Describing the conviction in Myanmar of two Reuters journalists last week as a “particularly outrageous” example of judicial harassment against the media there, “vague and over-broad” laws have made it impossible for the press to do its job in the country, without fear or favour, a new United Nations report has found.
Stressing that the legal process that led to the conviction of two Reuters journalists in Myanmar “clearly breached” international standards, the United Nations top human rights official called for their immediate and unconditional release.
Despite the efforts made by the United Nations over the past year to help create safeguards for all communities in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, it is clear that conditions are still not suitable for the safe, voluntary, and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to their home, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday.
Top military commanders in Myanmar should be investigated and prosecuted for the “gravest” crimes against civilians under international law, including genocide, United Nations-appointed investigators said on Monday.
Significant progress has been made in protecting hundreds of thousands Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in the 12 months since they fled violence in Myanmar, but lives “will once again be at risk” if funding is not urgently secured, UN officials said on Friday.
Having taken office with a call for peace to be the watchword of 2017, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday said the world instead had ‘gone in reverse,” and that there are critical areas that need action in the New Year, including climate change, the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, the Middle East conflict, and the Rohingya crisis.
While the eyes of the world are on Myanmar's northern Rakhine and Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh, more than 60,000 Rohingya children remain nearly forgotten, trapped in appalling camps in central Rakhine where the shelters teeter on stilts above garbage and excrement, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported Tuesday.
The United Nations expert on the human rights situation in Myanmar on Wednesday expressed disappointment at the Government’s decision to deny her all access to the country and withdraw cooperation for the duration of her tenure.
The United Nations today welcomed the release of the final report of an independent advisory body looking into the situation in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
