especially after the Tatmadaw’s violent suppression of the 1988 uprising. The end of the Cold War and concurrent rise of liberal internationalism were rocket fuel to the U.N.’s political engagement in Myanmar. After the SLORC ignored the National League for Democracy’s (NLD) landslide victory in the 1990 elections, the United States and other western democracies supported various resolutions in the U.N. Human Rights Commission and General Assembly, condemning the military’s brutal usurpation of democracy and appointing Special Rapporteurs to investigate its wrongdoings. The United States and other major donors also restricted U.N. agencies’ and international financial institutions’ cooperation with the military. U.N. agencies, in turn, complained bitterly about what they saw as the negative impact of these donor efforts to ensure aid was not instrumentalized by the military regime. For their part, Burmese regimes did not appear to differentiate between the component parts of the U.N. system. The Secretary General’s Special Envoys typically were given privileged access to both junta members and detained opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, so long as they kept their public statements anodyne and their “negotiations” efforts within prescribed limits. Human Rights Special Rapporteurs, on the other hand, were forced to negotiate access on the narrowest of terms and often subjected to rough treatment on the ground. Special Rapporteur Paulo Pinheiro found a barely concealed listening device in the room where he was holding interviews with political prisoners. A violent mob attacked his successor Tomas Quintana’s motorcade during a field visit to Rakhine State following 2012 anti-Muslim violence there. Likewise, after she spoke out on the situation of the Rohingya, Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee was subjected to a steady stream of virulent misogynist verbal abuse before seeing her access cut off altogether. For the U.N. agencies and personnel deployed in-country after 1988, efforts to navigate between their ‘apolitical’ aid and development missions and the extremely political Member-State activities in New York and Geneva—all while dealing with a distrustful and mercurial junta-often proved untenable. The treatment of the U.N. during the Saffron Revolution of 2007 is a case in point. As anti-regime protests intensified in the summer and fall of 2007, the dual-hatted Resident Coordinator/ Humanitarian Coordinator (RC/HC) in Myanmar was Charles Petrie, a U.N. veteran who had been an eyewitness to the international community’s moral failure in the Rwandan genocide, was under pressure to speak out about the situation on the ground. His home agency, the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), was often a target of criticism from human rights groups and the pro-democracy movement as soft on the military regime due to their focus on economic development. Even after the military started shooting at unarmed protesters and arresting U.N., Petrie studiously avoided direct criticism of the junta. It was only after thousands had been killed that Petrie issued a U.N. Day statement that obliquely linked economic hardship in Burma with the protests, after which the junta forced him to leave the country.....The Consequences of Contested Engagement: In trying to manage the sensitivities of both Burmese juntas and subsequent quasi-civilian governments, the U.N. generally has ended up pleasing no one and failing in its most basic tasks. The Tatmadaw was never going to embrace the U.N., given its innate xenophobia and the decades of General Assembly and Human Rights Commission and Council resolutions criticizing its ruinous and abusive rule. Prior to 2010, democratic forces and ethnic civil society criticized U.N. humanitarian and development programs on the ground as doing little more than legitimizing military rule. After a brief post-2010 honeymoon period, Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy came to view the U.N. as unhelpful because she felt they consultation with treated her as a ‘box-checking’ exercise as they rushed to expand the UN presence under the Thein Sein government. After the NLD took power in March 2016, Suu Kyi’s negative view of the U.N. hardened in the face of Member State bodies’ condemnations of atrocities against the Rohingya while she was the de facto head of government. Suu Kyi’s antipathy towards the U.N. was undoubtedly fueled by veteran diplomats such as Kyaw Tint Swe who spent their careers vigorously defending military regime abuses and pushing back on the U.N. in Geneva and New York. By the time the August 2017 atrocities against the Rohingya began, there was little trust and empathy between the U.N. and the NLD government. Once again, the U.N. Resident Coordinator in Yangon, Renata Lok-Dessallien, was caught in these cross currents. A development expert by training, Lok-Dessallien was sent to Yangon to oversee the major expansion of U.N. agency partnerships with Myanmar’s government. In the end, her efforts to soft-pedal concerns about the Rohingya and other human rights issues prior to the 2017 atrocities did little to overcome the deep reservoir of hostility and distrust that colored the government’s view of the U.N. Her development-focused approach did, however, trouble her staff, especially those charged with implementing the U.N.’s “Human Rights Up Front” initiative. As the scale and scope of the atrocities in Rakhine state spiraled and international condemnation grew, Lok-Dessallien was spectacularly ill-equipped to deal with the situation. Although the U.N. secretariat in New York was aware she was flailing, they took no steps to recall or replace her until it was too late. This was all well documented in both contemporaneous media reports on the 2017 Rakhine crisis and the U.N.’s Rosenthal Report on the U.N.’s failure to anticipate or prevent the genocide. Despite this checkered history, in 2021 protestors in Myanmar initially called on the U.N. to act against the Feb. 1 coup and live up to its founding ideals. Invoking the “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) and seizing on condemnatory statements by U.N. officials, many young protesters looked to the U.N. to send in peacekeepers or take other steps to restore the elected government. But so far, the U.N. has spectacularly failed to rise to the occasion. Blame for this failure has largely centered on the Security Council, where the United Kingdom and other so-called like-minded countries have taken a cautious incremental approach, ostensibly due to fear of a joint Chinese and Russian veto of any resolution they might table. As time passes since the coup and humanitarian needs rise, there also are growing concerns among the anti-coup forces that various U.N. agencies may be falling back into old habits of willingness to work with the junta in order to retain access to their projects in country.....A New Hope at the U.N.? Options for Constructive Engagement: Yet even as the U.N. has proven unable to stop the junta’s illegal coup or ameliorate the situation on the ground, it does have some specific utility for the democratic movement. For the first time, those facing off against a military junta have a Burmese ambassador in New York who has declared his loyalty to the democratic movement and is empowered to work with the entire U.N. system, including and especially on human rights issues. Practically speaking, control over the U.N. seat in New York can be a beachhead for the NUG’s broader efforts towards international recognition even as the struggle on the ground continues and the democratic leadership builds out its own institutions. Because many other governments will recognize whatever authorities are recognized by the U.N., controlling the General Assembly seat is critical. Moreover, Permanent Representatives (PRs) in New York hold a privileged position within the U.N. system, surpassed only by ministers and heads of state and government from a protocol standpoint. As long as Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun remains credentialed to the U.N. as Myanmar’s PR, he is the senior-most Burmese diplomat accredited to the U.N. system. As a result, he can represent Myanmar at U.N. meetings not only in New York but also in Geneva, Vienna, Rome, Bangkok, Nairobi, or any other venue where the U.N. convenes Member States. The U.N.’s continued reliance on virtual meetings due to the pandemic is helpful in this regard, as Kyaw Moe Tun and his designates can remain in New York to defend his seat while representing Myanmar at U.N. events around the world. On the programmatic side, the Civil Disobedience Movement’s (CDM’s) efforts to shut down economic activity in Myanmar and the NUG’s demand that humanitarian assistance not flow through military controlled channels have highlighted the need to establish parameters for cooperation with U.N. agencies, funds, and programs accustomed to dealing with Member State governments. To this end, the NUG can use their foothold in New York to pull through cooperation with U.N. agencies, including negotiating Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) on access, financing, and other modalities. By aligning these efforts with outreach to bilateral donors and multi-lateral development banks, the NUG can begin to demonstrate governance capabilities to their own people and the international community alike. Working together with CDM diplomats in Geneva and elsewhere, the New York mission can coordinate diplomatic engagement across the entire U.N. system on everything from credentialling for meetings to negotiating MOUs with U.N. agencies. The NUG will need to provide strategic and policy guidance, including on where within the U.N. system to prioritize limited human resources for maximum impact. This was recently and unfortunately demonstrated when the junta successfully sent its murderous police chief to a U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) senior officials’ meeting. That event seems to have served as a wake-up call for the NUG on the need to track and manage such U.N. Member State-driven activities more effectively. On May 26, for instance, the World Health Assembly (WHA) refused to seat the junta’s delegate after the NUG submitted a competing credential request. While not a total victory, having the Myanmar chair empty is preferably to having the junta represent the country. The WHA’s decision also kicked the issue back to the General Assembly, highlighting the stakes for keeping the New York mission in the NUG’s hands. Given the complexity of the task and the small number of diplomats the NUG currently has, both the New York mission and the NUG leadership will need to be creative and disciplined about staffing and other resource allocation decisions. For instance, civil society