LAW, GJC: SIDE EVENT ON ‘RESTITUTION FOR LOSS OF LAND AND PROPERTY: PURSUING JUSTICE AND PEACE FOR THE ROHINGYA’

 

On 30 September, Asia Justice Coalition members Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) and Global Justice Center organised a side event at the UN General Assembly entitled "Restitution for Loss of Land and Property: Pursuing Justice and Peace for the Rohingya”. The panel featured Nicholas Koumjian (Head, Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar), Maung Sawyeddollah (Rohingya human rights activist and atrocity crime survivor), Lucky Karim (Founder, Refugee Women for Peace and Justice), and Nick Leddy (Head of Litigation, Legal Action Worldwide).

 

GJC, LAW: SIDE EVENT ON ‘PROSPECTS AND STRATEGIES FOR GENDER EQUAL JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE ROHINGYA AND OTHER MINORITIES’

 

On 29 September, ahead of the High-Level Conference on the Rohingya and other minorities, the Global Justice Center and Legal Action Worldwide held a side event on “Prospects and Strategies for Gender Equal Justice and Accountability for the Rohingya and Other Minorities” in New York. The event highlighted the disproportionate impacts of the crisis on women and girls and the critical need for gender-sensitive justice and accountability for gross human rights violations, including conflict-related sexual violence. The speakers included Nicholas Koumjian (Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar), Tom Andrews (UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar), Lucky Karim (Refugee Women for Peace and Justice), Naw Hser Hser (Women’s League of Burma), Kelly Adams (LAW), and Michelle Onello (GJC).

 

HRW: ‘SUPPORT PROTECTION, JUSTICE FOR ROHINGYA’

 

On 29 September, Human Rights Watch urged UN Member States to implement concrete and targeted actions to protect the Rohingya and establish accountability for the Myanmar military junta and the Arakan Army. Ahead of the High-Level Conference on the Rohingya, HRW called upon States to ‘acknowledge that conditions for safe returns do not currently exist and oppose endorsing the immediate repatriation of Rohingya to Myanmar’ and ‘condemn the Myanmar military and Arakan Army’s abuses against the Rohingya, support efforts for cross-border humanitarian aid, and pressure the Arakan Army to improve conditions and allow freedom of movement in areas under its control.’

 

BHRN, BROUK: SIDE EVENT ON “SOLIDARITY WITH BURMA: DIPLOMATIC OPTIONS FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE”

 

On 29 September, Asia Justice Coalition members Burma Human Rights Network and the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), and Shan State Refugee Committee held a closed-door Roundtable discussion on “Solidarity with Burma: Diplomatic Options for Peace and Justice”. The event saw remarks from Tun Khin (BROUK), Kyaw Win (BHRN), Myra Dahgaypaw (UUSC), representative from the Shan Human Rights Foundation, and Nicholas Koumjian (Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar).

 

AI: ‘ROHINGYA REPATRIATION ‘CATASTROPHIC’ UNDER EXISTING CONDITIONS IN NORTHERN RAKHINE STATE’

 

On 29 September, Amnesty International published a new dispatch and warned against dangerously premature and hasty decisions on repatriation of the Rohingya to Rakhine State, which is nowhere ready for safe, voluntary, and dignified return. According to AI, “Existing conditions in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State are nowhere near ready for Rohingya to return safely. The Arakan Army has, to many Rohingya, replaced the Myanmar military as their oppressor. The military are using Rohingya civilians as cannon fodder to fight against the Arakan Army, and Rohingya armed groups are launching new attacks into the territory… [A]ny attempt to push ahead with repatriation without addressing the acute dangers facing all communities – Rohingya, Rakhine and other ethnic minorities in Bangladesh and in Myanmar – could be catastrophic.”

 

BHRN: UN MUST IMPOSE A GLOBAL ARMS AND FUEL EMBARGO ON THE MYANMAR MILITARY JUNTA

 

On 20 September, the Burma Human Rights Network called upon UN Member States to impose a global embargo on jet fuel and arms to the Myanmar military junta, following daily airstrike attacks on civilians. According to Kyaw Win (Executive Director, BHRN), “junta airstrikes have repeatedly struck schools, monasteries, and displacement sites in civilian areas. Regardless of Security Council action, governments should adopt coordinated national measures to stop these supplies by suspending export licenses, blocking fuel and aircraft‑related transfers and maintenance, denying port and insurance services, and sanctioning the companies and brokers enabling these war crimes”.

LAW ORAL STATEMENT ON THE SITUATION IN MYANMAR AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

 

On 8 September, Asia Justice Coalition member Jack Torbet (Legal Action Worldwide) delivered a statement at the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Myanmar calling for coordinated action by the international community for the Rohingya. LAW urged the Council for increased sanctions, the use of universal jurisdiction to initiate investigations and prosecutions for core international crimes, and unwavering political pressure. It further called for reparation, including recognition, citizenship, and access to original land destroyed or confiscated by the military and the Arakan Army.

