ALL ACCESS TO MYANMAR DENIED, COOPERATION WITHDRAWN: UN
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| Yanghee Lee.-- UN photo |
The government of Myanmar has informed UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee
Lee that all access to the country has been denied and cooperation withdrawn
for the duration of her tenure.
Lee had been due to visit Myanmar in January to assess the state of
human rights countrywide, including the human rights abuses against RohingyaMuslims in Rakhine State.
‘It is a shame that Myanmar has decided to take this route,’ said Lee.
She said the Myanmar government has repeatedly denied violations of
human rights are occurring throughout Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine State.
They have said that they have nothing to hide, but their lack of
cooperation with my mandate and the fact-finding mission suggests otherwise,
said the expert.
‘I am puzzled and disappointed by this decision by the Myanmar
Government,’ Lee was quoted as saying in a statement from Geneva on Wednesday.
‘This declaration of non-cooperation with my mandate can only be viewed
as a strong indication that there must be something terribly awful happening in
Rakhine, as well as in the rest of the country,’ she said.
The Special Rapporteur said she sincerely hoped Myanmar would revisit
the decision.
‘Only two weeks ago, Myanmar's Permanent Representative informed the
Human Rights Council of its continuing cooperation with the UN, referencing the
relationship with my role as Special Rapporteur,’ she said.
‘Now I am being told that this decision to no longer cooperate with me
is based on the statement I made after I visited the country in July.’
Lee had previously been afforded cooperation and access to Myanmar, and
had maintained a relationship of mutual respect with the government.
The government has now claimed that her end-of-mission statement in
July was biased and unfair.
The Special Rapporteur's mandate requires two visits to Myanmar a year,
in order to report to the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly.
Since taking up the mandate in June 2014, she has visited six times.
While the government had responded positively to past requests to visit,
access to some areas had been consistently refused, with the authorities citing
security concerns.
The government is also not cooperating with the Human Rights Council
Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, established in March
2017.
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