groups that work on human rights and humanitarian action have substantial resources and influence that make them potential force multipliers in these areas of alignment. While many small Member State missions in New York and Geneva have deep experience working with their own and international allied civil society partners, many experienced Burmese diplomats are more accustomed to seeing civil society as adversarial and both sides will have to overcome both a trust deficit and a learning curve to work together effectively. The CDM diplomats are fortunate, however, that Burmese civil society has decades of experience partnering with regional and global advocacy groups and diplomats from other governments, especially in the priority areas of human rights and humanitarian assistance. The New York mission should look beyond the Secretary General’s Special Envoy and engage the various Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council that have an interest in Myanmar, including Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews, and Special Representatives of the Secretary General on issues such as the Responsibility to Protect, Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict, and Children in Armed Conflict. These U.N. experts can be both resources for information and potential allies in the system. Finally, the NUG must have a clear plan for holding on to Myanmar’s U.N. General Assembly seat when the next General Assembly session begins in September. The NUG and the junta are likely to submit competing credentials for the session, and the U.N. Credentials Committee and ultimately the General Assembly itself will likely be drawn into a credentials fight. While the technical and protocol aspects of U.N. credentialling are relatively straightforward, those credentials fights that have taken place over the 75-year history of the U.N. have largely followed a pattern where initially ‘possession is 9/10ths of the law’ but the representation usually ends up aligning with political reality on the ground—regardless of the legitimacy of that reality. The refusal to seat representatives of South Africa’s apartheid government is one of the few cases where the U.N. acted from a moral imperative. The situation of Myanmar is likely to challenge the U.N., both institutionally and among its individual member states. By working now to establish Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun as an active and credible representative of the Burmese people across the U.N. system, the NUG can create facts on the ground that may prove dispositive when his credentials are challenged in September. The more his counterparts in New York see him as the legitimate representative, the more likely they are to support him, if for no other reason than they themselves would not wish to be arbitrarily replaced as the result of an illegal coup. For its part, the U.N. system should recognize that they have an historic opportunity to align with the Burmese people’s democratic aspirations and contribute positively to this hinge moment in Myanmar’s history. By drawing lessons from the missed opportunities and failures of the past, the system can try to turn a new page. For the programmatic pillars of the system, this means being more cognizant and tolerant of political risk than they are typically comfortable being. The UNDP—both because of its past issues in Myanmar and because it has specific responsibilities with regard to governance—should stake out a leadership role in supporting the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people and work with both the NUG and civil society on urgent governance challenges that have resulted from the coup. UNDP also has an existing MOU to work on Rakhine State, signed with the NLD government, that can provide the basis for addressing that troubled region. Likewise, agencies such as U.N. Fund for Children (UNICEF) and the World Food Program (WFP) can work directly with the NUG to address urgent humanitarian needs. In the past, these agencies have been more adept at handling political ambiguity and demonstrating flexibility, and these skill sets will be necessary to navigate the current situation. On the Member State side, creativity will also be required, including looking beyond the politicized Security Council and Human Rights Council (HRC). One potential solution is to empower entities such as the Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar (IIMM), that were created by Member States but operate as independent technical bodies. The IIMM’s mandate should be interpreted (or expanded) as needed to allow it to provide technical assistance directly to the NUG, including by confidentially sharing evidence about the atrocities against the Rohingya. Helping the NUG and its ministers to understand and come to terms with the scope and scale of atrocities the Tatmadaw committed during the NLD’s watch could help to advance the cause of recognition and reconciliation that ultimately is core to Myanmar’s nation-building project. This is a delicate task, but one that the IIMM – as a technical body that is built on collecting and following the evidence rather than advocating for any particular outcome – is uniquely qualified to undertake. Given that the overwhelming majority of Member States have supported resolutions in the General Assembly condemning the atrocities against the Rohingya, the NUG’s inability to date to adequately address the Rohingya issue remains a major stumbling block as countries consider whether to recognize it. A successful two-way partnership between the IIMM and the NUG could help to address this issue in a more constructive way. In light of the many challenges facing Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement at the moment, leveraging the country’s U.N. General Assembly seat may not be top of mind for the NUG. Nonetheless, the seat – and the source of legitimacy that comes with it – represents a major tangible asset that has real value to other countries that otherwise may be inclined to pay the NUG little attention. Whether the NUG can deploy this asset strategically and successfully could make the difference as it struggles to establish itself on the international stage. After decades of awkward and all-around frustrating engagement, the U.N. also needs to step forward with a more flexible and conscious approach that shows it has learned from past mistakes. Even if both sides can break old habits, there is no guarantee that the outcome will be successful for the Burmese people. But if the NUG and U.N. squander this opportunity by repeating old patterns, it is virtually guaranteed that everyone stands to lose..."
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Source/publisher: Just Security (New York)
2021-05-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews on Thursday urged all countries to follow the path taken by the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.....Ramp up sanctions: “It is imperative that the international community ramp up the size and scope of sanctions as the junta ramps up its repression of the people of Myanmar”, he said. Myanmar’s military leaders, known as the State Administrative Council (SAC), seized power in a coup in February and have launched brutal crackdowns against pro-democracy demonstrators. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly called on the military to respect the will of the people, and his Special Envoy, Christine Schraner Burgener, continues ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders in the region.....‘A new blow’: Mr. Andrews particularly highlighted the US decision to target the SAC and 16 individuals, announced on Monday, which freezes their assets and bars US nationals from providing funds, goods or services that benefit the coup leaders. “This week the United States has taken one of the most significant steps to date against the Myanmar junta, first by sanctioning not only individuals but the State Administrative Council itself; and second, by opening the door to targeting those who continue to do business with the junta and therefore aid and abet their relentless attacks against the people of Myanmar,” he said. “The designation of the SAC strikes a new blow to the junta’s finances. It is a significant step in the right direction.”.....A wake-up call: Mr Andrews added that the naming of the SAC paves the way for further designations of individuals or entities determined to have “materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to” the Council. “This is a warning to all those who are willing to conduct business as usual with the junta,” he said. “Those who continue to aid and abet this murderous enterprise — be they international businesses, banks, arms traffickers, or government entities providing financial, technological or other support — are now on notice that they themselves could face sanctions.”   The rights expert added “I am hopeful that this action will be a wake-up call.  Not only is doing business with the junta morally reprehensible, it could now mean being cut off from the U.S. financial system and/or facing criminal or civil penalties in the United States.  If doing the right and just thing is not a factor in one’s decision making, then perhaps protecting one’s self interest will be.”.....Step up now: Mr Andrews also welcomed fresh sanctions imposed on Monday by the UK and Canada, including those which target the military from profiting from the timber and gems trade.  “The coordination of these sanctions by the US, UK, and Canada is a welcome development”, the UN expert said. “Hopefully it will lead to a tough, fully coordinated multilateral sanctions regime that enables nations to deliver the most powerful blow possible against the horror that is being inflicted on the people of Myanmar.”  He said, however, more must be done, and quickly.  “The revenue that they continue to seize from the oil and gas sector has become a lifeline for the junta.  Profits from this sector are estimated to be close to what is needed to supply the forces that are keeping them in power,” he said. “We know the junta’s sources of funds are limited and that the income from oil and gas sales helped previous juntas withstand international sanctions. The people of Myanmar cannot afford for history to repeat itself.” Mr Andrews also called for other nations to take action. “I urge those countries that have yet to impose costs on the junta for its illegal coup and its systematic atrocities and human rights violations to reconsider,” he said. “Now is the time to step up.”.....Role of Special Rapporteurs: Special Rapporteurs, like Mr. Andrews, are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor specific countries or thematic issues.  They serve in their individual capacity and are not UN staff, nor are they paid by the Organization..."
