Genocide Ongoing in Myanmar - Press Conference (24
October 2018)
United Nations
https://youtu.be/9KHyvWsneSM
Published on Oct 24, 2018
Press Briefing by Yanghee Lee, Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in Myanmar and Marzuki Darusman, Chair of the UN
Fact-finding Mission in Myanmar.
The Chair of the UN Fact-Finding Mission in Myanmar,
Marzuki Darusman stressed that “atrocities continue to take place” against the
Rohingya population in the country adding that it is “an ongoing genocide that
is taking place at the moment.”
Speaking to reporters in New York today (24 Oct),
Darusman said the big obstacle in the issue of Myanmar has been the
Government’s “hardened positions” including; “its continued denials, its
attempts to shield itself under a cover of national sovereignty, and its
dismissal of 444 pages of details about the facts and circumstances of recent
human rights violations that point to the most serious crimes under
international law.”
The FFM Chair said four of the five requirements for
genocide were fulfilled in Myanmar, including killing, causing serious bodily
harm, inflicting conditions designed to destroy the group, and imposing
measures to prevent births. He said besides the killing, the other requirements
continue to hold. Darusman added that the underlying factor remains the
genocidal intent, which he said was established by the FFM and as such it is
warranted to bring the six generals identified by the mission to the International
Criminal Court (ICC) or a judicial tribunal for prosecution, beginning with the
Commander in Chief Min Aung Hlaing.
In March 2017, the United Nations Human Rights Council
established the Fact-Finding Mission in Myanmar to establish the facts and
circumstances of the alleged recent human rights violations by military and
security forces, and abuses.
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee
Lee, said she had high hopes that the human rights situation in the country
would be different with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in office, but
stressed that it not much has changed. She said the civilian government was
choosing not to use its power to increase the democratic space in the country.
Yanghee Lee, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in Myanmar, United Nations:
“The Government is increasingly demonstrating that it has
no interest and capacity in establishing a fully functioning democracy where
all its people equally enjoy all their rights and freedom. It is not upholding
justice and rule of law. The rule of law is an ideal that the State Counsellor
repeatedly says is the standard to which all in Myanmar are held. However, I
see that this is clearly not the case in reality. If the rule of law were
upheld, all people in Myanmar, regardless of their position, would be
answerable to fair laws that are impartially applied, impunity would not reign,
and the law would not be wielded as a weapon of oppression.”
Lee noted that the civilian government has the power to
create legislative reforms to repeal oppressive laws, some of which have been
in place since the colonial era. She recognized that economic and developmental
progress has been made in the country, but unlined that no progress has been
made in increasing democratic space in Myanmar.
Special Rapporteurs are part of the Special Procedures of
the UN Human Rights Council and work on a voluntary basis. They are not UN
staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any
government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.