To,
Permanent
Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human
Rights Council
Geneva,
3 March 2017
Re:
UN-mandated international Commission of Inquiry or similar international
mechanism to investigate serious human rights violations in Rakhine State,
Myanmar.
Excellencies,
We,
the undersigned organizations, write to urge your delegations to support calls by
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in Myanmar, for the establishment by the UN Human
Rights Council during its 34th session of a Commission of Inquiry or similar
international mechanism to investigate, at a minimum, alleged and apparent
serious human rights violations and abuses in Rakhine State, Myanmar.
Since
9 October 2016, Myanmar’s security forces have carried out large-scale attacks
against the Rohingya population in Rakhine State’s Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and
Rathedaung Townships as part of ‘clearance operations’ in response to attacks
on three police border posts by armed assailants. These ‘clearance operations’
violate numerous provisions of international human rights law.
The
‘clearance operations’ involved human rights violations against women, men, and
children, including: extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearances; torture
and other ill-treatment, notably rape and other crimes of sexual violence;
arbitrary arrests and detention; forced displacement; and destruction and looting
of homes, food, and other property.
The
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented many
such serious human rights violations in a ‘flash report’ released on 3 February
2017.[1] The report concluded that the attacks against the Rohingya population
in Rakhine State during the prolonged crackdown could “very likely” amount to
crimes against humanity. UN officials estimated that more than 1,000 Rohingya
might have been killed in the crackdown.[2] Military and police operations resulted
in the displacement of at least 97,000 Rohingya, including approximately 73,000
who fled to neighbouring Bangladesh.[3]
In
June 2016, four months before the most recent attacks, the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein submitted a report to the UN Human
Rights Council highlighting the “possible commission of crimes against
humanity” against Rohingya in Myanmar.[4]
A
large number and overall patterns of human rights violations and abuses have
already been well documented, while many more allegations require further
investigation.
The
Myanmar government’s response to these documented violations has ranged from
blanket denials of any wrongdoing by security forces to numerous attempts to
discredit reports of abuses by Rohingya eyewitnesses and survivors.[5]
Myanmar’s security forces have direct control over operations in Rakhine State
(as in other conflict areas) and are granted effective independence from the
country’s civilian government and immunity from justice under the 2008
constitution. To date, no one is known to have been criminally investigated,
charged, or tried for these offences. In February, three junior police officers
were sentenced by an internal police tribunal to two months in police detention
after a video surfaced in December showing officers kicking and beating
Rohingya men in a village in Rathedaung Township. At least three senior police
officers were also demoted.[6]
Since
October 2016, four official commissions have been set up to investigate the
situation in Rakhine State. Regrettably, all of them lack the independence,
impartiality, human rights and technical expertise, and mandate necessary to conduct
a credible and effective investigation:
1- On
1 December 2016, Myanmar’s President Htin Kyaw established a 13-member
investigation commission led by Vice-President Myint Swe, a former army
general, to probe “the truth” in relation to violent attacks that occurred on 9
October and 12-13 November 2016 in Maungdaw Township.[7] Its members include
the current Chief of Police and a number of former government officials. The
commission’s preliminary findings, published on 3 January 2017, dismissed
claims of misconduct by Myanmar security forces, having found insufficient
evidence to take legal action in response to alleged violations, religious
persecution, and allegations of genocide.[8] As the UN Special Adviser on the
Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng noted on 6 February, this commission “is not
a credible option” to investigate abuses against Rohingya.[9]
2- Two
commissions, formed by the army and the Ministry of Home Affairs (also
controlled by the military) on 9 February and 11 February 2017 respectively,
have been tasked with investigating human rights violations committed by
military and police personnel during the ‘clearance operations’.[10] These
commissions, made up of military and police officers, lack the independence and
impartiality necessary to investigate violations committed by security forces.
3- An
11-member commission appointed by the Rakhine State Parliament on 24 October
2016, composed predominantly of ethnic Rakhine members from the Arakan National
Party (ANP), was tasked with investigating the 9 October attacks on the three
police border post but excluded any probe into human rights violations against
the Rohingya population.[11] The commission’s chairman, ANP MP Aung Win,
claimed in an interview with the BBC that rape of Rohingya women could not have
occurred because they are “very dirty” and “they are not attractive so neither
the local Buddhist men or the soldiers are interested in them.”[12]
An
advisory commission was also established by Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San
Suu Kyi on 24 August 2016. The commission consists of nine members, including
three international experts with former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as its
chair. However, its mandate is limited to making general recommendations to the
government to “resolve protracted issues” in Rakhine State and both Annan and
the Myanmar government have affirmed the commission will not investigate
reports of human rights violations.[13]
Finally,
another earlier commission, set up by then-President Thein Sein in August 2012
to investigate unrest in Rakhine State, failed to lead to accountability for
human rights violations committed during successive waves of violence between
June and October 2012. Approximately 140,000 people, predominantly Rohingya,
were internally displaced and at least 200 were killed during the unrest.
Given
the inability or unwillingness of these commissions to establish facts and hold
perpetrators accountable, and the fact that national judicial and law
enforcement authorities lack the both the independence and technical capacity
to deal with such situations, we see no credible or effective alternative to a
Commission of Inquiry, or similar international mechanism, to address and begin
the process of effectively finding and verifying the truth of what has happened,
and ensuring justice and accountability for human rights violations and abuses
committed. At its March 2017 session, the Human Rights Council should adopt a
resolution establishing such an international independent investigation tasked
with determining facts, identifying causes and alleged perpetrators, and making
recommendations for next steps, including appropriate remedies for the victims.
The
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and the UN Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee both
recently recommended the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into the
situation in Rakhine State.[14] The signatories to this letter support this
recommendation.
We
strongly believe that at such a critical juncture in Myanmar’s history, the
establishment of a UN-mandated international Commission of Inquiry or similar
international mechanism is a minimum requirement for ensuring justice and
accountability, and can also significantly contribute to preventing further
atrocities being committed against Rohingya and other minorities at risk in
Myanmar. The commission’s findings will play a crucial role in assisting the
Myanmar government in promoting accountability for grave crimes committed by
its security forces.
Please
accept, Excellencies, the assurance of our highest consideration.
Alternative
ASEAN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-Burma)
Amnesty
International
ASEAN
Parliamentarians for Human Rights
Asian
Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Burma
Campaign UK
Christian
Solidarity Worldwide
FIDH
– International Federation for Human Rights
Fortify
Rights
Human
Rights Watch
International
Campaign for the Rohingya
International
Commission of Jurists
Odhikar
Unitarian
Universalist Service Committee
Read
more: http://linkis.com/www.hrw.org/news/201/dEvhV