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Source/publisher: UN News
2021-05-20
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Topic: Peace and Security
Sub-title: The United Nations independent human rights expert on Myanmar on Friday called on countries that have not yet done so, to impose arms embargo on the country urgently, to stop the “massacre” of citizens across the country.
Topic: Peace and Security
Description: "Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the southeast Asian nation, underscored in a statement, the need to stop the flow of weapons and so called dual-use weapons technology into the hands of forces under the command of the military junta, describing it as “literally a matter of life and death.” “There is no time to lose … I urge governments who support cutting the flow of weapons to a brutal military junta to consider immediately establishing their own arms embargo against Myanmar while simultaneously encouraging UN Security Council action.” ‘Dual-use’ technology Mr. Andrews also said that bilateral arms embargoes should encompass both weapons and dual-use technology, including surveillance equipment. “Together, they will represent an important step forward to literally taking guns out of the hands of those killing innocent men, women and children.” The Special Rapporteur also applauded a call by over 200 civil society organizations to bring the arms embargo issue to the attention of the 15-member Security Council. He is currently updating a list of States that have established arms embargoes against Myanmar, Mr. Andrews added, noting that he intended to publish an updated list next month. The independent expert’s report to the Human Rights Council in March identified that nations that had already established arms embargoes. Month four Into its fourth month, the political turmoil – marked by near daily pro-democracy protests and a brutal crackdown by security forces – has reportedly claimed at least 750 lives and wounded countless more. There are also serious concerns over the continuing impact of the crisis, with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) warning of an economic collapse, and the UN human rights chief cautioning that Myanmar could spiral into a “full-blown conflict” similar to the implosion of Syria over the past decade, if the bloodshed does not stop.....Preparing supplies for refugees, in Thailand: Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said that it is pre-positioning key relief items and personal protective equipment (PPE) in Thailand, which could potentially be provided to those fleeing violence in Myanmar. According to a bulletin issued earlier this week, about 2,300 people crossed from Myanmar into Thailand on 27 April due to increased fighting and they are currently hosted in safe zones, managed by the Thai Army. “UNHCR has advocated for access to the population and offered support to the Thai Government’s efforts to respond to further displacement from Myanmar and address refugees’ protection needs”, it said. As of 31 December 2020, there are about 92,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand, who fled previous waves of displacement, in nine temporary shelters, according to UNHCR.....Refugee arrivals in India: Similarly, the agency estimates that between 4,000 to 6,000 refugees from Myanmar have entered into the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur since March, where local charities and individuals have provided life-saving assistance those arriving. “Some 190 have moved onward to New Delhi, where UNHCR is assessing their needs and has begun registering and providing them with basic assistance”, the agency added, noting that it has offered its support to the Indian Government in protection, and humanitarian coordination and response to new arrivals from Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-05-07
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: More Than 200 Groups Worldwide Call for a UN Sanctions Resolution
Description: "The United Nations Security Council should immediately impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar, Human Rights Watch and over 200 other nongovernmental organizations from around the world said today in a public appeal to council members. The Security Council should act swiftly to pressure the junta to stop violating the human rights of people protesting the February 1, 2021, coup and military rule. “The UN Security Council’s failure to even discuss an arms embargo against the junta is an appalling abdication of its responsibilities toward the people of Myanmar,” said Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch. “The council’s occasional statements of concern in the face of the military’s violent repression of largely peaceful protesters is the diplomatic equivalent of shrugging their shoulders and walking away.” The groups said that the United Kingdom, the council’s designated drafter of Myanmar texts, should immediately open negotiations at the Security Council on a draft resolution authorizing an arms embargo. The UK has been reluctant to do so, prioritizing consensus statements supported by all council members over a resolution with substantive measures that China, Russia, and other members might initially oppose. “No government should sell a single bullet to the junta under these circumstances,” the groups said in their appeal. “Imposing a global arms embargo on Myanmar is the minimum necessary step the Security Council should take in response to the military’s escalating violence. Arms and materiel provided to Myanmar’s security forces are likely to be used by the security forces to commit abuses in violation of international human rights and humanitarian law.” Myanmar’s military nullified the country’s November 2020 election results and imposed a manufactured “state of emergency.” State security forces have killed over 760 people since the coup and arbitrarily detained more than 3,600, including journalists, medical personnel, teachers, students, and others in violation of international human rights law. Hundreds may have been forcibly disappeared. A number of individual governments and the European Union have imposed sanctions on senior leaders of the Tatmadaw, as Myanmar’s military is known, and companies controlled by the military; but the Security Council has only issued three statements since the military takeover. Those statements have called on the military to halt the excessive use of force against protesters and release political prisoners, including former President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, and other officials elected in the November 8, 2020, election. The groups’ appeal for an arms embargo echoes and broadens a February 24 declaration by 137 nongovernmental organizations, which urged the Security Council to act swiftly to halt the flow of weapons to the junta. “The time for statements has passed,” the groups said. “The Security Council should take its consensus on Myanmar to a new level and agree on immediate and substantive action. An arms embargo would be the centerpiece of a global effort to protect the people of Myanmar from further atrocities and help bring an end to impunity for crimes under international law.” The organizations also said they were disappointed with the April 24 summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its failure “to take more robust action to protect Myanmar’s people.” The junta has ignored ASEAN’s call for an end to the violence. In February, UN Secretary-General António Guterres pledged to “do everything we can to mobilize all the key actors and international community to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails.” The UN special rapporteur for Myanmar, Tom Andrews, has repeatedly called for an arms embargo and sanctions. Guterres’ special envoy, Christine Schraner Burgener, has also called for targeted sanctions. The Security Council’s unwillingness to discuss a sanctions resolution represents a collective failure to heed the many calls to action from around the world. Human Rights Watch has said that the Security Council should also impose targeted sanctions, global travel bans, and asset freezes on the leadership of the junta and military-owned conglomerates. The junta leader, Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and several other military officials have been implicated in crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Tatmadaw in Rakhine, Kachin, Shan, and Chin States. Until the Security Council acts, individual UN member states should continue to adopt measures at the national and regional levels to block sales and other transfers of weapons and materiel to Myanmar, with the goal of creating a de facto global arms embargo, Human Rights Watch said. Governments should also demand that Security Council members that care about protecting the human rights of Myanmar’s people set aside concerns about resistance from the permanent members Russia and China, and circulate a draft resolution that council members can discuss and vote on. A Security Council resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the five permanent members to pass. “The Security Council has an unfortunate history of inaction on human rights in Myanmar, barely uttering a peep when the military carried out an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya in 2017,” Charbonneau said. “The Security Council should call China and Russia’s bluff and put a sanctions resolution to a vote. If Moscow and Beijing side with a military already accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, they will have to pay for the rising political cost of their obstruction.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
2021-05-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Protesters against military rule marched in Myanmar on Saturday three months after a coup ended a democratic transition, with several small blasts compounding a sense of crisis that a U.N. envoy warned could bring state administration to a halt. The military has tried to end dissent and impose its authority on a people largely opposed to the return of rule by the generals after 10 years of democratic reforms that included a government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi. Despite a relentless crackdown in which at least 759 protesters have been killed, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group, crowds come out day after day to reject the junta. "Our cause, democracy, our cause, a federal union. Free arrested leaders," protesters chanted at one of two rallies in the main city of Yangon. Suu Kyi, 75, has been detained since the coup the along with many other members of her party. The AAPP says more than 3,400 people have been detained for opposing the military. People also rallied in the second city of Mandalay and the southern town of Dawei, media reported. There were no immediate reports of violence. Media reported several small blasts in different places including Yangon late on Friday and on Saturday. There were no immediate reports of casualties and no claims of responsibility. A spokesman for the junta did not answer calls seeking comment. The military has accused pro-democracy activists of planting bombs. The U.N. special envoy on Myanmar told the Security Council on Friday that in the absence of a collective international response to the coup, violence was worsening and the running of the state risked coming to a standstill, according to diplomats who attended the private meeting. read more Christine Schraner Burgener briefed the 15-member council from Thailand, where she has been meeting regional leaders. She hopes to travel to Myanmar but the military has yet to approve a visit. "The general administration of the state could risk coming to a standstill as the pro-democracy movement continues in spite of the ongoing use of lethal force, arbitrary arrests and torture as part of the military's repression," Schraner Burgener said, according to diplomats. She told diplomats that reports of a continuing crackdown risked undermining momentum toward ending the crisis following a meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on April 25 with the junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Schraner Burgener, expressing concern about rising violence, cited reports of bomb attacks and of civilians, mostly students from the urban areas, getting weapons training from ethnic minority insurgents. U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said Min Aung Hlaing had used the summit as a "propaganda ploy". "Indeed, he tried to appear to be what he is not - a legitimate leader," Andrews said in a post on Twitter. "The good news: Those who ARE legitimate are ready to engage: the National Unity Government." Ousted members of parliament from Suu Kyi's party, politicians representing ethnic minorities and democracy activists set up the unity government but it has yet to win the international recognition it says it is due. The U.N. Security Council reiterated its “deep concern” at the situation and its support for Myanmar’s democratic transition. The council has issued several statements since the coup but diplomats say Russia and China are likely to prevent any stronger council action against Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
2021-05-01
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-02
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Topic: Protection and Human Rights
Sub-title: The international community has a responsibility to protect the people of Myanmar, under attack from their own military, the UN independent human rights expert on the country argues, in the second part of our in-depth interview, calling also for refuge to be given to those who have fled for their lives to neighbouring countries.
