Statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

44st Session of the Human Rights Council  

  Oral update on the human rights situation of Rohingya people (S-27/1)   

              Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Geneva, 30 June 2020 

Madam President,

Excellencies, 

I now present the oral report on the Rohingya people of Myanmar requested by the Council in resolution A/HRC/S-27/1 of December 2017.

Regrettably, I must once again report that the human rights situation for Rohingyas in Rakhine State has not improved, and that conditions for their safe, dignified and sustainable return from Bangladesh are still not in place.

During the Council's 43rd session, I presented a comprehensive report on the root causes of the violations and abuses suffered by the Rohingyas and other ethnic minorities in Myanmar. The report noted that discrimination and exclusion against these groups have been the hallmark of the laws and policies of Myanmar for over half a century. The ongoing armed conflict in Rakhine, which is affecting all communities, combined with the absence of a conducive environment for a voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return, have further exacerbated the Rohingyas’ vulnerability.

Restrictions on humanitarian access and freedom of movement linked to the COVID-19 pandemic have further exacerbated this situation. While I commend Myanmar for containing the virus to date, I appeal to the Government to respect the Secretary-General’s call for a global ceasefire, end the intensifying armed conflict in Rakhine State, and address root causes that have prevented Rohingya returns since 2017.

Madam President,

In Rakhine and Chin States, the civilian population, including several minority communities, continue to bear the brunt of an intensifying armed conflict between the military, known as the Tatmadaw, and the Arakan Army. Just this weekend, the Tatmadaw launched a so-called “clearance operation” in the Kyauktan area of Rathedaung township in Rakhine. Residents were told to leave their homes as, “anybody left behind would be considered [Arakan Army]”. Estimates indicate as many as 10,000 residents have already fled as the Tatmadaw advanced and heavy fighting commenced. I call on the Tatmadaw to extend the ceasefire already in place elsewhere in the country to Rakhine and Chin states, and to cease immediately these “clearance operations”.

My Office has been documenting a pattern of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including airstrikes, shelling of civilian areas, and the destruction and burning of villages in other areas. Last month, the Tatmadaw reportedly burned large areas of Buthidaung township where Rohingyas lived before 2017. According to eyewitnesses and satellite images, areas where up to a dozen Rohingya villages once stood, lay in ashes.

These villages were not only the homes Rohingya refugees hoped to return to; they also constituted evidence of what happened in 2017. Only five months ago, the International Court of Justice issued an order to prevent the destruction of evidence of allegations of genocide. It is imperative that Myanmar take immediate and urgent measures to cease reckless military operations, and to preserve what remains in those areas.

Excellencies,

The Rohingya refugee crisis has effectively become protracted, with no solution in sight. Myanmar’s Government should take immediate steps to address this chronic situation, including by amending the 1982 Citizenship Law and restoring Rohingya citizenship.

Myanmar continues to impose National Verification Cards on the Rohingya – a document which denies their citizenship, leaving them stateless and restricting their access to basic services or free movement. This situation should be resolved prior to this year’s general elections, so that the Rohingyas' rights to stand for public office and to vote can be restored.

Recently, the Government released hundreds of Rohingya people who had been imprisoned for traveling outside Rakhine. I hope this measure is a step towards restoring their freedom of movement and that more action by the Government to address root causes of discrimination against the Rohingya will be forthcoming.

The COVID-19 pandemic further aggravates the suffering of Rohingya refugees. Reports of dozens of cases in refugee camps in Bangladesh expose the vulnerability of hundreds of thousands of people living in such cramped conditions. I am also seriously concerned about the fate of Rohingya people currently on vessels stranded at sea. I call on all relevant Member States and regional mechanisms to take action to protect these people's lives.

Regarding investigations and accountability, I note that Myanmar’s national Commission of Enquiry has delivered its report on the 2017 violence to the Government – but its full text is still not public. This commission’s independence, and the credibility of its investigation, have long been in doubt. I urge the Government to publish the report and to cooperate with international accountability mechanisms.

