NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Mary Lawlor, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders stated that ‘the brute force terror campaign’ in Myanmar ‘continues to be directed towards human rights defenders’. She joined the call of Tom Andrews, the Special Rapporteur for on the human rights situation in Myanmar, for an Emergency Coalition for the People of Myanmar.

In July 2021, the IIMM released a bulletin, stating that the Mechanism received over 210,000 communications containing information about the use of force against and arbitrary arrests of protestors. The bulletin also stated that preliminary information indicates that Myanmar security forces carried out a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population since 1 February 2021.

On 28 June 2021, Ms. Alice Waimiru Nderitu, the UN Special Adviser on Genocide spoke before the United Nations Human Rights Council during its 47th Session. Ms. Nderitu voiced concerns that the situation in Myanmar is 'deteriorating quickly' and 'may constitute crimes against humanity'. She also noted the need for accountability for past crimes to deter the commission of more atrocity crimes.

On 25 June 2021, Ms. Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict expressed grave concern over reports of sexual violence in detention settings in Myanmar. Ms. Patten noted that 'sexual assault, torture, physical and verbal abuse and intimidation have become an alarming feature of daily life' in Myanmar. She also noted that such allegations of sexual violence may amount to violations of international criminal law.

On 22 June 2021, the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced new sanctions against the Myanmar Timber Enterprise, Myanmar Pearl Enterprise, and the State Administration Council. This is the UK's sixth tranch of Myanmar sanctions.