JURIST - Hotline: UN Human Rights Commission wise to keep up pressure on Myanmar government

Maureen Aung-Thwin [director, Burma Project/Southeast Asia Initiative of the Open Society Institute]: "The UNHRC is wise to keep up public pressure on the Burmese military regime for its continued abuse of human rights. The generals probably thought they could take a breather when the outgoing Special Rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro completed his mandate as rights envoy last month. Pinheiro's hard-hitting final report to the HR Council in mid-March was met with wild cheers from the usually staid assembly. A clearly exasperated Pinheiro later told the press assembled in Geneva: "If you believe in gnomes, trolls and elves, you can believe in this democratic process in Myanmar."

The new rapporteur, Tomás Ojea Quintana, a human rights lawyer from Argentina, assumed his duties as the new Special Rapporteur on May 1, the day before Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma. Mr. Quintana didn’t mince words either, in his first report earlier this month, reiterating the obligation of "every government...to guarantee that its citizens enjoy all rights, particularly economic and social rights." For this, he said, "all available resources within the country must be utilized and if they are insufficient, international aid must be accepted. If refused, the country is in flagrant violation of human rights and that is my legal assessment of the situation. But it is for the Council to decide."

The UNHRC once again is calling for an independent investigation into human rights abuses in Myanmar, a call that will no doubt fall on deaf ears. But perhaps the UNHRC soon will get some help from, of all places, Southeast Asia. Last year the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN, known for its anathema to "interference" in member states internal affairs, has a new Charter enshrining human rights as a principle, with the aim of soon creating a human rights body. Even the Burmese generals agreed to sign on to the Charter."