In this context, I note that Myanmar’s President has issued a number of decrees following the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures. It is time, now, to fully translate these decrees into concrete actions. The fighting in Rakhine must end; civilians must be protected; evidence of serious violations must be preserved.

Madam President,

Resolution A/HRC/S-27/1 sought a comprehensive solution to the Rohingya crisis within three years. Two and a half years later, conditions in Rakhine remain bleak. It is time for that situation to change. The international community, including my Office, stands ready to support real efforts to resolve the crisis, ensure sustainable peace and development for all communities and allow Myanmar’s Rohingya to return home in safety and dignity.

Thank you Madam President 

Netanyahu's Israel, the only country of the world permitted to do everything it wants! Nobody objects!

Categories Israeli media are reporting a series of Israeli airstrikes against uncertain targets across Syria. Syrian state media reported two Syrian soldiers were killed, and the Israeli press said seven killed overall, leading the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights to declare the other five to be 'Iranians.'

Exactly what is being attacked is unclear, as Israeli press concedes that the areas where explosions are reported are not generally reported to have any "sensitive" sites to begin with. This too is leading to speculation that the sites are Iranian, since Israel tends to like to attack Iranian targets.

Read more at Israeli Airstrikes Hit Several Syrian Sites, at Least Seven Reported Killed

Israeli forces kill young Palestinian en route to his sister's wedding

Ahmad Erekat was on his way to pick up his mother, sister and flowers when he was fatally shot, family says

It was just hours before her wedding, and Eman Erekat was having the finishing touches done to her hair and makeup at a salon in Bethlehem when her mother's phone rang.

Her mother answered, expecting to hear her son letting them know he was outside and ready to take them home. Instead, she listened as the voice on the other end relayed the devasting news: her son had been killed.

While on his way to pick up his mother and sister, Ahmad, 27, had been shot and killed by Israeli forces at the "Container" military checkpoint between Bethlehem and the Erekats' family home in the town of Abu Dis outside of East Jerusalem.

Read more at Israeli forces kill young Palestinian en route to his sister's wedding


Syrian Air Defence Responding to Attack in Hama, State Media Report

The news comes just hours after local media reported an attack on the Syrian airspace near the town of Sweida, resulting in casualties, as confirmed by the Syrian military command.

The Syrian Air Defences responded to "hostile targets" in the airspace of Hama province, a SANA correspondent said on late Tuesday.

Several missiles launched from the air defences hit a number of enemy targets, the agency said later.

Supposed footage from the scene has been shared on social media.
 

MASSIVE explosions after 'Israeli jets' strike army bases in central Syria

Several military bases in central and southern Syria have been targeted by air attacks that Damascus has blamed on Israel, Syrian state media have reported. Videos on social media show massive explosions illuminating the night.

Israel targeted several locations in Salamiyah and Saburah just before 1am on Wednesday, the Syrian army said, adding that its air defenses shot down "a large number" of hostile missiles but that some struck their targets and inflicted "limited material damage."

Hindutvadi propaganda against Bangladesh refuted

While browsing the internet today, I came across a Hindutvadi propaganda by Vivek Gumaste. He bemoaned that Hindu population may vanish in Bangladesh in the next thirty years. It was a silly propaganda that is meant to portray Bangladesh negatively. I wrote my response below:

"The article by Gumaste is a pure Hindutvadi propaganda where falsehood is mixed with little truth. If the Hindus in Bangladesh were treated second class, can the author explain why  Hindus who represent a tenth of the population hold nearly 40% of government jobs? Why almost half of the district commissioners are Hindus? How could Bangladesh have a Hindu supreme court justice who could not probably be more than an ordinary lawyer in India? 

Compare that scenario with Muslims in Modi's India. 

