30 September 2021: The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) mourns the death of Mohib Ullah, one of the Myanmar Rohingya people’s leading human rights advocates and defenders. Mohib Ullah was murdered on 29 September 2021 in the Rohingya refugee camp of Lambashia, Kutupalong in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. He was chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights.

SAC-M co-founder and member Yanghee Lee said, “I knew Mohib Ullah well from my work over many years as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar. He was passionately committed to the human rights of the Rohingya people. He was a man of courage and determination, an irreplaceable leader of the Rohingya people’s struggle for peace and justice.”

Marzuki Darusman, co-founder and member of SAC-M, was chairperson of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFM). He said, “Mohib Ullah provided invaluable assistance to the FFM’s investigations. He and his colleagues in the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights chronicled the events during and after August 2017 when the Myanmar military conducted one of the most brutal operations in recent times. His efforts led directly to international support for the Rohingya people and efforts to bring the military leadership to justice.”

In 2017, Myanmar’s military unleashed a genocidal campaign of violence on Rohingya villages in northern Rakhine state, forcing three quarters of a million people to flee to Bangladesh. Those who fled joined a quarter of a million earlier Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh where they are now confined to sprawling camps and continue to endure dire conditions.

“Mohib Ullah’s death must lead to stronger and more determined international support for the struggle for human rights in Myanmar, for the Rohingya and for all the other peoples of Myanmar,” said Chris Sidoti, the third member of SAC-M and also a member of the UN FFM. “The most important tribute we can pay him is more effective action for peace and justice for all Myanmar’s peoples.”

SAC-M calls on Bangladeshi authorities to investigate Mohib Ullah’s murder thoroughly and to charge, prosecute and punish the perpetrators according to law. It urges UN human rights mechanisms to monitor and report on the adequacy and effectiveness of the Bangladeshi investigations. Bangladeshi authorities have a duty to protect the lives of the one million Rohingya refugees confined to camps in Bangladesh whilst ensuring this tragedy is not exploited to impose further restrictions on the lives of those who have already lost so much.

Download the statement in English: SAC-M PR Mohib Ullah ENGLISH