Topic: Protection and Human Rights
Description: "Over 700 people are reported to have been killed in the crackdown on peaceful protesters by security forces since the military takeover on 1 February. There are also reports that several hundred people have fled areas hit hard by violence, including many who have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, highlights the need for neighbouring countries to protect and care for those who arrive on their borders. “The responsibility to protect means preparing for the refugee crisis, that if things continue the way they are, will be inevitable…we need to be sure that the bordering countries respect people’s fundamental right to enter their country those who are literally running for their lives from this brutality.” “And I think the international community needs to support those countries in their care of the refugees. This is all part of the responsibility to protect approach”, he added. In part two of this extensive UN News interview, the Special Rapporteur addresses the responsibility to protect the people of Myanmar from violence, and his hopes for the country’s future. You can read part one, here. The interviews have been edited for clarity and brevity. **UN News: There have been a lot of calls by the people of Myanmar for the responsibility to protect, what is your opinion regarding these calls … is R2P a possibility that should be explored under the current circumstances? Or is it too drastic or unrealistic? ** **Special Rapporteur: **No, I think It is very reasonable. First of all, responsibility to protect is very clear that governments, nations themselves have the responsibility to protect their people. But then it goes on and recognizes that sometimes those nations cannot always act to protect their people. Then there are instances in which countries will not act to protect their people. And in this instance, here is a country that is actually attacking its people. So, according to the responsibility to protect, the international community, therefore, has a responsibility to do what it can to protect the lives of innocent people in countries that are unable or unwilling to do so, or are in fact attacking them. I think that is definitely appropriate, this is exactly the situation in which we do have a responsibility to protect. And Chapter VII [of the UN Charter, by which the Council can use force]; using this is one of the reasons that the Security Council exists, to engage in just this kind of emergency. So, the question becomes, what to do, how to act, what is the best way to act? Some have the belief – it is an erroneous belief – that responsibility to protect or R2P means military engagement. It is not what it means. Military engagement is an option, but it is not what R2P is. R2P means going in to protect, in the best way possible. We need to look at options within certain parameters. Options that have the most potent impact on the junta, but also, that will have the minimum negative impact on the people. Protect the people of Myanmar. And I am afraid that any kind of military intervention would lead to a massive loss of life. Already the military has been making up stories about what it is facing. From the very outset, it said that it is using utmost restraint – its language – to contend with violent protests, but we saw nothing of the kind. We saw increasing violence and increasing brutality by the military. And we saw very peaceful, unarmed protesters. And that is also the reason why information has been cut off, the reason the junta is doing everything possible to cut off the flow of information is because it was finding that its appeals to the world to not believe our own but believe its propaganda – was not working. The junta, I think, are trained to deal with an enemy wielding weapons of war. That is their training. They have a significant arsenal of weapons, and a very large military force. But they are showing themselves unable to deal with an opposition wielding weapons of peace. With this incredible civil disobedience movement that we are seeing across the country, this powerful, creative, tenacious movement in which people are using a range of ingenious tactics, including civil disobedience, boycotts of businesses owned by the military. That is extremely powerful and it has generated great admiration and respect for the people [of Myanmar] from the world. So, it would be a mistake if, in fact, this became a full military confrontation. I think that the brutality unleashed would be even more horrific than what we are seeing now. It would be a significant increase in the loss of innocent lives, and that needs to be avoided. I understand, listen, if my wife, my child, my brother or sister were killed, murdered by this regime, I too, would want revenge. That would be my instinct. I totally understand where people are coming from, but it would be, in my view, a mistake, a very grave mistake, and I am hopeful that it will not come to that. UN News: So R2P yes, but military intervention no? Special Rapporteur: Yes, that is correct. UN News: What other forms of R2P, then? Special Rapporteur: What we are seeing right now, but in a much more focused, much more significant way. I would like to see there be a summit of countries who are willing to take action, in which they could work together to link up their actions, so that they are coherent, clear, and linked together. That would be extremely important. And the diplomatic initiatives, increasing the isolation of the junta, working more closely with the CRPH [the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, in effect, representatives and lawmakers exiled by the military], civil disobedience movement, others who are trying to truly protect and defend the country, rather than attacking it. There needs to be a significant increase in humanitarian aid, and it should not go through the junta certainly they will just steal it, but channelled through International NGOs and CSOs (Civil Society Organisations) on the ground. And R2P means preparing for the refugee crisis, which will be inevitable if things continue the way they are. We have already seen people heading to the border. I think we need to be sure that the neighbouring countries respect people’s fundamental right to enter their country, as they are literally running for their lives from this brutality. They need to protect them, care for them. And the international community needs to support those countries in caring for the refugees. That is all part of the responsibility to protect or R2P approach. UN News: What do you think will happen next for Myanmar, will the military regime take hold, will the people win the battle on the street, or will there be something in between? Special Rapporteur: It is a very, very good question. It is a very good question. I must admit I am not good at predictions. My prediction was, when people ask me, would there be a coup, before the coup, I said, no, I said the generals wrote the constitution, they are not going to overthrow their own constitution, they have enormous control and power and wealth and so forth. So put what I am saying into that context. But the coup has failed. The junta has failed to wrestle control of the country. The thousands and thousands of civil servants are on strike. The economy has been devastated by the civil disobedience movement and strikes across the country. Opposition to the junta is deep and widespread. I have never seen anything like it, it is unified the country to a degree that I have never seen, people of all ages, all ethnicities, all social and economic groups, united in opposition. Then the leadership – the young people that are in the front lines of this movement have shown incredible, courage, tenacity and creativity, with their various approaches, in their efforts to save the country. So I think that the opposition will prevail. I predict it is going to be extremely challenging. I am afraid that there are going to be many dark days before there is light. But the military junta has no respect or credibility within the country. All the junta have, are the guns, that is all they have. And I think people recognize them as a criminal gang, a criminal enterprise that is robbing, murdering and terrorizing the people, hoping that this escalation of terror and murder will somehow subjugate the people eventually. But it is having just the opposite effect. It is making people even more resolved to not let this stand. So the important thing, I think, in terms of looking forward, is to do everything we can, working, supporting the people inside the country, the true patriots of Myanmar who are trying to defend the country, with the international community to support them in every way that we can and to stand with them. For, number one, stopping the violence and the killing. And number two, release the prisoners, including the hostages that were taken, elected leaders of the country, that they be released, and then, to stand down from this illegal act. And let me just say this, I am in awe at the people of Myanmar, the courage that they have displayed, and the resolve they have displayed, so I believe that they will prevail, it is going to be many dark days between now and when this is resolved. UN News: So you still have faith. Special Rapporteur: I do. I do. I do..."