 

‘BROUK PRESIDENT TUN KHIN ADDRESSES UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL AND MEETS WITH HIGH COMMISSIONER VOLKER TÜRK’

 

On 8 September, Tun Khin (BROUK President) delivered an oral statement on the human rights situation in Myanmar at the UN Human Rights Council and met with the UN Human Rights Chief. Tun Khin outlined the catastrophic situation in Rakhine and highlighted the failure of the international community to provide adequate aid and protection. He further urged States to uphold the international arrest warrants issued by the Argentinian court in BROUK’s universal jurisdiction case.

 

ICJ: ‘ENHANCED INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE ON THE HIGH COMMISSIONER’S REPORT AND INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIVE MECHANISM FOR MYANMAR’

 

On 8 September, the International Commission of Jurists condemned the ongoing systematic atrocity crimes that have been carried out chronically in Myanmar at the 60^th session of the UN Human Rights Council. ICJ urged the Council to “respond decisively to the human rights crisis in Myanmar and call on the international community to use and support all necessary and effective means to ensure justice and accountability for all crimes under international law."

 

FORTIFY RIGHTS: NEW REPORT ON MILITARY AIRSTRIKES IN MYANMAR

 

On 4 September, Fortify Rights released a new report entitled “Crashing Down on Us: Myanmar Military Junta Aerial Attacks, War Crimes, and Impunity in Kachin and Karenni States" and held a panel discussion at the FCCT, Bangkok. The report reveals the identities of 22 Myanmar military junta officials responsible for deadly airstrikes on civilians and protected sites in Kachin and Karenni states between October 2023 and November 2024—attacks likely amounting to war crimes under international law. 

 

BROUK: ‘ARGENTINE COURT URGED TO INCLUDE ARAKAN ARMY ATROCITIES IN ROHINGYA GENOCIDE CASE’

 

On 2 September, the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK formally petitioned the Federal Court in Buenos Aires to expand its universal jurisdiction case on the Rohingya genocide to also include atrocity crimes by the Arakan Army (AA). In doing so, it hopes to seek arrest warrants for Commander-in-Chief Major General Twan Mrat Naing, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Brigadier General Nyo Twan Awng, and others in the chain of command. According to BROUK, “it is impossible to view the AA’s crimes as separate from the wider pattern of violations facing the Rohingya. Rather, they are part of the same genocide and crimes against humanity the Rohingya have faced for decades.”

 

GCR2P: LETTER TO UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL MEMBERS ON ATROCITY PREVENTION PRIORITIES AT THE COUNCIL’S 60TH SESSION

 

On 2 September, the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect published an open letter to the Human Rights Council calling on UN Member States to uphold the shared commitment to prevent atrocity crimes across situations before the Council. On Myanmar, GCR2P urged the Member States to “hold discussions on repatriation to prioritise the protection of the Rohingya” and to “highlight the worsening humanitarian situation in Rakhine State and in refugee camps in Bangladesh, where funding shortfalls and aid cuts threaten to reduce food rations and deny victims and survivors access to basic services.” On 20 September, GCR2P also published a commentary, ‘Reflecting on 20 years of the UN Human Rights Council and the Responsibility to Protect’.

 

GJC: THE DRAFT CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CONVENTION AND FORCED MARRIAGE

 

On 2 September, the Global Justice Center published a summary of its legal brief on ‘forced marriage’ as a part of the Gender and Crimes Against Humanity treaty series. GJC calls upon States to codify the crime of forced marriage in the CAH treaty.

IIMM: ‘MYANMAR MECHANISM REPORT IDENTIFIES ENTITIES BENEFITTING FROM DESTRUCTION AND DISPOSSESSION OF ROHINGYA LAND AND PROPERTY IN 2017’

 

On 29 September, the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar released a new report entitled “The Destruction and Dispossession of Rohingya Land and Property during the 2017 Clearance Operations – Public Summary”, which details the destruction and seizure of Rohingya homes, farms, mosques and other property in 2017, and identifies Myanmar security forces units, corporations and others involved in repurposing the land to erase all traces of the Rohingya’s long presence, including by constructing Border Guard Police (BGP) bases.

 

UNICEF STATEMENT ON REPORTED DEATH OF CHILDREN AFTER BRUTAL ATTACK ON SCHOOL IN RAKHINE STATE, MYANMAR

 

On 12 September, UNICEF expressed extreme concern about reports of an overnight attack on a boarding school in Kyauktaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, that reportedly killed and injured children as they slept. According to UNICEF, “violence against children must stop. Schools, dormitories, homes, and the essential services that children rely on must remain safe at all times. Parties to the conflict must uphold their obligations under international law to protect civilians, including children, safeguard civilian infrastructure, and allow lifesaving humanitarian assistance to reach those in urgent need.”

OHCHR: ‘DEATH, DESTRUCTION AND DESPERATION MIRROR 2017 ATROCITIES’

 

On 2 September, the UN Human Rights Office released a new report documenting the worsening crisis in Myanmar, particularly Rakhine State. The report provides a stark reminder of the atrocities committed by the military in 2017, pointing to increased killings, torture, razing of villages, and mass forced displacement. According to the High Commissioner Volker Türk, “The military and the Arakan Army have acted with near complete impunity, enabling the recurrence of violations in an endless cycle of suffering for the civilian population” and he called upon the Security Council for “a full referral of the Myanmar situation to the International Criminal Court.