RES/34/22 Situation of human rights in Myanmar

GE.17-05281(E)



Human Rights Council Thirty-fourth session

27 February–24 March 2017

Agenda item 4

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 24 March 2017

34/22. Situation of human rights in Myanmar

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights and the International Covenants on Human Rights, and reaffirming all relevant

Human Rights Council and General Assembly resolutions on the situation of human rights

in Myanmar, the most recent being Council resolutions 29/21 of 3 July 2015 and 31/24 of

24 March 2016 and Assembly resolution 70/233 of 23 December 2015,

Welcoming the work and the reports of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of

human rights in Myanmar, including the report submitted to the Council at its thirty-fourth

session,1 and the cooperation of the Government of Myanmar with the Special Rapporteur,

including the facilitation of her visits to some parts of the country from 20 June to 1 July

2016 and, most recently, from 9 to 21 January 2017,

Taking note of the general observations of Myanmar on the report of the Special

Rapporteur submitted to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fourth session,2

Recalling the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on

the situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar3 and

the recommendations contained therein, and the flash report of the Office of the United

Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights of 3 February 2017, entitled “Interviews

with Rohingyas fleeing from Myanmar since 9 October 2016”, prepared following a

mission to Bangladesh,

Recalling also Human Rights Council resolutions 5/1, on institution-building of the

Council, and 5/2, on the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate Holders of the

Council, of 18 June 2007, and stressing that the mandate holder shall discharge his or her

duties in accordance with those resolutions and the annexes thereto,

1 A/HRC/34/67.

2 A/HRC/34/67/Add.1.

3 A/HRC/32/18.

Stressing that States have the primary responsibility for the promotion and

protection of human rights,

1. Welcomes the positive developments in Myanmar towards political and

economic reform, democratization, national reconciliation, good governance and the rule of

law and the efforts made to promote and protect human rights and combat corruption, and

encourages the Government to take further steps to address outstanding concerns;

2. Also welcomes the formation of a democratically elected Government, while

calling upon all actors to consolidate the democratic transition with full respect for the rule

of law and human rights by bringing all national institutions, including the military, under

civilian control, and to ensure the inclusion of all ethnic and religious minorities in the

political process;

3. Further welcomes the announcement of the Government of Myanmar to

make peace and national reconciliation its top priority, and the holding of the Twenty-first

Century Panglong Conference from 31 August to 3 September 2016, while calling for

further steps, including enhanced efforts to reach out to those ethnic armed groups that have

not yet signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement, an immediate cessation of fighting and

hostilities and of all violations of international human rights law and international

humanitarian law in northern Myanmar, as applicable, the provision of immediate, safe and

unhindered humanitarian access, including to areas controlled by ethnic armed groups, in

particular in Kachin and Shan States, and the pursuit of an inclusive and comprehensive

national political dialogue ensuring full and effective participation of women and young

people, as well as civil society, with the objective of achieving lasting peace;

4. Recognizes the initial steps taken by the Government of Myanmar to address

the underlying causes of the situation in Rakhine State, including by setting up the Central

Committee for the Implementation of Peace, Stability and Development in Rakhine State

and the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, established on 5 September 2016 at the

behest of the State Counsellor of Myanmar, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and chaired by former

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and commencing work on a long-term socioeconomic

development plan for Rakhine State, welcomes the concurrence of the Government with the

recommendations of the interim report of the Advisory Commission made public on 16

March 2017, and looks forward to their prompt implementation for stability, peace and

prosperity in Rakhine State, in full consultation with all the communities concerned;

5. Calls upon the Government of Myanmar to continue efforts to eliminate

statelessness and the systematic and institutionalized discrimination against members of

ethnic and religious minorities, including the root causes of discrimination, in particular

relating to the Rohingya minority, by, inter alia, reviewing the 1982 Citizenship Law,

which has led to deprivation of human rights, by ensuring equal access to full citizenship

through a transparent, voluntary and accessible procedure and to all civil and political

rights, by allowing for self-identification, by amending or repealing all discriminatory

legislation and policies, including discriminatory provisions of the set of “protection of race

and religion laws” enacted in 2015 covering religious conversion, interfaith marriage,

monogamy and population control, by lifting local orders restricting rights to freedom of

movement and access to civil registration, health and education services and by improving

the squalid living conditions within camps for internally displaced persons;

6. Also calls upon the Government of Myanmar to take further measures for a

voluntary and sustainable return of all internally displaced persons, refugees and others who

have had to leave Myanmar, including from the Rohingya minority, in safety, security and

dignity and in accordance with international law;