While according to census, Muslims represent 14 percent of Indian population, their share is only two (2) percent in government jobs.
Before telling the kettle black Hindutvdi propagandists like Gumaste and Trivedi should do a soul search.  Lest we forget, Bangladeshi Hindus see India as their spiritual home and are known to have a second home in India. It's easy for them to integrate and earn citizenship there. Money laundering has been a regular phenomenon for them since 1947. As soon as they retire and/or could sell their properties, sometimes to multiple people the same plot of land immorally, they pack up and settle in India. The reason that their percentage has gone down in East Pakistan owes it big times to this naked fact.
By the way, Trivedi's propaganda has long been refuted sufficiently by me in the Asian Tribune. Had Hindus been discriminated guys like him would not have held a secretarial level job in Bangladesh. Enough said!"

My refutation of Trivedi can be viewed by clicking here: http://asiantribune.com/node/69981 

“Black Lives Matter Movement: Democracy and Social Prejudices in US and India”

Neha Dabhade

“While there is some cautious optimism about the rights of blacks in US after the Black Lives Matter Movement triggered by the strangulation of George Floyd, the same optimism cant be shared about the rights of vulnerable communities in India”, said Prof. Suhas Palshikar, political scientist and writer, at a talk organized by Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) on 28^th June, 2020. The talk on zoom was titled as “Black Lives Matter Movement: Democracy and Social Prejudices in the US and India”. The main speakers of this talk were David A Love, prominent journalist and activist from the US and Prof. Suhas Palshikar. The talk was chaired by Vinob Mubayi, editor of INSAF Bulletin and moderated by Irfan Engineer, Director of CSSS. The talk was attended by over 85 participants on zoom and viewed widely live on social media. This talk unraveled the nuances and implications of the Black Lives Matter Movement in the US and its parallel movements in India and the complexities involved.

David Love in his talk said that Black Lives Matter Movement is only seven years old which started out in 2013 with a hashtag movement in response to the killing of a Black teen by a vigilante but has gained prominence only after the custodial death of George Floyd. He emphasized that the death of George Floyd is not the first case of police brutality and systemic discrimination based on race and sadly, it won’t be the last one. The coloured communities, especially the Black community in the US has since centuries been at the receiving end of racial abuses, discrimination, indignities and police brutalities. Racism dates back to the age of slavery where Blacks were taken slaves on slave plantations owned by the white owners. In the 1960s, Malcolm X and Black Panthers fought against police violence. The Blacks throughout the history of the US have had lived realities of violence, inequality and micro- aggressions.

But the death of George Floyd is a moment of reckoning and the US coming to terms with the civil war fought 155 years ago but remains still unresolved. George Floyd’s death and the ensuing protests mark a pivotal time in the history of the US. George Floyd was himself infected by Covid 19 virus and had recovered only to die at the hands of the police officer of Minneapolis. The death took place at a time when millions of Americans are getting infected by Covid resulting in thousands of deaths. This pandemic has disproportionately affected the Blacks and the coloured communities. The pandemic has exposed the economic collapse in the US, all time high in unemployment in a century, staggering economic inequalities and overall atmosphere of uncertainty, fear and trauma. The death of George Floyd thus offers a transformative moment in history.

One of the biggest achievements of this movement is that it has become a movement of social justice. It has assumed the character of a multi-racial rebellion where cross sections of the society are coming together for this issue and forging consensus. The movement has evoked solidarity by all communities and mass protests even in white dominated regions. The issue has become international- there are protests in solidarity in different parts of the world. In the US, it has led to a slew of measures to redeem its past by undoing its racist history. For Instance, in Mississippi lawmakers are considering passing a resolution to remove the confederate emblem from its state flag. The Confederate emblem is viewed by many as a racist symbol. The Black Lives Matter Movement has brought in the issue of reparations back in the national discourse.  

