ITEM 4 - Oral update report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
Republic of the Union of Myanmar
National Unity Government
Ministry of Human Rights
UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
50th session
ITEM 4 – Oral update report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
MYANMAR
30 June 2022
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar welcomes the oral update of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, as well as the Special Rapporteur’s conference room paper¹ on the military junta’s devastating impact on Myanmar’s children.
Myanmar continues to extend its full support to the Special Rapporteur and his mandate and remains committed to granting him access to the country.
In his update to the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur implored UN Member States to “urgently reassess and recalibrate their policies towards Myanmar”, cautioning that the “failure to take strong, meaningful action will be a death sentence for untold numbers of people.”
The Special Rapporteur’s conference room paper lays plain the military junta’s terrorist intent. It catalogues crimes against humanity and war crimes against children that include hostage-taking, the pulling out of fingernails and teeth, stabbing and burning, sexual violence, mock executions, deprivation of food and water, and the denial of medical care.
As at 29 June 2022, at least 382 children had been killed or wounded by the junta. To the SpecialRapporteur:
'The relentless attacks on children underscore the depths of the military junta's depravity and
its willingness to inflict immense misery and hardship on innocent victims to try and subjugate
the people of Myanmar.'
The spiralling impact of the failed coup has also devastated children’s access to education, healthcare, and economic security, while the junta’s intentional mass displacement of communities has made girls, in particular, vulnerable to human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Without ‘concerted remedial action’, the Special Rapporteur warns, ‘Myanmar’s children will become a lost generation’.
In calling on the international community to ‘respond to the crisis in Myanmar with the same urgency they have responded to the crisis in Ukraine’, the Special Rapporteur sets out a clear agenda for action that must include:
- A dramatic increase in humanitarian assistance and unequivocal regional support for refugees, Including by fully funding the Myanmar Humanitarian Response Plan 2022
- Stronger and more unified targeted economic sanctions against the junta and coordinated Financial investigations
-
UN Security Council Members finally putting a resolution forward for consideration, debate and a Vote, and referring the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court.
Echoing the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights during her Item 2 oral update on Myanmar, The Special Rapporteur has also urged ASEAN and UN Member States to increase their engagement With the National Unity Government – a call that Myanmar welcomes.
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, as represented by the National Unity Government, is Committed to promoting and protecting the rights of the child, consistent with its obligations under International law including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocols.
Myanmar also accepts the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations that it:
- Promote and advance the National Unity Government – People’s Defence Forces code of conduct, Which provides guidance on the laws of armed conflict and the treatment of civilians
- Accede to key international human rights treaties, including the ICCPR, CAT and ICERD
- Ensure that any amendments to the 2019 Child Rights Law are in full conformity with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including by guaranteeing the right to nationality and to not be stateless.
In closing, Myanmar expresses its continued gratitude to the Special Rapporteur for his tireless commitment to the human rights, dignity, and fundamental freedoms of its people.