7. Condemns the attacks carried out against border guard posts on 9 October

2016 in northern Rakhine State, and expresses its deep concern at the serious subsequent

further deterioration of the security, human rights and humanitarian situation in Rakhine

State, which has forced tens of thousands of members of the Rohingya minority to seek

refuge in Bangladesh or elsewhere in Rakhine State;

8. Urges the Government of Myanmar to lift the curfew order in Rakhine State,

to promote the freedom of movement and safety and security of all persons, to allow and

facilitate immediate, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all people in need of

assistance throughout the country, to enable without delay the full resumption of aid

programmes, to allow independent observers and representatives of the media access, and

to safeguard those who report abuses;

9. Recognizes that the Government of Myanmar notes the seriousness of the

allegations contained in the flash report of the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights entitled “Interviews with Rohingyas fleeing from

Myanmar since 9 October 2016”;

10. Notes that the Government of Myanmar has established an investigation

commission, led by Vice-President U Myint Swe, encourages the publication of a credible

report on the findings of the commission without delay, and calls upon the Government to

consider assistance to enhance the capacity of this or future investigation bodies;

11. Decides to dispatch urgently an independent international fact-finding

mission, to be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council, to establish the

facts and circumstances of the alleged recent human rights violations by military and

security forces, and abuses, in Myanmar, in particular in Rakhine State, including but not

limited to arbitrary detention, torture and inhuman treatment, rape and other forms of sexual

violence, extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary killings, enforced disappearances, forced

displacement and unlawful destruction of property, with a view to ensuring full

accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims, and requests the fact-finding mission

to present to the Council an oral update at its thirty-sixth session and a full report at its

thirty-seventh session;

12. Encourages the Government of Myanmar to cooperate fully with the fact-

finding mission, including by making available the findings of the domestic investigations

and other relevant information, and stresses the need for the fact-finding mission to be

granted full, unrestricted and unmonitored access to all areas and interlocutors;

13. Stresses the need for the fact-finding mission to be provided with all the

resources and expertise necessary to carry out its mandate, including forensic expertise and

expertise on sexual and gender-based violence;

14. Strongly encourages the Government of Myanmar to take the measures

necessary to address discrimination and prejudice against women, children and members of

ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities across the country, and to take further action to

publicly condemn and speak out against any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred

that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, and to adopt measures to

criminalize incitement to imminent violence based on nationality, race or religion or belief,

while upholding freedom of expression, and to increase efforts further to promote tolerance

and peaceful coexistence in all sectors of society in accordance with Human Rights Council

resolution 16/18 of 24 March 2011 and the Rabat Plan of Action on the prohibition of

advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination,

hostility or violence by, inter alia, further facilitating interfaith and intercommunal

dialogue;

15. Notes with concern that charges for criminal defamation have increasingly

been used to target journalists, politicians, students and social media users for their peaceful

expression, online as well as offline, in particular under section 66 (d) of the

Telecommunications Act, the Electronic Transactions Law and provisions of the Penal

Code, including section 505 (b), and that the Unlawful Associations Act and the Peaceful

Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law continue to be abused to arbitrarily arrest and

detain individuals for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly

and association, including on the basis of their ethnicity or political beliefs, and calls for

open and participatory legislative processes to reform those laws in line with the

international human rights law obligations of the Government of Myanmar;

16. Welcomes the early release of political prisoners in accordance with the

obligation of the Government of Myanmar to ensure that no one remains in prison because

of his or her political or religious beliefs, including those recently detained or convicted,

human rights defenders and students, while calling upon the Government to fulfil its

commitment to release unconditionally all remaining political prisoners and to provide for

the full rehabilitation of former political prisoners, and to amend restrictive laws and to end

remaining curbs on exercising the rights to the freedoms of expression, association and

peaceful assembly, which are essential to ensure a safe and enabling environment, notably

for civil society, journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers, environmental and land

rights activists and civilians, and expresses concern at reports of the arrest of individuals in

relation to the exercise of those rights;

17. Emphasizes that no one should face reprisals, monitoring, surveillance,

threats, harassment or intimidation for cooperating or speaking with special procedures of

the Human Rights Council, including the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human

rights in Myanmar, the international independent fact-finding mission or the United

Nations, and calls upon the Government of Myanmar to take appropriate measures to

prevent such acts and to combat impunity by investigating promptly and effectively all

allegations of intimidation and reprisal in order to bring perpetrators to justice and to

provide victims with appropriate remedies;

