3 March 2025
UN Human Rights Council – 58th session
Item 2: Interactive Dialogue on the High Commissioner’s oral update on Myanmar
Mister President,
FIDH and its members ALTSEAN-Burma and Women’s Peace Network thank the High Commissioner for his oral update.
UN member states must reject the illegal junta’s proposed election that excludes Rohingya and the political parties that won 97% of parliamentary seats in 2020. Preparations for the so-called election saw an unprecedented rise in violence against civilians in 2024.
As the number of political prisoners approaches 22,000, we urge UN members, particularly ASEAN governments, to increase efforts for their release.
Attacks against Rohingya men, women, and children, by both the junta and the Arakan Army, must stop. We are concerned that the junta’s recent release of Rohingya male prisoners is a ploy to forcibly conscript them. We urge ASEAN states to stop deporting people to feed the junta’s forced conscription drive.
We welcome the Bangladeshi interim government’s consent to the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar to travel there to conduct its important work and we urge other Myanmar regional neighbors to do the same. We urge all states to help Argentina execute the arrest warrants issued over the Rohingya genocide.
Lastly, we urge the US government to reverse its disastrous suspension of aid to organizations helping Myanmar refugees, including on the Thai and Bangladeshi borders, and to groups and individuals, including women and LGBTIQ, peacefully working for democracy and human rights in Myanmar.
Thank you.