Burma: "The culture of impunity must end"
Demonstrator in Rangoon, February 19, 2021. REUTERS - STRINGER
Text by: Jelena Tomic Follow
5 mins
Interview with Aung Myo Min, Minister of Human Rights in the Burmese underground government of national unity.
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Faced with an all-powerful army, the Burmese resistance is organized.
Deputies elected last November and ousted from power by the junta formed a new underground government of national unity a month ago, half made up of ministers and secretaries of state from minorities.
To escape arrests, most have had to go into exile.
Aung Myo Min, famous human rights activist, has held the unprecedented post of Minister of Human Rights for two weeks in a country that has lived under the yoke of military dictatorship for nearly half a century .
RFI: You have devoted a good part of your life to promoting and defending human rights. Colossal challenges await you, what are the first measures implemented by your firm?
Aung Myo Min
:
My strategy can be broken down into three points. We must document, record and preserve all human rights violations since the coup. It's primordial. We have received over 30,000 complaints of crimes committed by the junta across the country. There are arbitrary arrests, cases of death under torture, massacres of innocent people including very young children or the suffering of internally displaced people in ethnic areas. Everything must be carefully listed to serve as evidence in order to judge those responsible and do justice to the population.
The culture of impunity must end.
It is deeply rooted in our society, our history and the military in particular have never been tried for their crimes.
All these documents will serve us for future criminal proceedings before the International Court of Justice or the International Criminal Court, it is extremely important.
What do you expect from the international community?
All this evidence of crimes against humanity committed by the junta can be used to encourage our friends in the international community to take stronger and immediate actions to put an end to these human rights violations.
Sanctions against the military must be stepped up, by cutting off their sources of funding, to stop the purchase of arms and the culture of impunity.
Burma has one of the greatest ethnic diversity in the world. It is a complex issue that is the source of divisions and conflicts that has never been resolved. What would be the solution?
We must first learn the lessons of the failures of the previous civilian government, which was unable to act due to the control of the military.
I am talking here about the treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, and in particular the Rohingya.
Due to military propaganda, they were never recognized and the previous government failed to protect them.
It's a long, complex story of mistrust.
We must therefore pursue a clear policy of recognition of all minorities, including the Rohingya.
All must be protected by the law and their rights respected, they must be free from fear and protected from all violence.
We no longer have the right to hide or ignore this problem.
We have to face it.
We have set ourselves a roadmap in which we intend to repeal the 1982 citizenship law. It is a deeply discriminatory law and we are considering a future Constitution which would recognize the dignity and the rights of the population in a peaceful union and federal.
Four years ago, several hundred thousand Rohingya Muslims fled repression by the Burmese army. One million refugees still live in unsanitary camps in southern Bangladesh. What is the position of your department on this issue?
This is part of the recommendations of the commission set up in 2017 by Kofi Annan.
And we accept them.
All people who lived in Burma must have the right to return.
And this repatriation must be done in safety and with dignity.
The Rohingya must be reintegrated into the community to which they belong.
How do you imagine the Burma of tomorrow?
The government of national unity has a very great responsibility: it must meet the immense expectations of the population.
We must ensure that all government policies align with international human rights standards.
Like the condition of women or the question of the repeal of certain repressive laws.
International human rights laws must be respected and included in our future Constitution of federal union.
We want to consult with everyone to have a law that is not based on race.
All people born in the country or who have lived there for several generations must have the right to citizenship, without being discriminated against.
Such solutions can ensure equal opportunities for all.
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