UN rights expert fears reprisal
Yanghee Lee, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights situation in Myanmar, yesterday warned the people she met during her official visit about possible reprisals.
“There is one word that has hung heavily in my mind during this visit -- reprisals,” the expert said as she visited Myanmar on January 9-21.
“I am deeply concerned about those with whom I met and spoke, those critical of the government, those defending and advocating for the rights of others, and those who expressed their thoughts and opinions which did not conform to the narrative of those in the position of power,” she said. She mentioned the increasing use of section 66 (d) of the telecommunications law against many “merely for speaking their minds.”
“It is particularly alarming to learn that security forces' counter operations in the villages of Maungdaw north in Rakhine state has reportedly been resumed following a brief lull, with raids conducted in several villages including nearby the villages I visited,” Lee said.
There are further allegations of arbitrary arrests and detention in relation to the latest reported raids, she added.
She was especially dismayed to note the feelings of optimism and hope appearing to slowly fade among the ordinary people just after one year when the whole country was elated with the outcome of the last general elections, according to a UN press release issued in Geneva.
In Rakhine, the Special Rapporteur visited the border guard posts that were attacked on October 9 by armed individuals. She conveyed her deepest condolences to the families of those killed brutally during the attacks.
“I must remind again that these attacks took place within the context of decades of systematic and institutionalised discrimination against the Rohingya population,” she noted. She also went to several affected Muslim villages.
“I saw with my own eyes the structures that were burnt down in Wa Peik,” she said, and was told by the government officials that it was the villagers who had burnt down their own houses.
“As the authorities offered no evidence for this, I found this argument quite incredible.”
She also noted the video clip that went viral of the Myanmar police personnel beating up men and children who were rounded up during the security operations, and highlighted the possibility that such treatment of local population might not be an isolated incident but rather a more common practice.
She emphasised the importance for the security forces to always act within the parameters of the rule of law and in compliance with human rights and that it would be crucial for the government to combat the apparent climate of impunity.
“There must be accountability and justice must be done and seen to be done to reassure the ordinary people that no one is above the law,” Lee reminded.
The Special Rapporteur expressed regret at only being allowed to go to Myitkyina, and not Laiza and Hpakant in Kachin State due to security reasons and met interlocutors who travelled to Myitkyina instead.
She is scheduled to present her report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2017, which will include her observations and recommendations to the Government of Myanmar.
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