Mizzima
Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, the Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations (UN), addressed the UN General Assembly on the topic of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, on 1 July 2024.
Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun was nominated to the post by the previous National League for Democracy (NLD) Myanmar Government. The UN decided to allow him to stay in the post of Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the UN, whilst rejecting the Myanmar junta’s nominee for the post.
Below is Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun’s 1 July statement to the UN General Assembly on the topic of R2P:
Mr. President,
At the outset, I would like to thank you for convening this meeting on the important issue of responsibility to protect.
Myanmar thanks the Secretary-General and his Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect for the annual report on the responsibility to protect: the commitment to prevent and protect populations from atrocities crimes.
Mr. President,
R2P aims to address violations of peremptory norms of international law, including genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.
The commitment by the UN member states made to R2P adopted at the 2005 World Summit underscores its significance as a global commitment to preventing grave human rights violations and ensuring the international community’s readiness to take decisive action to protect vulnerable populations.
However, sadly, the world experienced over last two decades significant rise of armed conflicts and violations of international law, and the UN failed to prevent such atrocities including the one in Myanmar.
Mr. President,
The military junta’s continued committing of atrocity crimes against the populations including Rohingya in Myanmar is a vivid example of failing to protect the people by the international community.
While understanding the primary responsibility of the State to protect its own people, I wish to stress that the situation in Myanmar is a harrowing reminder of why the international community must uphold its commitment to R2P.
Although it is now long overdue, I must reiterate that the need for the global community to intervene and protect the vulnerable populations in Myanmar remains imperative as they are affected by the military’s egregious acts which have led towards a widespread tragic suffering and a severe humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.
Based on the scenarios over the past three years, the military junta has obviously committed grave breaches of international law against the people since 1 February 2021 through the attempted unlawful military coup.
Consequences thus far have led to an unprecedented deterioration of peace, stability, and the rule of law in Myanmar. The daily lives of Myanmar people have been stretched to their limits, pushing many to the brink of endurance. Alongside the displacement and migration issues, food insecurity, poverty and hunger are the most visible threats in Myanmar.
The recent forced conscription of the military junta has also exacerbated the already dire situation and instilled fear among every household. The young people have been forced to find ways to prevent them from being used as human shields and to run and escape from being forcefully recruited.
At the same time, the military junta has been frequently using the spread of misinformation/disinformation through its controlled media outlets, Myanmar embassies abroad and social media to suppress the people’s resistance movement and to falsify the members of the international community. The recent incident of killing a renowned monk by the junta forces on 19 June 2024 and following its developments again proved the junta’s ill-will. I therefore, take this opportunity to urge the international community to be mindful of the junta’s malicious intentions and its disinformation/misinformation campaign against the people and resistance forces.
Nowadays, Myanmar people from all walks of life are now trapped in a dreadful struggle to afford even the most basic necessities. This economic catastrophe, caused by the illegal coup and the junta’s atrocities and mismanagement, continues to spiral out of control, pushing more and more people to the depths of poverty and hunger.
Due to the junta’s atrocities, more than 5,300 people have been brutally killed by junta forces, and 3.1 million people have been internally displaced. 18.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 13.3 million people are projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3).
Despite these grim pictures, the military junta continues to escalate its brutal “four cuts” strategy against the civilian population, burning down thousands of civilian homes in conflict areas, and indiscriminately bombing houses, schools and hospitals.
The junta is enacting collective punishment on innocent civilians who are not directly involved in the conflict. The systematic and widespread commission of these crimes amounts to crimes against humanity and war crimes, a consensus shared by international scholars and experts. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar and the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) have also repeatedly said loud and clear that that there is ample evidence of crimes against humanity being systematically committed by the military junta and that the international community needs to apply them for bringing the perpetrators accountable through justice.
In this light, the National Unity Government and Ethnic Revolutionary Organisations have already enacted transitional justice-related principles in Part (2), Chapter (7) of the Federal Democracy Charter to hold perpetrators accountable.
Moreover, the NUG has declared its acceptance of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in accordance with Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute to address accountability issue in Myanmar.
Mr. President,
My question here to the member states of the UN and the international community is that what are you waiting for to act and save lives, to protect the people from such atrocity crimes? We have repeatedly urged, and it is long overdue to apply the principles of R2P to protect the helpless people of Myanmar
In conclusion, Mr. President, Atrocity crimes are not random incidents; there are numerous early warning signs that should serve as alarms to catalyze preventive action.
Therefore, I wish to underscore the following points to be undertaken by the international community: –
1. In Myanmar, the culture of impunity must end to promote justice and accountability.
2. Transitional justice is essential to prevent the recurrence of grave violations of international law in Myanmar.
3. Individual states, regional organizations, and the UN system must capitalize on these opportunities more effectively to protect innocent lives.
4. The Security Council should show its seriousness of its responsibility and commitment for maintaining international peace and security by taking all possible tools at its disposal to stop atrocity crimes including those in Myanmar.
5. Given the increasingly polarized Security Council, the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council should continue to strengthen their roles in preventing and responding to atrocities, thereby complement and encourage the Security Council to fulfill its responsibility.
6. The international community must stop providing space for the Myanmar military to perpetrate such heinous crimes against its people. Creating a political exit for the military junta without transitional justice would be like reviving a dead tiger to slaughter the people of Myanmar.
7. It is vital for the international community to cut off arms and weapons, jet fuel and financial flows to the military junta.
Therefore, I wish to urge the member states of the UN to uphold their commitment including the one made to R2P in 2005 and act accordingly. Otherwise, the people bear the brunt of lack of effective action from the UN especially the UN Security Council.
Please put humanity first and extend effective support towards the people of Myanmar and their devoted aspiration to end the military dictatorship and build a federal democratic union in Myanmar.
This would indeed serve the best for the protection of our people.
I thank you.