Source/publisher: UN News via "Reliefweb" (New York)
2021-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Topic: Protection and Human Rights
Sub-title: UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on Monday for leaders in Asia to bolster efforts towards finding a peaceful solution to the bloody crisis in Myanmar, sparked by the military coup in February.
Topic: Protection and Human Rights
Description: Speaking during a Security Council meeting on cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organizations, he highlighted the relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), underlining the bloc's important role in diplomacy, conflict prevention and peacebuilding.....Crucial role in urgent crisis: "Today, ASEAN's role is more crucial than ever as the region faces an urgent crisis in Myanmar", Mr. Guterres said. "I have repeatedly called on the international community to work, collectively and through bilateral channels, to help bring an end to the violence and the repression by the military." In this regard, UN cooperation with ASEAN is vital, the Secretary-General said, as the situation requires a robust international response grounded in a unified regional effort. "I urge regional actors to leverage their influence to prevent further deterioration and, ultimately, find a peaceful way out of this catastrophe.".....UN envoy stands ready: Mr. Guterres told ambassadors that his Special Envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, is in the region and stands ready to resume dialogue with the military and others, "and to contribute to a return of Myanmar to the democratic path, and to peace and stability." Ms. Schraner Burgener arrived in Bangkok on 9 April, according to her Twitter account. In a post last Tuesday marking the Burmese New Year, Thingyan, she wrote "Thingyan should be a celebration of joy, but unfortunately there is nothing to celebrate in Myanmar. I hope it is true that sprinkling water washes away sins. So many sins have been committed since 1st February. I hope to celebrate Thingyan with all released again in the future.".....Cooperation continues to grow: The Security Council debate, held online, focused on an issue which the Secretary-General said has been a key priority since he took office four years ago. Cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organizations has "grown exponentially" since its founding in 1945, he said, encompassing areas that include preventive diplomacy, mediation, counterterrorism, peacekeeping and promoting human rights, but also combating climate change and now the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Guterres provided examples of this partnership across several continents, showcasing how working together can support countries to manage complex political transitions and find sustainable solutions to political challenges. In Sudan, for example, the UN supported the African Union (AU) and Ethiopia in facilitating negotiations which led to the establishment of the transitional government.....Multilateralism the only way:"As we continue to support Sudan in its efforts towards democratic governance and an inclusive society, our collaboration remains essential", he said. The Secretary-General said strengthening UN partnerships with regional and sub-regional organizations is integral to his vision for "a networked multilateralism". Despite the pandemic, he convened heads of regional organizations for a virtual dialogue last November, to shore up collaboration during crises.  "I am committed to pursuing an even closer engagement to promote confidence-building and dialogue, in conflict prevention, management and resolution", he said. "We can only address our world's current and future challenges, including those exposed and heightened by COVID-19, through ambitious and coordinated multilateral action."
Source/publisher: UN News via "Reliefweb" (New York)
2021-04-19
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-26
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Topic: anti-regime, arrests, bystanders, CDM, Coup, Doctors, killed, medical, medics, Military, protesters, Protests, regime, treatment, UN, wounded
Topic: anti-regime, arrests, bystanders, CDM, Coup, Doctors, killed, medical, medics, Military, protesters, Protests, regime, treatment, UN, wounded
Description: "After witnessing the military regime’s continuous targeted raids on doctors and healthcare facilities treating the wounded, Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights has asked the United Nation (UN) and international organizations to take meaningful measures against the junta. In an open letter to Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the UN, Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights demanded that the UN stop the junta’s forces from intentionally targeting medical professionals providing care to the wounded and help the injured seek treatment without fear for their own safety. The group includes volunteer doctors and 15 medical students’ unions. Since the Feb. 1 coup, the military regime has been conducting the deadly crackdowns on anti-regime demonstrations across Myanmar. Numerous atrocities have been committed against protesters and civilians by the junta’s forces during raids, arrests, and interrogations. During the crackdowns, many wounded protesters have been arrested without being provided medical treatment. Meanwhile, in several instances the bodies of the dead have been taken away and not returned to the families. Also, charity organizations and ambulances trying to pick up the bodies of those killed or provide medical assistance to the wounded have been fired upon or arrested by the regime’s forces. In a shooting in Mandalay in late February, Ko Yarzar Aung, a 26-year-old protester, who was shot in the leg, died at a military hospital without being provided the proper treatment, a witness told The Irrawaddy. A doctor from a charity group in the city, who tried to treat Ko Yarzar Aung, said that except for some minor treatment, the regime’s forces would not allow her to attend to wounded detainees before they were taken away. The doctor said that Ko Yarzar Aung would not have died from his leg injuries if he had been treated properly. In late March, the junta’s forces raided an office of a charity group comprised of several organizations in Mandalay giving treatment to the wounded, according to a social worker. The troops seized three ambulances and destroyed two others. They also seized clinic materials and arrested 26 social workers, including several medics. During an attack on anti-regime strongholds in Bago on April 9, when about 82 died in a massacre, the regime’s forces closed every entrance to four wards for days. No ambulances and social organizations giving medical assistance and free funeral services were able to go into the wards to pick up the dead or give medical treatment to the wounded. Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights said in its open letter to the UN that the military regime’s polices and soldiers are intentionally targeting medical treatment sites, charity clinics and hospitals providing critical care to the injured. On April 5, the regime’s troop stormed the house of orthopedic surgeon Dr. Kyaw Min Soe in Mayangone Township of Yangon and arrested the physician. They tied the doctor’s hands behind his back, and a black bag was put over his head. The doctor, a professor at University of Medicine, Yangon, has been involved in the civil disobedience movement (CDM) and was also providing medical treatment to those injured in anti-regime protests. On April 12, the regime’s forces arrested Dr. Maw Maw Oo, head of the Emergency Department of Yangon General Hospital, who had been providing medical care to the wounded even though he has joined the CDM. Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights said that in some places, doctors have been forced to keep the lights off in order to prevent the junta’s forces from finding and arresting them. Working with just torchlight, they have performed life saving operations. Since last week, the military regime has been issuing arrest warrants for doctors in the CDM each night. As of Wednesday, 179 medics in the CDM have been charged. “It is truly agonizing for us to see our fellow countrymen taking their last breaths in front of our very eyes,” said Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights. It also said in its letter that by many lives which could otherwise have been saved have been unnecessarily lost because doctors have been forcibly prevented from providing essential medical care to the wounded. After receiving the open letter, Dr. Simon Adams, Executive Director of Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, tweeted on its Twitter account on Wednesday that the time for statements of concern has long passed. “I was very moved by the letter I received from Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights,” he said. He added now is the time for the UN to place human rights at the forefront and use every practical diplomatic tool available. As of Wednesday, nearly 740 people have been killed by the junta’s forces during their crackdowns, raids, arrests and interrogations, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Those killed include anti-regime protesters, bystanders, pedestrians and residents. In spite of killing and arrests, tens of thousands of people across Myanmar continue to take to the streets to show their defiance of the military rule..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
2021-04-22
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: The ongoing repression of protests in Myanmar could spark a “full-blown conflict” on a par with Syria, the United Nations’ top human rights official warned on Tuesday, urging States with influence to take immediate and impactful action to halt the “slaughter” of civilians.
