The Myanmar government has informed UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee that she will no longer be able to enter the country for the remainder of her tenure.
Lee was scheduled to visit Myanmar in January to assess the country’s overall human rights situation, including allegations of military of abuses against Rohingya in Rakhine State.
“I am puzzled and disappointed by this decision by the Myanmar government,” she said after being informed of the ban. “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 added that she hoped Myanmar would reverse 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.”
In her July statement, listed a catalogue of concerns based on reports of killings, torture, the use of human shields by security forces, deaths in custody, and humanitarian crises affecting the Rohingya and other minority communities.
The special rapporteur also accused the Myanmar government of limiting her access to areas with ongoing human rights abuses, including Hsipaw, Shan State, where three journalists are imprisoned.
She also accused Myanmar’s current government of employing the same tactics of oppression and silencing dissent as the military junta that previously ruled Myanmar.
Following the release of her statement, Myanmar lawmakers accused her of ignoring the government’s efforts to promote national reconciliation and to cooperate with the UN.
One MP proposed a resolution to condemn Lee’s statement. The Office of the State Counsellor issued a similar response.
The special rapporteur’s mandate requires two visits to Myanmar every year in order to report to the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly. Since taking up the mandate in June 2014, Lee has visited six times.
During previous visits, access to some areas was consistently refused, with the authorities citing security concerns.
In June, Myanmar’s foreign ministry, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, banned a UN-appointed fact-finding mission from entering the country.
Lee said today: “It is a shame that Myanmar has decided to take this route. The 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.”
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