UN Committee to Review Myanmar’s Record on Women’s Rights

GENEVA (30 June 2016) – Myanmar’s record on women’s rights will be examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 7 July. Myanmar has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and so is reviewed regularly by the Committee on how it is implementing the Convention […]

Briefing Paper: The legacy of mass torture and the challenge for reform in Myanmar

Torture has a long history in Myanmar and has been widely employed by the military regimes in power after 1962 […]

31st Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council Item 4: Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Ms. Yanghee Lee

Mr. President. FORUM-ASIA, in solidarity with Equality Myanmar and Burma Partnership welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur. [1] We recognise the significance of the November 2015 elections and note that Burma/Myanmar is at a critical juncture in its history. We express our strong support for the Rapporteur’s time bound recommendations for the new government including tasks outlined as priorities during the first 100 days as well as those identified to be completed before March 2017.

Open Letter to Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the UN Human Rights Council

Dear Excellencies,

We write to you regarding Burma/Myanmar as civil society groups working on the ground in the country. We strongly urge you to continue the UN Human Rights Council resolution on Burma/Myanmar and as in past years extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur under Item 4 of the Council’s agenda. At this important juncture in the country’s history, we request the Council and the Special Rapporteur to work towards establishing clearly benchmarked guidelines that will act as a road map for the future of human rights in Burma/Myanmar […]

Myanmar: UN Support is still Required to Improve the Human Rights Situation – Amnesty International’s written statement to the 31st session of the UN Human Rights Council (29 February-24 March 2016)

The recent elections in Myanmar should not be seen as a sign that the UN Human Rights Council’s (Council/HRC) engagement is no longer needed in Myanmar […]

United Nations: Establish Independent Investigation into Genocide in Myanmar

(BANGKOK, October 29, 2015)—There is strong evidence that the government of Myanmar is responsible for genocide against Rohingya Muslims, according to a legal analysis prepared for Fortify Rights by the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School. In light of the findings, Fortify Rights said the United Nations must immediately establish a Commission of Inquiry into widespread and systematic human rights violations in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, including into whether the crime of genocide has occurred […]