Description: "“Statements of condemnation, and limited targeted sanctions, are clearly not enough. States with influence need to urgently apply concerted pressure on the military in Myanmar to halt the commission of grave human rights violations and possible crimes against humanity”, Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said. Her appeal came in the wake of yet another weekend of “coordinated bloodshed” in Myanmar, including the reported killing of at least 82 people in Bago, where, according to credible reports, the country’s military, Tatmadaw, opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades, fragmentation grenades and mortars. “The military seems intent on intensifying its pitiless policy of violence against the people of Myanmar, using military-grade and indiscriminate weaponry”, she said. Security forces also reportedly prevented medical personnel from helping the wounded, as well as charging relatives a “fine” of roughly $90 to claim the bodies of those who were killed, according to the High Commissioner’s Office (OHCHR), which added that some individuals are now resorting to the use of makeshift or primitive weapons in self-defence. Ms. Bachelet also highlighted the need to cut off the supply of arms and finances to the military leadership that aid its commission of serious human rights violations, noting the report of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, which contains clear recommendations for impactful action in relation to the military. ‘Clear echoes of Syria’ The High Commissioner cautioned that the situation in Myanmar clearly echoes that of Syria in 2011, as it descended into conflict, with the past ten years showing the horrific consequences for millions of civilians. “There too, we saw peaceful protests met with unnecessary and clearly disproportionate force. The State’s brutal, persistent repression of its own people led to some individuals taking up arms, followed by a downward and rapidly expanding spiral of violence all across the country”, she said. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the time warned that the failure of the international community to respond with united resolve could be disastrous for Syria and beyond, Ms. Bachelet added. “I fear the situation in Myanmar is heading towards a full-blown conflict. States must not allow the deadly mistakes of the past in Syria and elsewhere to be repeated.” People forced into hiding, Internet cut Over 700 people are reported to have been killed in the crackdown by the security forces since the military overthrew the Government on 1 February. Thousands more have been injured, many of them seriously. At least 3,080 people are currently in detention and there are reports that 23 people have been sentenced to death following secret trials – including four protesters and 19 others who were accused of political and criminal offences – according to OHCHR. The mass arrests have forced hundreds of people to go into hiding, and reports suggest that many journalists, civil society activists, celebrities and other public figures are being sought, many simply because of the dissent they have been expressing on-line, it added. Wireless broadband and mobile data services were also cut indefinitely on 2 April, leaving the vast majority of people without access to vital sources of information and communication..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-04-13
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: The UN Country Team in Myanmar on Monday, reiterated its call for an end to violence against civilians, amid reports of dozens of deaths in the latest crackdown on protests against the military takeover.
Description: "More than 80 people lost their lives on Friday as security forces reportedly used heavy weapons against protesters in the town of Bago, located about 90 kilometres (56 miles) northeast of the commercial capital Yangon, according to media reports. “[We are] following events in Bago with reports of heavy artillery being used against civilians and medical treatment being denied to those injured”, the Country Team (UNCT) said in a post on Twitter. “The violence must cease immediately”, it stressed. Hundreds killed Hundreds of civilians, including at least 44 children, have been killed in the crackdown across Myanmar since the military coup on 1 February. Countless more have been seriously injured and more than 2,600 are in detention, including many held incommunicado or forcibly disappeared. There are also reports that several hundred people have fled areas hit hard by violence, including many who have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. UN agencies have also reported sharp increases in food and fuel prices in many parts of the country, on the back of supply chain and market disruptions. Humanitarians worry that if the price trends continue, they will “severely undermine” the ability of the poorest and most vulnerable to put enough food on the family table. UN Special Envoy visiting region The UN Special Envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, on a regional visit to press for efforts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. Ms. Schraner Burgener, however, will not visit Myanmar, she said in a tweet. “I regret that Tatmadaw [Myanmar’s military] answered me yesterday that they are not ready to receive me”, the Special Envoy said. “I am ready for dialogue. Violence never leads to peaceful sustainable solution”, she added. In the Thai capital, the Special Envoy is scheduled to meet with UN regional officials as well as ambassadors accredited to Myanmar who are in Bangkok. In addition to Thailand, the Special Envoy is consulting on visits to other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries, as well as other neighbouring countries. “As she has highlighted repeatedly, a robust international response to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar requires a unified regional effort involving neighbouring countries who can leverage influence towards stability in Myanmar”, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-04-12
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-16
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Exclusive: special rapporteur Tom Andrews says crimes against humanity are happening ‘before our very eyes’ and calls for urgent action against military junta
Description: "A top United Nations expert is in direct talks with the Australian government about how to expand sanctions against Myanmar’s military regime, and warned that crimes against humanity are being “committed before our very eyes”. Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, told Guardian Australia the government should target the commander-in-chief, whom he described as “the gang leader” responsible for mass atrocities, and should link additional sanctions with those imposed by other countries. On Wednesday the Australian government attempted to reassure more than 3,300 Myanmar nationals in Australia that it was not planning to send them home when their visas expired, amid concerns about the dangers they might face in the wake of the 1 February coup. The Australian government has condemned the coup and the killing of more than 700 civilians, but has not announced any sanctions beyond those applying to five military figures who have been on the list since 2018. Human rights groups have criticised Australia for appearing to act slower than some of its key allies and partners..."
