Myanmar Spring Chronicle – September 26
Published by MoeMaKa on September 27, 2023
United Nations Human Rights Council Annual Meeting and the Myanmar Issue
The 54th annual meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, featured a critical address by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volkar Tuck. He highlighted the ongoing human rights violations in Myanmar and made an impassioned plea for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to take up the case.
The Special Advisory Council on Myanmar, SAC-M, released a statement that echoes the urgency for the ICC to act against those responsible for the human rights abuses in Myanmar since December of the previous year. They assert that these violations will only cease if the ICC pursues the military leaders accountable for these grave offenses.
The UN Human Rights Commissioner presented a comprehensive report detailing the staggering scale of human rights violations in Myanmar. He underscored that the Myanmar Military Council has not adhered to the UN Security Council’s resolution. He provided statistics on arrests, fatalities, the martial court’s interference with trials, the denial of the right to legal representation, and the number of homes torched.
These statistics are not novel; they are in line with information provided by news organizations and various United Nations bodies.
There’s a pertinent question regarding the ICC’s ability to take action against Myanmar’s military leaders who are accused of committing these human rights violations. Since Myanmar is not a signatory to the ICC Convention, it is commonly believed that the ICC lacks jurisdiction over crimes committed in Myanmar. In 2019, Bangladesh appealed to the ICC to hold the Myanmar military accountable for the killings, sexual violence, village burnings, and the expulsion of the Rohingya population in northern Rakhine State in 2017. Given that Bangladesh is an ICC member, its plea carried weight, but even during that time, there were limitations to what could be achieved concerning Myanmar.
Recent international examples include the issuance of an ICC arrest warrant for Russian President Putin, despite Russia’s non-membership in the ICC. If Putin visits an ICC member nation, that country is obliged to apprehend him and surrender him to the ICC. If the ICC engages with the Myanmar case and issues arrest warrants, this might entail that ICC member states are obligated to detain and deliver the Myanmar military leaders when they travel abroad. However, it’s important to note that this scenario is speculative.
In June 2021, a few months following the 2021 coup d’état, Dr. Sasa, a minister of the National Unity Government, stated during a press conference that they were preparing evidence to prosecute the Military Council at the ICC. At that time, they had amassed around 400,000 pieces of evidence of human rights violations. Presently, the figures related to crimes have risen significantly.
While international endeavors and calls for action by the UN Security Council and ICC provide moral and psychological support, it’s imperative to explore ways to curtail real-life atrocities. The military council, instead of acting as a legitimate government and countering resistance with a strategic approach, has given the green light to its armed forces to target those living and working alongside the opposition fighters, often resulting in fatalities and property damage. The military council’s airstrikes have also inflicted civilian casualties and caused significant property damage.
News reports suggest that even among the defense forces combating the military council, there are instances of conflicts between factions and confrontations with civilians, involving force or reliance on weaponry.
While international efforts and moral support are vital in addressing severe human rights violations, it’s equally crucial to seek means to mitigate these on-the-ground realities. It is incumbent upon those with military oversight and the revolutionary forces responsible for administrative decisions to devise methods to minimize harm to unarmed civilians, both in terms of lives and property.