RES/31/24 Situation of human rights in Myanmar

Human Rights Council Thirty-first session

Agenda item 4

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 24 March 2016

31/24. Situation of human rights in Myanmar

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights and the International Covenants on Human Rights, and reaffirming previous

resolutions on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, the most recent being Human

Rights Council resolutions 28/23 of 28 March 2015 and 29/21 of 3 July 2015, and General

Assembly resolution 70/233 of 23 December 2015,

Welcoming the work and the reports of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of

human rights in Myanmar and the cooperation of the Government of Myanmar with the

Special Rapporteur, including the facilitation of her visit to the country from 3 to 7 August

2015, and the agreement to a visit in February 2016, which was subsequently postponed,

Recalling its resolution 5/1, on institution-building of the Human Rights Council,

and 5/2, on the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate Holders of the Council, of

18 June 2007, and stressing that the mandate holder shall discharge his or her duties in

accordance with those resolutions and the annexes thereto,

1. Welcomes the continued positive developments in Myanmar towards political

and economic reform, democratization, national reconciliation, good governance and the

rule of law, and the efforts made to promote and protect human rights, and, while

recognizing the scale of the reform effort undertaken to date, encourages the Government to

take further steps to consolidate the progress made and to address outstanding issues;

2. Also welcomes the peaceful and competitive conduct of the elections held on

8 November 2015 and the efforts made towards ensuring a credible electoral process, while

expressing concern over a number of shortcomings and the need for continued reforms to

ensure that all the people of Myanmar, inclusive of religious and ethnic minorities,

including the Rohingya minority, can participate in electoral processes and have their votes

fully reflected in the overall composition of the Parliament;

3. Further welcomes the inauguration of the new Parliament on 1 February

2016 and the election of a new President on 15 March 2016, encourages the continued

smooth and undisturbed transfer of power as significant steps towards democracy, and calls

United Nations A/HRC/RES/31/24

upon all actors to consolidate the democratic transition by bringing all national institutions,

including the military, under a civilian government;

4. Welcomes the signing of the nationwide ceasefire agreement in October 2015,

while calling for further steps towards national reconciliation, an end to violence and the

pursuit of an inclusive and comprehensive national political dialogue, including efforts by

the Government and the military to reach agreement with those ethnic groups that have not

yet signed the ceasefire, and urging all actors to ensure effective participation of women,

particularly from conflict-affected communities, in all decision-making and other activities

with the objective of achieving lasting peace, and allow and facilitate rapid and unfettered

humanitarian access to civilians in need throughout the country;

5. Recalls its serious concerns over human rights violations, including regarding

the situation in Rakhine State and particularly with respect to persons belonging to religious

and ethnic minorities, including the Rohingya minority, and urges the Government of

Myanmar to repeal discriminatory legislative and policy measures, to lift restrictions on

movement that impede access to health and education services, to intensify its efforts to

address discrimination, to counter incitement to hatred and hate speech leading to violence,

to promote equality, tolerance and peaceful coexistence in all sectors of society, and to

address economic deprivation and displacement;

6. Calls upon the Government of Myanmar to take further steps to consolidate

the progress made to end all remaining human rights violations, to protect the human rights

of all, including of women, children and persons belonging to minorities, and to address

outstanding concerns, in particular regarding the right to freedom of religion or belief and

the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, which are essential

to ensure a safe and enabling environment, notably for civil society, journalists and human

rights defenders who need to be recognized publicly for their instrumental role in the

promotion and protection of human rights;

7. Encourages the Government of Myanmar to take further steps to strengthen

democratic institutions, good governance and the rule of law, stresses the need for review

and reform of legislation, including the Constitution, to ensure adherence with international

norms and standards, and the need for a more independent, impartial and effective

judiciary, and an independent and self-governing legal profession;

8. Welcomes the recent release of political prisoners, while urging the

Government of Myanmar to fulfil its commitment unconditionally to release all political

prisoners, in accordance with its obligation to ensure that no one remains in prison owing to

his or her political beliefs or actions, including those recently detained or convicted, and to

provide for the full rehabilitation of former political prisoners;

9. Also welcomes the recent steps towards the adherence to international human

rights conventions, encourages the Government of Myanmar actively to consider the

ratification of additional international human rights conventions and the optional protocols

thereto, and calls for the full implementation of its obligations under international human

rights law and international humanitarian law, and of other relevant agreements and

commitments, including the commitment of the Government to open a country office of the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with a full mandate

and in accordance with the mandate of the High Commissioner;

10. Calls upon the international community to support the national efforts made

by Myanmar and its institutions to strengthen the rule of law in the country, and to continue

to support the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, through technical assistance

and capacity-building programmes, with a view to enabling it to contribute effectively to

the promotion and protection of human rights, in accordance with the Paris Principles;

11. Encourages all business enterprises, including transnational corporations and

domestic enterprises, to respect human rights in accordance with the Guiding Principles on

Business and Human Rights, and calls upon the Government of Myanmar and the home

States of business companies operating in Myanmar to fulfil their duty to protect human

rights;

12. Welcomes the cooperation of the Government of Myanmar with the

International Labour Organization, encourages the continued implementation of the

memorandum of understanding for the elimination of the use of forced labour in Myanmar

and its associated action plan, and the supplementary understanding containing the forced

labour complaints mechanism, also encourages further cooperation with the Office of the

High Commissioner and with all United Nations special procedures, and invites the

international community to support the Government of Myanmar further, including through

technical assistance and capacity-building, in the fulfilment of its international human

rights obligations and commitments, the advancement of democratization and economic

and social development;

13. Decides to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of

human rights in Myanmar for a further period of one year, requests the Special Rapporteur

to submit a progress report to the General Assembly at its seventy-first session and to the

Human Rights Council in accordance with its annual programme of work, and invites the

Special Rapporteur to continue to monitor the situation of human rights, to measure

progress in the implementation of the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur,

including those contained in her report submitted to the Council at its thirty-first session,1

and to work with the Government of Myanmar to identify benchmarks for progress and

priority areas for technical assistance and capacity-building;

14. Welcomes the ongoing cooperation with the Special Rapporteur, and calls

upon the Government of Myanmar to continue its cooperation with the Special Rapporteur

in the exercise of the mandate, including by facilitating further visits and access throughout

the country;

15. Requests the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner to provide the

Special Rapporteur with the assistance and resources necessary to enable her to discharge

the mandate fully.

64th meeting

24 March 2016

[Adopted without a vote.]

1 A/HRC/31/ 71.