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Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
2021-04-14
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Size: 169.4 KB
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Topic: United Nations
Topic: United Nations
Description: "Update: Shortly after this was published, the UN Security Council issued its third statement on Myanmar. Myanmar police enforcing the military junta’s crackdown on protesters stopped an ambulance in March, dragged four paramedics out of the vehicle, and beat at least three of them bloody, then hauled them off to jail. The shocking attack on paramedics is just one example we have seen of the junta’s brutality as it struggles to crush protests against the military’s February 1 coup and subsequent jailing of the country’s democratically elected leaders. Everyday Myanmar security forces arbitrarily arrest, beat, and kill more protesters and political opponents; and violence by the authorities is on the rise. On March 27 alone, security forces killed at least 114 people, among them children. What has the United Nations Security Council done? As the UN’s most powerful body, it has the authority to sanction Myanmar’s military leaders and impose a global arms embargo on the country. Instead, it has issued two statements calling for the release of political prisoners and an end to the violence. Council diplomats emphasise that the 15-nation body has spoken twice “with one voice.” But these baby steps do little more than highlight the failure of the Security Council to even try to do anything that would have a meaningful impact on the generals. If post-Brexit Britain wants to demonstrate global leadership at the UN, it should start by pushing the rest of the Security Council towards substantive action on Myanmar. The United Kingdom is the Security Council’s “penholder” on Myanmar, which means it takes the lead on any council statements or resolutions. Britain, the United States, France and most other council members have shown that they stand with the people of Myanmar, not with the military. The best way to do that is to urgently draft and negotiate a strong resolution that would target the military’s leadership and its funding. Of course, as permanent members of the Security Council, China or Russia – or both – might veto such a resolution. But that’s no reason not to try. Even the ever-diplomatic UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres declared that governments around the world need to “put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails.” Beijing hasn’t explicitly threatened to use its veto, though the expectation among council members that it wouldn’t hesitate to do so looms over all Myanmar negotiations. It’s the explanation diplomats typically offered for the council’s pathetic response to the Myanmar military’s 2017 campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya Muslims, which drove 750,000 survivors to Bangladesh. The military’s threat to the Rohingya remaining in the country is so serious that the International Court of Justice ordered Myanmar to take all necessary measures to protect the Rohingya from genocide. The council’s inaction stands in sharp contrast to national responses. Britain, the US, and the European Union have all taken important, though insufficient, unilateral steps to impose sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders and military enterprises. Yet they have avoided pushing such steps at the Security Council. Britain did try including language calling for “further measures” against Myanmar’s military in a recent Security Council presidential statement, but it dropped that and other language after China, Russia, India and Vietnam objected. The strategy by Britain, the US and other council members has been to prioritise speaking “with one voice” in the form of anodyne statements instead of pushing for a resolution that includes substantive measures and might elicit abstentions and “no” votes. Unity is great when achievable, but it shouldn’t be an end in itself. A Security Council resolution needs nine votes and no vetoes from the five permanent members to pass. Resolutions often pass without consensus, such as two recent ones by Britain on Somalia and Libya. A Myanmar sanctions resolution doesn’t need to be an exception. If China decides to stand with Myanmar’s military instead of with the people whose democratically elected government was overthrown, then they risk paying an enduring price in Myanmar and around the world. So far, Beijing has demonstrated a willingness to condemn Myanmar’s long-reviled military. The Chinese government’s willingness to join to council statements demonstrates that it is also unhappy with the coup. Could Beijing allow UN sanctions to pass with a mere abstention? The only way to identify China’s limits is to circulate a draft resolution calling for targeted sanctions on junta leaders and an arms embargo; and start negotiating..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
2021-04-06
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: British-drafted UN statement watered down by China, Russia, India and Vietnam, as Amnesty says military using battlefield weapons on protesters
Description: "The United Nations has condemned the Myanmar military’s violent crackdown against anti-coup demonstrators as seven more people were reported shot dead in protests on Thursday. Local media, witnesses and medics said six people were shot dead in the central town of Myaing when security forces opened fire on anti-junta protests and domestic media said one man was killed in the North Dagon district of Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city. Photographs posted on Facebook showed a man lying prone on the street, bleeding from a head wound. More than 60 people are believed to have been killed protesting against the 1 February coup that removed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government from power. The UN statement however removed language that explicitly condemned the coup and threatened possible further action from the British-drafted text, due to opposition by China, Russia, India and Vietnam. The presidential statement, signed by all 15 members of the Security Council called for “utmost restraint” by the military. A presidential statement is a step below a resolution but becomes part of the official record of the UN’s most powerful body. The statement called for the immediate release of government leaders including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint who have been detained since they were ousted in the coup. It said it supported the country’s democratic transition and “stresses the need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, fully respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and uphold the rule of law”. But it is weaker than the initial draft circulated by the United Kingdom which would have condemned the military coup itself and threatened “possible measures under the UN Charter” – UN language for sanctions – “should the situation deteriorate further.” Diplomats said council members China, Russia, India and Vietnam, which is a member of the 10-nations Association of Southeast Asian Nations known as Asean, along with Myanmar, objected to provisions in stronger earlier drafts of the statement. China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun said in a statement that “it is important the council members speak in one voice,” and declared that it’s now time for de-escalation, diplomacy and dialogue. The UN statement came as Amnesty International accused Myanmar security forces of using battlefield weapons on unarmed protesters and carrying out premeditated killings orchestrated by their commanding officers. International pressure on the Myanmar junta has mounted since the army ousted and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi last month, triggering daily protests around the country. The United States also applied fresh pressure with sanctions against Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon, two adult children of Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing. The pair have a variety of business holdings that have directly benefited from their “father’s position and malign influence”, said a US Treasury statement. The UK is also exploring fresh sanctions, foreign minister Dominic Raab said in a tweet..."
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
2021-03-11
Date of entry/update: 2021-03-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Informal meeting of the United Nations General Assembly to hear a briefing by the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on #Myanmar​, Christine Schraner Burgener. Briefing pursuant to operative paragraph 21 (c) of General Assembly resolution A/RES/75/238. [ https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/75/238​ ] The operative paragraph 21(c) of General Assembly resolution 75/238 on the situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar, “requests the Secretary-General … to provide all assistance necessary to enable the Special Envoy on Myanmar to effectively discharge her mandate and to report to Member States every six months, or as warranted by the situation on the ground”..."
Source/publisher: United Nations ( New York )
2021-02-26
Date of entry/update: 2021-03-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Hopes placed in the UN and the Member States that serve on the Security Council to take action against leaders of Myanmar’s military coup, are waning fast, the UN Special Envoy for the country warned on Friday.
Description: "Christine Schraner Burgener welcomed the fact that the Council was meeting behind closed doors on Friday to discuss the rising death toll on the streets as daily protests continue but told Ambassadors that “your unity is needed more than ever on Myanmar”. Power to veto any Security Council statements or resolutions, rests with the five Permanent Members, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. ‘Real heroes’ The Special Envoy said she had been in close contact with people across various communities since the 1 February military takeover, noting that “they, including committed civil servants, are the real heroes and protectors of the nation’s democratic progress.” But, she added, “the hope they have placed in the United Nations and its membership is waning and I have heard directly the desperate pleas – from mothers, students and the elderly. I receive every day around 2,000 messages, for international action to reverse a clear assault on the will of the people of Myanmar and democratic principles.” She urged the Council to push further to end the violence, and restore democratic institutions, denouncing the actions by the military, “which continues to severely undermine the principles of this Organization and ignores our clear signals to uphold them.” The envoy noted that around 50 “innocent and peaceful” protesters had now been killed, with scores more injured, with evidence mounting of killings and maiming by military snipers, in contravention of international human rights law. As of 2 March, she said the UN human rights office OHCHR was reporting that around 1,000 are either detained or unaccounted for, having been arbitrarily taken from the streets. “The Secretary-General, who remains closely engaged, continues to speak out and has strongly condemned the violent crackdown”, she said, adding: “The repression must stop.” Be 'resolute and coherent' “It is critical that this Council is resolute and coherent in putting the security forces on notice and standing with the people of Myanmar firmly, in support of the clear November election results” she said, which overwhelmingly returned the party of jailed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to power. She praised the stand taken by Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN, Kyaw Moe Tun, who a week ago publicly sided with the protesters against the coup, and has remained in post, despite the efforts of the Burmese military to remove him. He “needs your full support”, she told the Council. Ms. Schraner Burgener said she had continued to communicate the UN’s “strong dismay and condemnation” for its failure to protect the Burmese people, and said she would continue to engage, with all actors during the crisis..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-03-05
Date of entry/update: 2021-03-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "The fight for control of Myanmar has now officially arrived at the United Nations. In a letter seen by CNN, Myanmar's UN Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun has told the international body that he still represents Myanmar, after making an impassioned speech last week rejecting the country's military takeover. Meanwhile, a deputy ambassador to the UN from Myanmar will claim that he is now the man the military authorities want to represent the country. Both sides have sent the UN letters to make their case on official letterhead. Myanmar's democratically elected government was overthrown last month in a military coup that saw civilian leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi detained. For weeks, thousands of people in the country have come out to protest against the coup, risking deadly violence and arrest by security forces. "The perpetrators of the unlawful coup against the democratic government of Myanmar have no authority to countermand the legitimate authority of the President of my country," Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun wrote in his letter to the UN. But the Myanmar foreign ministry is backing a deputy ambassador to take control of the country's UN representation, according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "It's a unique situation we have not seen in a long time," Dujarric told reporters on Tuesday of the dueling claims. He added that the UN is "trying to resolve things as quickly as possible." Myanmar's military leaders first announced Kyaw Moe Tun's removal over the weekend, after he called on UN members to use "any means necessary" to help restore the country's civilian leadership. "We need further strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup, to stop oppressing the innocent people, to return the state power to the people and to restore the democracy," he told the UN on Friday. Kyaw Moe Tun said he was delivering the speech on behalf of Suu Kyi's government, and flashed the three fingered "Hunger Games" salute used by protestors on the streets of Myanmar, prompting a rare round of applause from his UN colleagues at the end. The new US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, praised the envoy's "courageous" remarks..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "CNN" (USA)
2021-03-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-03-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: UN Special Envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, warned on Wednesday that the situation in the country challenges “the stability of the region” and could lead to a “real war”.
