Human Rights Now joined 87 other NGOs around the world urging the\u00a0 United Nations General Assembly and Security Council to take immediate steps to address the human rights abuses and humanitarian crisis, amounting to crimes against humanity, against the Rohingya people in Myanmar. Military campaigns, which include widespread killing, rape, arson, and other atrocities, have forced over 400,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh in the past month since the outbreak of violence began, and thousands more are displaced. We urge UN delegations and member states to take every concrete action possible to put pressure on the Myanmar government and to stop the ethnic cleansing campaign.<\/p>\n
You can read the full text of the appeal below.<\/p>\n
UN member states should act to pressure Myanmar to end crimes against humanity<\/strong><\/p>\n We, a global coalition of 88 civil society organizations, urgently call upon UN member states to take immediate steps to address the human rights abuses and humanitarian catastrophe engulfing Myanmar\u2019s ethnic Rohingya population. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra\u2019ad al Hussein have described the Myanmar security forces\u2019 ongoing campaign against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State as ethnic cleansing.\u00a0As more evidence emerges, it is clear that the atrocities committed by Myanmar state security forces amount to crimes against humanity. The United Nations and its member states need to take urgent action.<\/p>\n We urge UN delegations, especially those from the 114 countries committed to the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency (ACT) Code of Conduct, who made a pledge to support \u201ctimely and decisive action\u201d to prevent or end the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, to immediately undertake efforts to adopt a resolution in the UN General Assembly addressing the situation, and call upon the UN Security Council to consider measures to be imposed on the Myanmar government.<\/p>\n Over 400,000 Rohingya have fled across the border into Bangladesh since August 25, when Myanmar security forces launched operations in response to coordinated attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in Rakhine State. These operations, involving widespread killing, laying of landmines, looting, and arson targeting the Rohingya, have resulted in the mass destruction of more than 200 villages, according to satellite imagery and eyewitness testimony. Tens of thousands of people from other ethnic minorities have also been displaced as a result of the violence.<\/p>\n Strong condemnations by the UN and world leaders have not brought an end to Myanmar\u2019s atrocities. In his opening statement to the Human Rights Council on September 11, al Hussein noted that in 2016 he \u201cwarned that the pattern of gross violations of the human rights of the Rohingya suggested a widespread or systematic attack against the community, possibly amounting to crimes against humanity.\u201d\u00a0Civil society organizations have warned that the campaign of Myanmar\u2019s security forces against the Rohingya since August 25 amounts to crimes against humanity. It is crucial for UN members to take concrete action and place direct pressure on Myanmar\u2019s military and civilian leaders.<\/p>\n The European Union, until recently, was the chief sponsor of an annual resolution on human rights in Myanmar at the General Assembly. Last year, the EU decided to stop the effort even in the midst of government violence against the Rohingya beginning in October 2016. Now, we urge members of the EU to work with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as other concerned states to jointly revive this resolution as a means of pursuing decisive action by the General Assembly in response to the gravity of the ongoing situation in Rakhine State and the evolving human rights and humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n A General Assembly resolution should demand an immediate end to the abuses, that humanitarian aid agencies have immediate and unhindered access to populations in need, and for the UN Fact-Finding Mission authorized by the Human Rights Council in Geneva to be allowed unfettered access into and within Myanmar to investigate alleged human rights abuses across the country. It should also demand that the Myanmar authorities commit to ensuring that all Rohingya and other refugees and displaced people are able to return to their places of origin safely, voluntarily, and with dignity, and to dismantling the institutional discrimination and segregation of Rohingya and other Muslims in Rakhine State that forms the backdrop to the current crisis. The resolution should also urge member states and the Security Council to explore possible avenues to bring perpetrators of crimes under international law to justice.<\/p>\n We also urge members of the Security Council to add to the pressure on Myanmar authorities by seriously considering options such as an arms embargo against the military and targeted financial sanctions against individuals responsible for crimes and serious abuses.<\/p>\n All concerned UN member states should also consider bilateral, multilateral, and regional actions they can take to place added pressure on the Myanmar government. In particular, we call on all states to immediately suspend military assistance and cooperation with Myanmar.