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UN special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar
Yanghee Lee attends a press conference in Yangon,
Myanmar on January 20, 2017. Ms
Yanghee Lee has
concluded her 12-day trip to Myanmar as part of her
mission to
compile a report to submit to the UN
Human Rights Council in March, 2017.
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Yanghee Lee concerned over arbitrary arrests during
security operations in Rakhine state
By Fatih Erel
GENEVA
The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar on
Tuesday warned about possible reprisals against people she met during her
recent visit to the country.
“There is one word that has hung heavily on my mind
during this visit -- reprisals,” Yanghee Lee said in a statement following her
12-day trip.
“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 was particularly worried about the
resumption of security operations and reports of arbitrary arrests in villages
she visited in Maungdaw, a district in Rakhine state bordering Bangladesh that
is home to the country's Rohingya Muslim minority.
Lee said the situation was deteriorating in the northern
state of Kachin, where ethnic rebels are fighting government troops. “Those in
Kachin state tell me that the situation is now worse than at any point in the
past few years,” she said.
“Whilst I was not able to travel to the areas most
severely affected, the situation is now such that even in Myitkyina, the
capital of the state and home to over 300,000 people, residents are afraid --
and now stay home after dark.”
Lee is due to present a report to the UN Human Rights
Council in March.