meottawa.org

(11 September 2023)
During the upcoming 54th regular session of the Human Rights Council, there will be the Interactive Dialogue of the report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) on 11 September 2023 and in this session, IIMM will present its fifth annual report on Myanmar.
Myanmar never recognizes and accepts the mandate and creation of any country-specific mechanism by the Human Rights Council as the purposes are politicized to worsen the situation. Therefore, since the establishment of IIMM in 2019, not only the country-concerned Myanmar but also many delegations have reiterated that the establishment of this mechanism was inappropriate, and set a dangerous precedent to a single Member State which is derived from politicized country-specific Human Rights Council resolution.
Additionally, the conduct of the Mechanism questions accountability and it has clearly violated the principles of the sovereign equality of States and non-interference in their internal affairs. Therefore, Myanmar categorically rejects any product of IIMM including its reports attempting to threaten the sovereignty of the State.
It is also learnt that there is an insufficiency of funding for the Mechanism every year. However, IIMM has been allowed to functionalize its activities spending nearly 15 million dollars every year. According to the overview of the financial resources of the United Nations Fifth Committee, IIMM spends USD approximately 12 million from the regular budget and approximately 3 million dollars from extra budgetary funding under the Programme 6, legal affairs of the Fifth Committee in 2023. As the Office of Legal Affairs spends approximately 31 million dollars from regular budget and 13 million dollars from extra budgetary resources, it seems that the entire spending of the Mechanism is close to 50 percent of the total spending of the Office of Legal Affairs.
Besides, the Mechanism has expanded its requests both on financial and post resources to sustain its activities, however, IIMM is indeed never transparent for its financial management and staffing procedures.
Every year, it is regrettable to see the increasing of country-specific issues in the Programme of Work of the Human Rights Council rather than the thematic issues that need to be addressed adequately. A small and developing country like Myanmar views that these excessive and extensive amounts of burden create the erosion of the essence and integrity of the Council. Furthermore, we have learnt that the Bureau of the Human Rights Council discusses how to reduce the burden of the Council which is consuming the limited resources on the basis of the efficiency measures each year. Nonetheless, it could be only on paper record while the majority members of the Council are abusing the Council and happily sponsoring the plethora of country-specific resolutions pressuring on small countries.
Therefore, it is doubtful that the deliverables and activities of the Mechanism to intervene step by step into the internal affairs of the country is kind of implementing the desire conclusions of the donors who are the primary co-sponsors of the country-specific resolutions since it has been solely relying on extra-budgetary funding from them.
Additionally, there are two country-specific resolutions on Myanmar under Item 2 and 4, tabled by the OIC and the EU at the Council every year. These lengthy and manipulated resolutions only generate holding several meetings and mandating duplicated, unnecessary and fabricated reports which run counter to the principles of universality, multilateralism, impartiality and non-selectivity. Myanmar believes that those extra meetings and passing repeated resolutions on a targeted country that the use of human rights issues for political purposes will never bring any constructive, positive and cooperative outcomes under the promotion and protection of human rights.
In this regard, Myanmar reiterates its strong rejection on mandate and reports of the IIMM is interfering with the country’s domestic jurisdiction.
Myanmar always attaches great importance to the relations and cooperation with the United Nations. Myanmar recognizes the important role of the UN in realizing fundamental human rights, and Myanmar is cooperating with the relevant UN Mechanisms. Most of the United Nations Agencies including UNDP, UN Women, UNICEF, UNOPS, UNHCR, WFP, IOM, INGOs and NGOs have been operating as UN agencies and INGOs have maintained their field offices in Myanmar and travel and authorizations have been granted to the relevant agencies. Myanmar facilitated the visit of Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and has received the delegations of respective UN Agencies on the basis of the cooperation between Myanmar and the United Nations.
The issue in Rakhine State is one of the complex challenges and the Myanmar Government has been striving with all relevant stakeholders to achieve durable solutions and sustainable development in the State. From 2021 to 2023, the Rakhine State Government has granted over sixty travel authorizations to WFP and over 80 travel authorizations to INGOs while ICRC was allowed to travel for over 500 times. On the matter of repatriation of displaced persons from Rakhine State, Myanmar has been upholding the existing bilateral agreements between Myanmar and Bangladesh made in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
In conclusion, the current political situation in Myanmar is purely internal affairs of Myanmar. As the government abides the existing Constitution and strives its great efforts to sustaining peace, tranquility, rule of law and prosperity, Myanmar wishes to highlight that IIMM which is the deleterious tool designed not at involving consent of the country-concerned in dialogue but at isolating it will not bring any constructive and genuine results for seeking the solutions.
Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations
GENEVA