<\/p>\n If governments, UN officials and diplomats simply hold meetings and make speeches as atrocities continue in Myanmar, they bear the risk of failing to use every diplomatic tool at their disposal to stop the ethnic cleansing campaign\u00a0and further crimes against humanity. In the face of mass destruction, killings and hundreds of thousands displaced, inaction should not be an option. Signatories:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n AFL-CIO Human Rights Now joined 87 other NGOs around the world urging the\u00a0 United Nations General Assembly and Security Council to take immediate steps to address the human rights abuses and humanitarian crisis, amounting to crimes against humanity, against the Rohingya people in Myanmar. Military campaigns, which include widespread killing, rape, arson, and other atrocities, have forced over 400,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh in the past month since the outbreak of violence began, and thousands more are displaced. We urge UN delegations and member states to take every concrete action possible to put pressure on the Myanmar government and to stop the ethnic cleansing campaign. You can read the full […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[157,15,17,163,135,5],"countries":[245],"class_list":["post-4105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-statement","tag-accountability-for-gross-human-rights-violations","tag-extrajudicial-killings-war-crime-and-crimes-against-humanity","tag-human-rights-violation-under-armed-conflictsmilitary-operation","tag-rohingya","tag-un-activity","tag-united-nations","countries-myanmar"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4105"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4105\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4106,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4105\/revisions\/4106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4105"},{"taxonomy":"countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrn.or.jp\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/countries?post=4105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nAmerican Jewish World Service
\nAmnesty International
\nASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)
\nAsia Pacific Refugee Rights Network
\nAsociaci\u00f3n Pro Derechos Humano – Peru (APRODEH)
\nAsylum Access
\nAvaaz
\nBurma Campaign UK
\nBurma Human Rights Network (BHRN)
\nBurma Task Force
\nBurmese Rohingya Organisation UK
\nCanadian Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
\nCenter for Civilians in Conflict
\nCenter for Development of International Law
\nChristian Solidarity Worldwide
\nCoalition for Justice and Accountability (COJA)
\nCoalition for the Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons (CRSP)
\nCouncil for Humanitarian Networking of Sheikul Islam Office
\nCREDO Action
\nCross Cultural Foundation (CRCF)
\nDevelopment and Justice Initiative, India
\nEqual Rights Trust
\nFortify Rights
\nFoundation for Rural Development (FRD)
\nFront Mahasiswa
\nGenocide Watch
\nGlobal Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
\nGlobal Progressive Hub
\nHuman Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF)
\nHuman Rights Now
\nHuman Rights Watch
\nIndonesia Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI)
\nInstitute for Asian Democracy
\nInstitute on Statelessness and Inclusion
\nInternational Campaign for the Rohingya
\nInternational Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect
\nInternational Detention Coalition
\nInternational Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
\nInternational Justice Project
\nInternational Organization for Victim Assistance
\nInternational State Crime Initiative
\nIslamic Society of North America (ISNA)
\nJewish Alliance of Concern Over Burma
\nJewish Council for Public Affairs
\nJiyan Foundation for Human Rights
\nJustice Centre Hong Kong
\nMaryknoll Office for Global Concerns
\nMigrant 88
\nMigrant Working Group (MWG)
\nMinority Rights Group International
\nMontreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies
\nNational Council of Churches
\nNational Religious Campaign Against Torture
\nOdhikar
\nPan African Lawyers Union’s (PALU)
\nPartners Relief & Development
\nPemuda Anti Kekerasan Acheh
\nPersatuan Darul Fitrah Terengganu
\nPersatuan Ulama Kedah
\nPhysicians for Human Rights
\nPresbyterian Church (USA)
\nProgressive Voice Myanmar
\nPROHAM (Society for the Promotion of Human Rights Malaysia)
\nRefugees International
\nReligious Action Center of Reform Judaism
\nRestless Beings
\nSANRIM
\nSHARP-Pakistan
\nSociety for Rights of Indigenous People of Sarawak
\nSociety for Threatened Peoples-Germany
\nSTAND Canada
\nSTAND: The Student-Led Movement to End Mass Atrocities
\nSuaka Indonesia
\nSwedish Burma Committee
\nThe Arakan Project
\nThe Episcopal Church
\nThe Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights
\nThe Stanley Foundation
\nUmmatee
\nUnion for Reform Judaism
\nUnitarian Universalist Service Committee
\nUnited Nations Association \u2013 UK
\nUS Campaign for Burma
\nWin Without War
\nWorld Federalist Movement – Canada
\nWorld Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy
\nYateem TV<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"