UN Human Rights Envoy Piles Pressure on Govt in Latest Burma Critique

By Libby Hogan / DVB | July 22, 2017

UN human rights envoy Yanghee Lee offered stern words for the Burmese government on Friday evening, urging it to reconsider its refusal to issue visas to a UN fact-finding mission tasked with probing alleged human rights abuses in Arakan State and elsewhere in Burma.

Concluding a 12-day visit to the country, the UN special rapporteur expressed frustration at government restrictions placed on her team, denying her access to parts of northern Shan State, Arakan State and Karen State. Improving access for journalists, activists and rights groups was the theme of the night as she wrapped up her trip with a press conference in Rangoon, where she took the opportunity to point out that these groups and the UN fact-finding mission continue to be hindered by these government constraints.

“The developments in recent months are enough evidence for why an independent international mechanism, an international body, should have access to verify, collect data and testimonies on what really happened,” Lee said, referring to the deadly 9 October attacks on Burmese police posts in northern Arakan State — blamed on Muslim Rohingya militants — and heavy-handed security response in the months that followed.

The establishment of an independent mission to look into alleged human rights abuses by Burmese security forces against the Rohingya population was adopted in March and is supported by the European Union and countries such as the United States. However, Aung San Suu Kyi’s government has continued to reject the UN resolution laying out the fact-finding mandate.

“I understand the new government wishes to normalise its relations with the United Nations, including not having special mechanisms attached to it. Before these ‘special mechanisms’ can be dismantled, Myanmar must first transition into a country that deserves less attention and scrutiny,” said Lee

Asked for a second time during a Q&A that followed her end of mission statement whether there was a “Plan B” for the fact-finding commission if they continue to be denied access to Burma, Lee did not answer directly, saying: “I would strongly urge the government to change its mind, to allow the mission to come in and collect the facts themselves.”

Over the course of her sixth visit to Burma since she assumed the special rapporteur role, Lee met with officials at the state and Union level and called for concrete actions, including investigating all alleged human rights violations. She was not, however, able to meet with Commander-in-Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing or other representatives from the Ministry of Defence, a notable gap on her roster of sit-downs given that the military has faced the brunt of accusations of human rights abuses for years.

Although there were reports of progress on the government’s implementation of the Rakhine Advisory Commission’s interim recommendations, such as the closure of IDP camps, there is still no uniform resettlement practices, remarked Lee.

“The general situation for the Rohingya has hardly improved since my last visit in January,” she said.

On the other side of the Buddhist-Muslim divide in Arakan State, Lee said “members of the Rakhine