Description: "Speaking at a virtual press conference, Ms. Burgener said the news out of Myanmar was shocking and, with the death of 38 people, marked the bloodiest day since the start of the coup on 1 February. More than 1,200 people are under detention and many families do not know where their loved ones are or what condition they are in. Ms. Schraner Burgener said that in discussions with the army, she warned that UN Member States and the Security Council might take “strong measures”, to which they responded: “We are used to sanctions and we survived the sanctions time in the past”. She continued, “I also warned they will go in an isolation”, to which they said, “we have to learn to walk with only few friends”. Chaos continues Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power and detained elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her National League for Democracy (NLD) leadership, who won a November election in a landslide, which the military said was fraudulent. However, the election commission said the vote was fair. The UN envoy said she remained in contact with the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), which represents the elected parliamentarians, and with all regional stakeholders, including leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). She noted that the Secretary-General condemned the coup and urged an end to the violence. Stressing that every tool available was now needed to end the situation, she spelled out that the unity of the international community was essential..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-03-03
Date of entry/update: 2021-03-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Ambassador breaks with convention to call for the return of state power to the people and to restore democracy
Description: "Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations made an impassioned plea Friday for the international community to take the “strongest possible action” to end the junta’s rule in the country. Kyaw Moe Tun’s voice cracked with emotion as he spoke out against the military regime that ousted the elected civilian government in a coup on February 1. It is extremely rare for a representative to break with the rulers of the country they represent during an address at the UN General Assembly. The ambassador even flashed the three-finger salute that has been used by pro-democracy protesters during street demonstrations against the junta, after concluding his speech with a message in Burmese. “We need… the strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup, to stop oppressing the innocent people, to return the state power to the people, and to restore the democracy,” he pleaded. Kyaw Moe Tun, his voice trembling, called on all member states to issue public statements strongly condemning the coup during the special meeting on Myanmar. He appealed for countries not to recognize the military regime or cooperate with it and asked them to demand that the junta respects last year’s democratic elections. The envoy also urged nations to “take all stronger possible measures” to stop violent acts committed by security forces against peaceful demonstrators..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
2021-02-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-02-28
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Country needs strongest possible action from global community to end military coup, says Kyaw Moe Tun
Description: "Myanmar’s UN ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, speaking for the country’s elected civilian government ousted in a military coup on 1 February, has appealed to the United Nations “to use any means necessary to take action against the Myanmar military” to restore democracy to the south-east Asian country. He addressed the general assembly on Friday after secretary general António Guterres’ special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, warned that no country should recognise or legitimise the Myanmar junta. “We need further strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup, to stop oppressing the innocent people, to return the state power to the people and to restore the democracy,” said Kyaw Moe Tun to applause and praise from western and Islamic counterparts. Such an address is rare. Kyaw Moe Tun appeared emotional as he read the statement on behalf of a group of elected politicians that he said represented the country’s legitimate government. He ended with a three-fingered salute used by protesters..."
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
2021-02-27
Date of entry/update: 2021-02-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: Weapons Transfers Fuel Junta, Abuses
Description: "The United Nations Security Council should urgently impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar in response to the military coup and to deter the junta from committing further abuses, 137 nongovernmental groups from 31 countries said today in an open letter to council members. Governments that permit arms transfers to Myanmar – including China, India, Israel, North Korea, the Philippines, Russia, and Ukraine – should immediately stop the supply of any weapons, munitions, and related equipment. Since the February 1, 2021 coup, the Myanmar military has detained civilian leaders, nullified the November 2020 election results, and installed a junta, the State Administration Council, under a manufactured “state of emergency.” In the ensuing weeks, Myanmar security forces have used excessive and at times lethal force against demonstrators; arbitrarily detained activists, students, and civil servants; and imposed rolling internet shutdowns that put lives at risk. “Given the mass atrocities against the Rohingya, decades of war crimes, and the overthrow of the elected government, the least the UN Security Council can do is impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “Supplying any equipment to the military enables further abuses and bolsters the junta’s ability to repress Myanmar’s people.” The groups’ call reinforces UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s vow to “do everything we can to mobilize all the key actors and international community to put enough pressure on Myanmar to make sure that this coup fails.” The UN special rapporteur on Myanmar has called for a global arms embargo, while he and the deputy high commissioner for human rights have voiced support for targeted UN sanctions. Security Council members should draft a resolution that bars the direct and indirect supply, sale, or transfer to the junta of all weapons, munitions, and other military-related equipment, including dual-use goods such as vehicles and communications and surveillance equipment, as well as barring the provision of training, intelligence, and other military assistance, the groups said. This should be accompanied by a robust monitoring and enforcement mechanism, including close scrutiny of sales to third parties that may be likely to resell such items to Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
2021-02-24
Date of entry/update: 2021-02-25
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Sub-title: An increased use of force and the reported deployment of armoured vehicles to major cities throughout Myanmar have sparked the deep concern of UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Description: "In a statement issued on Sunday by his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, the UN chief called on the military and police of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to ensure that the right of peaceful assembly is “fully respected” and demonstrators are “not subjected to reprisals”. “Reports of continued violence, intimidation and harassment by security personnel are unacceptable”, he spelled out. The unfolding situation follows a military takeover on 1 February. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, tweeted, “it’s as if the generals have declared war on the people of Myanmar: late night raids; mounting arrests; more rights stripped away’ another Intrnet shutdown; military convoys entering communities”. “These are signs of desperation. Attention generals: You WILL be held accountable”, he underscored. Call for respect Ongoing arrests of political leaders, government officials, members of civil society and media representatives are “deeply concerning”, as are internet restrictions and communication restraints, according to Mr. Guterres who upheld that they “must not be disrupted" to ensure the right to freedom of expression, which includes access to information. He reiterated his call on Member States “collectively and bilaterally” to exercise influence regarding the protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Myanmar and reaffirmed the Organization's “unwavering support” to their pursuit of “democracy, peace, human rights and the rule of law”.   “The Secretary-General calls on the military authorities urgently to allow the Special Envoy, Ms. Christine Schraner Burgener, to visit Myanmar under agreeable conditions and to assess the situation firsthand”, concluded the statement..."
Source/publisher: UN News
2021-02-14
Date of entry/update: 2021-02-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "Myanmar's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Hau Do Suan said Friday that the world needs a stronger UN more than ever. "At this critical time, the world needs a stronger UN more than ever to harmonize our collective efforts to strengthening multilateralism and maintenance of international peace and security," the Myanmar UN ambassador told a Security Council open debate on upholding the UN Charter. "The strict observance of the principles of international law and adherence to the obligations under the Charter of the UN by all member states are essential for the maintenance of international peace and security," he said. "Every state has the responsibility to abide by the principles of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, political independence and non-interference in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of states," said the ambassador..."
Creator/author:
Source/publisher: "Xinhua" (China)
2020-01-11
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
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Description: "By allowing the junta to hijack its mandate, the United Nations risks destroying Burma?s only hope for real progress: dialogue ...You know that the United Nations? efforts to broker reconciliation talks in Burma are failing miserably when all the visiting UN envoy wants to talk about is the ruling junta?s ?road map? to a sham democracy..."
Creator/author: Editorial (Kyaw Zwa Moe)
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 16, No. 9
2008-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2008-11-13
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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