43rd Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Item 4: Discussion on oral update of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the recommendations of the independent inquiry into the involvement of the United Nations in Myanmar since 2011
Oral Statement Delivered by Rosanna Ocampo on behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Monday, 09 March 2020
Madam President, FORUM-ASIA welcomes the discussion on the oral update of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the recommendations of the independent inquiry into the involvement of the UN in Myanmar since 2011. We regret the UN’s failure to prevent the genocide against the Rohingya and violations against other ethnic minorities in Myanmar. The system needs to prioritise addressing the root causes of these violations and supporting efforts toward international criminal accountability through a coherent, system-wide response.
We welcome the Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights, particularly the recommendation to build upon Rights Up Front and the Rosenthal report’s emphasis on “prevention, protection and human rights” in the UN’s “awareness, decision-making and programming at field, regional and Headquarters levels,” and urge the UN to apply this in its response to Myanmar.
Under the leadership of the Secretary-General, we call on the UN to:
- Ensure meaningful participation of Myanmar civil society, without fear of reprisals, in the efforts to strengthen the UN’s prevention capacity, including the early warning system
- Implement human rights due diligence in all UN operations, including in the recruitment of national and international staff, and in the procurement of goods and services
- Ensure consistent, principled human-rights based messaging across the various UN agencies and mandates
- Encourage the Special Envoy on Myanmar to engage with the wider civil society, particularly those working in the context of or affected by the ongoing conflicts
- Support the work of the human rights mandates and accountability mechanisms on Myanmar, particularly the Special Rapporteur and the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, through sufficient resourcing to allow them to fulfil their mandates
- Regularly update the Human Rights Council on the status of implementation of recommendations
- Take urgent and concrete steps to ensure accountability for systematic failures of the UN in Myanmar that allowed genocide against the Rohingya and war crimes and crimes against humanity in other ethnic areas
Madam President, the Rosenthal report also concludes that “member states also bear part of the responsibility” for the UN’s failures and “the horrific consequences” that persist. We call on states and the Security Council to refer Myanmar to the ICC or the General Assembly to establish an ad-hoc tribunal. Thank you.
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