This International Human Rights Day, we, the Women’s Peace Network, raise alarm at the deteriorating situation of human rights across the world, re-express our solidarity with all victims and survivors of human rights violations, and call for urgent actions for their justice.
In Myanmar, a human rights catastrophe continues to rapidly deteriorate.
The Burmese military is intensifying its air strikes and ground attacks against civilians and civilian objects, including homes, schools, churches and hospitals; arbitrarily arresting and detaining over 22,000 people and exposing them to torture and ill treatment; as well as targeting women and LGBTQ+ people with rape, gang rape, and sexual and gender-based violence in Sagaing region, Karen, Chin, Karenni, Kachin and Shan states, and across the country.
The military is continuing to violate the right to humanitarian assistance by imposing arbitrary restrictions and brutalising aid workers.
Since toppling an elected government nearly five years ago, the military has made Myanmar virtually uninhabitable for our fellow people – Including youth, religious minorities, and people with disabilities.
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Such a catastrophe has left hundreds of thousands of them with no choice but to seek refuge in increasingly precarious conditions.
Rakhine state is no exception to this man-made tragedy. In its limited areas of control, the Burmese military is continuing to confine hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Rohingya in concentration camps, tighten its policies of apartheid and genocide, and intensify its air strikes against civilians in the multi-ethnic region.
In other areas, a human rights-based approach to governance unfortunately remains non-existent. Despite its rhetoric, the Arakan Army is continuing to target the Rohingya minority – including older adults, women and children – with killings, torture, arbitary arrest and detention, forced recruitment, forced labour, sexual violence and starvation. No form of violence excuses this cruel collective punishment.
There are also growing reports of the AA stealing Rohingya-owned lands and converting them to villages for the ethnic Rakhine majority in a widespread and systematic manner. The ongoing genocide is – once again – forcing the Rohingya to flee to squalid refugee camps and be trafficked over land and sea.
History is thus repeating itself in Rakhine state and across Myanmar. For decades, the country has demonstrated how human rights violations can escalate to mass atrocities and become detrimental to sustainable peace and stability.
In this context, we remind the world that the Myanmar junta’s sham election will only entrench division. It does not represent the will of the Myanmar people, who remain committed to building a truly inclusive and people-led federal democracy.
Alongside our fellow civil society, we urge the international community to:
- denounce the junta’s sham election this month
- reject its illegitimate results
- impose targeted sanctions and accountability on the junta and other perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide
- protect all civilians
- pursue measures to abolish the root causes of the catastrophe that has long imperilled the country
Ending impunity is the only way forward. – WPN
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