Professor Suhas Palshikar in his talk drew parallels between the systemic discrimination in the US and discrimination in India. He pointed out that in India too there is historical deep rooted racism- an overlap of caste and race. The accounts of Caribbean cricketers who narrated their experiences of racism in India and the debates around the fairness creams in India reflect this discrimination. India thus is divided on the faultline of colour. There are multiple fault lines in India and those many resulting fissures. Some communities enjoy privileges and some are pushed to the periphery. This is why in India, all lives don’t matter. For instance, he listed that Dalits, Adivasis, people from the North Eastern India and Muslims face discrimination. The Muslims in particular are still blamed for the partition. While the discrimination against the Dalits and Adivasis dates back very long in history, the narrative against Muslims is not very old- it is constructed in the colonial area. The Muslims are blamed for partition of India and this narrative helps the right supremacists in political dividend. Post partition, India has witnessed many riots and pogroms where Muslims are victims of targeted violence.

Prof. Palshikar elucidated that it is crucial to discuss the “Muslim question” in the context of George Floyd and any earnest reflection on social prejudices back in India in contemporary times because just before the lockdown due to Covid pandemic, the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has assumed centre stage in the national discourse and in some way was witnessing solidarity across communities. The CAA is perceived as a move to discriminate against Muslims on the basis of religion in the discourse of citizenship. Like in the US currently, in some degree, the non Muslims were aligning with the Muslims on the issue of citizenship and came out in support. Yet, the support was not on the scale witnessed in the US where the empathy and participation of non Blacks is overwhelming.

In order to understand and fully appreciate the reasons for such limited participation of non Muslims and overall lesser protests for social justice, Prof. Palshikar offered a framework to analyze the dynamics of community relations in India. Prof. Palshikar laments that in India; the victim communities don’t stand united and in solidarity to join hands to fight injustices.  This inability of the victim communities to converge is directly linked to the way a community is constructed. Today, mostly the understanding of community is narrow, fragmented and based on exclusion. The prevalent multiple faultlines prevent the alliance of victim communities. While this lack of solidarity is one way to explain the absence of effective protests, the other reason is equally stark.

The other reason explained by Prof. Palshikar is that the supremacist forces in India have redefined the understanding of democracy and also altered the construction of the nation. In this new construction of nation, order is of paramount importance and the state has full responsibility and power to impose and ensure this order. Any protest or questioning by citizens is viewed as a threat to order and thus not encouraged and in fact, penalized. In this construction of the nation, the understanding of democracy is disjunctive from assertion of citizenship or active participation of citizens in decision making. Thus a narrative is created to discredit protests. This narrative is founded on majoritarianism and prevents the scandalization of collective morals if a community is wronged or its rights are violated. Because the violation of the rights of that particular community is not understood as a threat to democracy. “Nation” comes first and not the victim communities. All protests are delegitimized under the garb of order and nation. This has marked a shift in the way how the nation collectively responds to issues of social injustices.

The presentation of the two speakers was followed by an enriching discussion where the speakers patiently answered questions asked by the participants.  The overwhelming response and the positive feedback received by CSSS are very encouraging. The sharp and erudite presentations by the two very learned and accomplished speakers covered important aspects of the Black Lives Matter Movement in the US and the resonating other such movements for social justice in India. 

Police arrest Kerala gang that forces models to become escorts and targeted actress Shamna Kasim

A Kerala gang that trapped many aspiring young models, and blackmailed them into becoming escorts and gold smugglers, went too far when they targeted popular Kerala actress Shamna Kasim. Twitter users from Kerala are sharing news reports of how, a special investigation team (SIT), has arrested the kingpin and members of his gang, who allegedly threatened Kasim, and tried to extort money from her family.

Police launched the investigation based on a complaint from actress Shamna Kasim's family that the gang made attempts to extort money from them, after approaching them with a marriage proposal for her. Shamna Kasim, also known by the stage name Poorna, has acted in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies.

Reportedly, a “suitor” called up Kasim on her cellphone, and claimed that he was an NRI businessman running a jewellery business. Subsequently, the suitor’s “relatives” visited her house, and became friendly with the family. They showed her the photograph of a TikTok model from Kasargod, as the “suitor”, according to news website mumbaimirror.com.

