HRC35 Oral Statement on States’ non-cooperation & limited access to Special Procedures in several Asian states
7 June 2017 7:21 pm
35th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Item 2: General Debate on High Commissioner’s Oral Update
Oral Statement Delivered by Ellecer Carlos on behalf of
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Wednesday, 07 June 2017
Mr President, FORUM-ASIA welcomes the High Commissioner’s statement. We share his concerns on states’ non-cooperation and selective cooperation as well as limitations to the access given to Special Procedures in several Asian states, namely Burma/Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, and the Philippines.
We are deeply concerned by personal threats and insults against the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, in the context of discussions on the over 7,000 deaths in the Philippines’ ‘war on drugs’ this past year. We call on the government to unconditionally grant unfettered access to the Special Rapporteur, and to end all threats against human rights defenders, including those cooperating with her mandate. We call on the Council to hold the Philippines accountable to standards expected of its members, including on cooperating with Special Procedures.
We are deeply concerned by restrictions faced by the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar in her efforts to access to conflict-affected areas in Kachin, Shan, and Rakhine states[1]. We call on the government of Burma/Myanmar to fully cooperate with the recently created Fact Finding Mission to the country, and to ensure a safe and enabling environment for civil society to engage with the body without any threat of reprisals.
We note the High Commissioner’s emphasis on opportunities for prevention and call on the Human Rights Council to take early action on human rights situations before they deeply deteriorate. Maldives is one such situation in Asia where freedoms of expression, assembly and association are in rapid decline and require the immediate action of the Council.
Thank you.
For a PDF version of this statement, click here.
[1] http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21355&LangID=E