UN Human Rights Council – 48th session

Item 4: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar

22 September 2021

Mister Vice-President, Mister Special Rapporteur,

FIDH and its member organizations ALTSEAN-Burma and Women Peace Network welcome this oral progress report.

The downward spiral of Myanmar’s human rights situation is accelerating and the country has effectively descended into civil war. The military junta has escalated arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detentions of human rights defenders and journalists – among them many women. Too often, detentions mean death. Since the February coup, we have recorded 115 civilian deaths (including seven women) in prisons, police stations, and military interrogation centers due to torture and lack of adequate medical care.

Under the military, there will never be accountability for its war crimes and crimes against humanity inflicted on Myanmar’s diverse population. The risk of further atrocities is being fueled by the military’s increasingly hateful propaganda against the Rohingya. This is why we reiterate our call for a UN Security Council referral of the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court.

Mister Vice-President,

Accountability for human rights violations, international pressure, targeted sanctions against the military, and non-recognition of the junta as the government of Myanmar are all demands unequivocally made by the country’s civil society and the National Unity Government.

We back these demands and so should the international community. Stronger international action is urgently needed to prevent further suffering for the people of Myanmar and a threat to the region’s peace and security.

Thank you.

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