18. Calls upon the Government of Myanmar to ensure prompt, thorough,

independent and impartial investigations into the killings of constitutional legal expert and

senior National League for Democracy adviser Ko Ni, in January 2017, land and

environmental activist Naw Chit Pan Daing, in November 2016, and journalist Soe Moe

Tun, in December 2016, as well as other cases, and that those responsible are held

accountable;

19. Also calls upon the Government of Myanmar to take further steps to reform

the Constitution and to strengthen democratic institutions, good governance and the rule of

law to ensure respect for and to promote universal human rights and fundamental freedoms

in accordance with international norms and standards, stresses the need for an independent,

impartial and effective judiciary and an independent and self-governing legal profession,

and calls upon the Government to ensure full compliance with its obligations under

international human rights law and international humanitarian law, as applicable;

20. Welcomes the steps taken by the Government of Myanmar to end the

recruitment of child soldiers and the release of 800 child soldiers and, abhorring their use in

Myanmar, urges the Government to consolidate progress further towards a complete

cessation of all recruitment and use of child soldiers; the identification of all children

remaining in the ranks of government forces and their immediate release; an end to the

arrest, harassment and imprisonment of children accused of desertion; continued efforts to

bring perpetrators of child recruitment to justice and to criminalize the recruitment of child

soldiers; increasing transparency, including by expanding access to birth registration

services to children, including those vulnerable to recruitment; and ensuring the

rehabilitation and reintegration of former child soldiers;

21. Also welcomes the steps taken by the Government of Myanmar to ratify or

accede to international human rights conventions, encourages the Government to actively

consider ratifying additional international human rights conventions and the optional

protocols thereto, and calls for the full implementation of the Government’s obligations

under international human rights law and international humanitarian law, as well as those

under other relevant agreements;

22. Further welcomes the ongoing negotiations between the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights and the Government of Myanmar, recalls the commitment

of the Government to open a country office of the Office of the High Commissioner, with a

full mandate and in accordance with the mandate of the High Commissioner, and

encourages the Government to issue a standing invitation to all special procedures of the

Human Rights Council;

23. Calls upon the Government of Myanmar and its institutions to step up efforts

to strengthen the protection and promotion of human rights and the rule of law and to

advance democratization and inclusive economic and social development towards the

achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, including by reforming the Myanmar

National Human Rights Commission in accordance with the principles relating to the status

of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris

Principles), and calls upon the international community to support Myanmar in this regard,

including through technical assistance and capacity-building programmes;

24. Encourages all business enterprises, including transnational corporations and

domestic enterprises, to respect human rights in accordance with the Guiding Principles on

Business and Human Rights, calls upon the Government of Myanmar to meet its duty to

protect human rights, and calls upon home States of business companies operating in

Myanmar to set out clearly the expectation that all business enterprises domiciled in their

territory and/or jurisdiction are to respect human rights throughout their operations;

25. Welcomes the enhanced cooperation of the Government of Myanmar with the

International Labour Organization, encourages the implementation of the Supplementary

Understanding for the elimination of the use of forced labour, with a complaint mechanism

that is operational, and the swift revision of the Memorandum of Understanding for the

elimination of the use of forced labour in Myanmar as the basis for a revitalized and

strengthened action plan;

26. Invites the international community to support the Government of Myanmar

further, including through technical assistance and capacity-building, in the fulfilment of its

international human rights obligations and commitments, the advancement of

democratization and economic and social development;

27. Decides to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of

human rights in Myanmar for a further period of one year, requests the Special Rapporteur

to present an oral progress report to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fifth session and

to submit a report to the Third Committee at the seventy-second session of the General

Assembly and to the Council at its thirty-seventh session, in accordance with its annual

programme of work, and invites the Special Rapporteur to continue to monitor the situation

of human rights and to measure progress in the implementation of the recommendations

made by the Special Rapporteur;

28. Welcomes the ongoing cooperation with the Special Rapporteur, and calls

upon the Government of Myanmar to continue its cooperation with the Special Rapporteur

in the exercise of the mandate, including by facilitating further visits and granting

unrestricted access throughout the country, and to continue to work with the Special

Rapporteur to develop a work plan and time frame for the swift implementation of the

proposed joint benchmarks identified in her report, and for progress in priority areas of

technical assistance and capacity-building;

29. Requests the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner to provide the

Special Rapporteur and the fact-finding mission with the assistance, resources and expertise

necessary to enable them to discharge their mandates fully.

57th meeting

24 March 2017

[Adopted without a vote.]