According to the report: “A few days later, the man called the actress, and demanded Rs100,000 (Dh4,856). He told her not to inform her mother, and asked her to hand over the cash to a person who will be visiting her. When the fraudsters felt that the actor was hesitant to part with the money, they started issuing threats, and said they would derail her career.”

Last week, Kasim's parents lodged a police complaint. Her father, in his complaint, said the blackmailers were threatening to release video clips of his daughter, if they were not given money.

On June 24, police arrested four people in relation to the case.

More victims come forward

Following the arrest, three women, working as models, approached the police on Thursday, with a complaint that they were kept in the gang's captivity for a week, in Palakkad. One woman alleged molestation by one of the gang member while being held in captivity, according to various news reports.

Reportedly, one of the models also informed the police that at least eight women were kept in the location at Palakkad for eight days.

On Thursday, Kochi police commissioner, Vijay Sakhare told the media that a special investigation team (SIT) has been formed to nab three other members of the gang. A probe was launched into the ring's involvement in other cases.

According to Vijay Sakhare, the target of the gang appears to be film actors and models. Their modus operandi is to approach aspiring actors and models offering a role in movies. Then they would demand cash for business needs.

China sterilising ethnic minority women in Xinjiang

Chinese authorities are carrying out forced sterilisations of women in an apparent campaign to curb the growth of ethnic minority populations in the western Xinjiang region, according to research published on Monday.

The report, based on a combination of official regional data, policy documents and interviews with ethnic minority women, has prompted an international group of lawmakers to call for a United Nations investigation into China’s policies in the region.

The move is likely to enrage Beijing, which has denied trampling on the rights of ethnic groups in Xinjiang, and which on Monday called the allegations “baseless”.

The country is accused of locking more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in re-education camps. Beijing describes the facilities as job training centres aimed at steering people away from terrorism following a spate of violence blamed on separatists.

A report by Adrian Zenz, a German researcher who has exposed China’s policies in Xinjiang, says Uighur women and other ethnic minorities are being threatened with internment in the camps for refusing to abort pregnancies that exceed birth quotas.

Zenz’s data-driven work on the camps – which uses public documents found by scouring China’s internet – has previously been cited by experts on a UN panel investigating the facilities.

Women who had fewer than the legally permitted limit of two children were involuntarily fitted with intrauterine contraceptives, says the report.

It also reports that some of the women said they were being coerced into receiving sterilisation surgeries.

Former camp detainees said they were given injections that stopped their periods or caused unusual bleeding consistent with the effects of birth-control drugs.

Government documents studied by Zenz also showed that women in some rural minority communities in the region received frequent mandatory gynaecological exams and bi-monthly pregnancy tests from local health officials.

Zenz found that population growth in Xinjiang counties predominantly home to ethnic minorities fell below the average growth in primarily Han majority counties between 2017 and 2018, a year after the officially recorded rate of sterilisations in the region sharply overtook the national rate in 2016.

Uighur activists say China is using the internment camps to conduct a massive brainwashing campaign aimed at eradicating their distinct culture and Islamic identity.

“These findings raise serious concerns as to whether Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang represent, in fundamental respects, what might be characterised as a demographic campaign of genocide” under UN definitions, Zenz said in the report.

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a group of North American, European and Australian members of parliament from a range of political parties, said in a statement on Monday that it would push for a legal investigation on “whether or not crimes against humanity or genocide have taken place” in Xinjiang.

IPAC was formed in June with a stated mission of standing up against “challenges posed by the present conduct and future ambitions of the People’s Republic of China”.

China’s foreign ministry said the allegations were “baseless” and showed “ulterior motives”.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian attacked media outlets for “cooking up false information on Xinjiang-related issues,” saying at a regular press briefing that Xinjiang is “harmonious and stable”.

The rights group World Uyghur Congress said the report showed a “genocidal element of the CCP’s [Chinese Communist party] policies” and called in a statement for international action to confront China.