Myanmar’s responses to flawed public statements made by certain United Nations personnel

Myanmar’s responses to flawed public statements made by certain United Nations personnel (16 June 2022, Geneva)

The current session of the Human Rights Council, being held in Geneva from13 June to 8 July 2022, is packed with meetings against Myanmar without the participation of the country concerned which is contrary to the Council’s own principles of dialogue and cooperation. Myanmar observed that the statements and the publications made during the meetings (Interactive Dialogue on the High Commissioner’s oral update on Myanmar, 14 June 2022) do not reflect the situation on the ground and contained exaggerated figures along with sweeping allegations and politicizations. Myanmar, therefore, does not accept and reject the one sided and unfounded statements and the responses by Myanmar are as follows.

Responses to the news releases issued by the Special Rapporteurs

Some Special Rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council including the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar orchestrated a number of press releases to coincide with the 50th Session of the Human Rights Council which is in session.

Even though Myanmar made written response to his work, the Special Rapporteurs has clearly failed to reflect them in his public statements despite the Special Procedures mandate-holders are obliged to indicate fairly the responses given by the concerned State. Accordingly, their assessments become one sided and mislead the viewers.

The Special Rapporteurs alleged restrictions on the access to internet while they neglected the destructive acts of the terrorist groups CRPH, NUG and PDF which destroyed a total of 1240 telecommunication towers along with fiber optic cables. It resulted disruption of service to 1.5 million population. There are over 300 bomb attacks launched by terrorist groups in public areas where they mostly misused cell phones and SIM cards to detonate bombs by remote control. The groups have misused social media to commit violence and finance terrorist acts. At the same time, some social media platforms and ICT corporations remove applications and banning pages which do not entertain the views and narratives of some western Governments and denying right to information.

Response to the Special Rapporteur’s so-called conference room paper

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of Myanmar has also been licensed to produce unlimited numbers of reports with all forms of incitements and interferences. The so-called conference room paper ignores the 65 children including an 8-month old baby killed by the terrorists while these information are readily available. Furthermore, the stories and figures contained in the said paper are derived from narratives but not from actual facts and figures. There is neither real evidence of the numbers nor relevance, easily referring to a handful of sources without verification. While there is a total of 5.2 million students who have already enrolled at schools up to 31 May 2022, the Special Rapporteur’s reference to decrease in school enrollment is a clear disinformation. It is too obvious to ignore the killing of 17 teachers and six education staff along with attacks against schools by the terrorist groups.

Response to the Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights

It is observed that the High Commissioner for Human Rights made an oral update on Myanmar to the Council on 14 June 2022. It is disappointed to note her misleading statement with sweeping allegations and irresponsible conclusions which go beyond her mandate. The High Commissioner alleged 1,900 killings by the military without citing any source or clarifying how she has verified the figure in addition to her silence on the violence committed by the terrorist groups such as the so-called CRPH, NUG and PDF which claimed lives of nearly 3,000 innocent civilians.

Some UN entities and personnel including the High Commissioner, the Special Rapporteur on the situation on Human Rights in Myanmar and some others refer to the over 14 million population figure reportedly in need of humanitarian assistance in Myanmar. The figure originates from the Humanitarian Response Plan (Myanmar) issued in January 2022. After verifying with the relevant United Nations Office, it is found that a new category of 13.3 million who are neither displaced persons nor affected population was created. The said figure represents urban population who may probably need development assistance. The new humanitarian response plan appealed for over 800 million USD four times higher than that of last year. Accordingly, the relevant UN entities and personnel are suggested to perform their functions with professional integrity and accuracy.

Myanmar wishes to remind the High Commissioner and certain countries that the individual sentenced to death are those who were found with hundreds of weapons and they are in charge of several dozen terrorist factions active in Yangon accountable for over 30 assassinations against administrators and civilians. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release on the matter on 6 June 2022.

Myanmar noted with serious concern about the narratives of the High Commissioner who bluntly incites the international community to engage with the organizations responsible for terrorist acts and provokes to take unilateral measures against the country. The Government of Myanmar categorically rejects such calls and urges the High Commissioner to refrain from interference in internal affairs of a sovereign country and respect her mandate to enhance international cooperation in the areas of human rights.

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Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations

GENEVA.