The boundaries and names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.ocuments on MyanmarRef:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/MMIndex.aspxBrutal attacks on Rohingya meant to make their return almost impossible – UN human rights report
GENEVA
(11 October 2017) – Brutal attacks against Rohingya in northern
Rakhine State have been well-organised, coordinated and systematic,
with the intent of not only driving the population out of Myanmar but
preventing them from returning to their homes, a new UN report based on
interviews conducted in Bangladesh has found.
ENDS The report by a team from the UN Human Rights Office, who met with the newly arrived Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar from 14 to 24 September 2017, states that human rights violations committed against the Rohingya population were carried out by Myanmar security forces often in concert with armed Rakhine Buddhist individuals. The report, released on Wednesday, is based on some 65 interviews with individuals and groups. It also highlights a strategy to “instil deep and widespread fear and trauma – physical, emotional and psychological” among the Rohingya population. More than 500,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since the Myanmar security forces launched an operation in response to alleged attacks by militants on 25 August against 30 police posts and a regimental headquarters. The report states the “clearance operations” started before 25 August 2017, and as early as the beginning of August. The UN Human Rights Office is gravely concerned for the safety of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who remain in northern Rakhine State amid reports the violence is still ongoing, and calls on authorities to immediately allow humanitarian and human rights actors unfettered access to the stricken areas. The report cites testimony from witnesses that security forces scorched dwellings and entire villages, were responsible for extrajudicial and summary executions, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and attacks on places of worship. Eyewitnesses reported numerous killings, saying some victims were deliberately targeted and others were killed through explosions, fire and stray bullets. A 12-year old girl from Rathedaung township described how “the [Myanmar security forces and Rakhine Buddhist individuals] surrounded our house and started to shoot. It was a situation of panic – they shot my sister in front of me, she was only seven years old. She cried and told me to run. I tried to protect her and care for her, but we had no medical assistance on the hillside and she was bleeding so much that after one day she died. I buried her myself.” The report states that in some cases, before and during the attacks, megaphones were used to announce: “You do not belong here – go to Bangladesh. If you do not leave, we will torch your houses and kill you.” Credible information indicates that the Myanmar security forces purposely destroyed the property of the Rohingyas, targeting their houses, fields, food-stocks, crops, livestock and even trees, to render the possibility of the Rohingya returning to normal lives and livelihoods in the future in northern Rakhine almost impossible. UN Human Rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who has described the Government operations in northern Rakhine State as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing,” has also urged the Government to immediately end its “cruel" security operation. By denying the Rohingya population their political, civil, economic and cultural rights, including the right to citizenship, he said, the Government’s actions appear to be “a cynical ploy to forcibly transfer large numbers of people without possibility of return.” The report indicates that efforts were taken to effectively erase signs of memorable landmarks in the geography of the Rohingya landscape and memory in such a way that a return to their lands would yield nothing but a desolate and unrecognizable terrain. Information received also indicates that the Myanmar security forces targeted teachers, the cultural and religious leadership, and other people of influence of the Rohingya community in an effort to diminish Rohingya history, culture and knowledge. To read the full report, see: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/MM/CXBMissionSummaryFindingsOctober2017.pdf
Ref:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/Pages/WorkInField.aspxOHCHR in the World: making human rights a reality on the groundOver the years, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has increased its presence in the field, reaching out more and more and giving a voice to the people who need it the most. OHCHR presences away from Headquarters are a strategic entry point for promoting and protecting human rights at the country level; mainstreaming human rights, that is, integrating a human rights perspective into the work of United Nations Country Teams and United Nations peace missions; and helping strengthen national institutions and civil society.There are a number of ways in which OHCHR field presences assist in efforts to make human rights a reality; not only do they monitor the human rights situation in countries, but they also help build the capacity of Member States and other duty-bearers to address human rights issues. The following are OHCHR's field presences: 14 Country/Stand-alone Offices In
establishing country offices and stand-alone offices, OHCHR negotiates
with the host government a full mandate that includes both human rights
protection and promotion. At the end of 2016 OHCHR had offices in
Bolivia, Cambodia, Colombia, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Mauritania,
Mexico, the Occupied Palestinian Territories (stand-alone office),
Kosovo (Serbia), Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Yemen.Activities by country offices include monitoring, public reporting, provision of technical assistance, and the monitoring and development of long-term national capacities to address human rights issues. United Nations Peace Missions OHCHR
is the lead United Nations entity for the protection and promotion of
human rights, but all UN actors have a role to play in protecting and
promoting human rights in their operations. In this respect, OHCHR seeks
to integrate human rights in all components of UN peace missions.In 2014, OHCHR supported nearly 900 international and national human rights officers and support staff in 15 Human Rights Components of UN peace missions in Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Iraq, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Kosovo (Serbia), Somalia, South Sudan and Darfur (Sudan). 12 Regional Offices and CentresBy the end of 2014, OHCHR had 12 regional offices/centres covering East Africa (Addis Ababa), Southern Africa (Pretoria), West Africa (Dakar) Central America (Panama City), South America (Santiago de Chile), Europe (Brussels), Central Asia (Bishkek), South East Asia (Bangkok), Pacific (Suva) and the Middle East and North Africa (Beirut). OHCHR also has a Regional Centre for Human Rights and Democracy for Central Africa in Cameroon (Yaoundé) and a Training and Documentation Centre for South West Asia and the Arab Region in Qatar (Doha).Regional offices have a crucial role to play in promoting and protecting human rights in countries of their region, including by working with regional bodies, such as the African Union. Human Rights Advisers and National Human Rights OfficersHuman Rights Advisers are experts deployed by OHCHR to the field to support UN Country Teams following the request of UN Resident Coordinators. They follow up and analyze the human rights situation in the country in which they serve and advise the UN Resident Coordinator and the UN Country Team as a whole on strategies to build or strengthen nations' capacities and institutions in promoting and protecting human rights. They also engage with national actors (governments and civil society) on how to best promote and implement human rights standards. By the end of 2016, OHCHR had 28 Advisers and National Offices in Bangladesh, Barbados (UN Regional Team for Barbados and Eastern Caribbean Countries), Chad, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Moldova, Nigeria, Panama (UNDG-LAC), Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Southern Caucasus (Tbilisi), Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor Leste, Thailand (UNDG Asia-Pacific, Bangkok), Ukraine, and Zambia, as well as two national Advisers in Serbia and FYR of Macedonia.Rapid Response to Emerging Human Rights CrisesOHCHR's Rapid Response Unit supports the work of OHCHR by swiftly deploying personnel to the field. The Unit manages an internal roster of staff who can be rapidly deployed in human rights and humanitarian emergencies, and can provide surge capacity to OHCHR field offices. At the request of Member States, OHCHR often conducts or supports fact-finding missions and commissions of inquiry that investigate serious allegations of human rights violations and abuses.The Rapid Response Unit has, in recent times, conducted or coordinated the establishment of fact- finding missions or commissions of inquiry mandated by the Human Rights Council (HRC) on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Syria (on-going since 2011). The Commission of Inquiry on Central African Republic, mandated by the Secretary General, and the OHCHR Investigations on Sri Lanka, mandated by the HRC are also ongoing. Commissions of Inquiry on Gaza and Eritrea are also being established, as is an OHCHR Mission to Iraq, all mandated by the HRC. Additionally, the Rapid Response Unit has established a human rights monitoring team based in Lebanon and sent fact-finding teams to Mali, Central African Republic and Ukraine. In response to humanitarian crises OHCHR staff have been deployed to the Philippines, Myanmar and Lebanon. |
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