Madam President,
FIDH and its member organization ALTSEAN-Burma wish to welcome the new Special Rapporteur, Mr. Tom Andrews. We urge the government of Myanmar to grant him full and unfettered access to all parts of the country to enable him to carry out his mandate.
We are alarmed that in the first six months of this year, 608 armed clashes or attacks against civilians occurred in 10 of the country’s 14 states and regions. These attacks resulted in serious human rights violations, including death, injury, displacement, destruction of property, arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence, and forced labor.
We reiterate our condemnation of the Tatmadaw’s ongoing offensives in Rakhine State and the continued use of extra-judicial killings, arbitrary detentions, and torture against civilians as part of its military operations.
On the Rohingya issue, we urge the government of Myanmar to immediately release the full text of its Commission of Enquiry’s report, as well as the recent submission to the International Court of Justice on measures that the authorities have purportedly taken to prevent the Rohingya genocide.
We urge the release of the 181 political prisoners who are held in jails across the country and the amendment of repressive laws that continue to be used to target activists, human rights defenders, and members of ethnic minorities.
We are disturbed by reports that the authorities have used COVID-19 as a pretext to repress the legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, specifically by arresting and jailing labor rights defenders and striking workers.
Thank you.