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Statement by His
Excellency U Mya Than, Permanent Representative and
Leader of the Myanmar Observer Delegation to the fifty-ninth session of the
Commission on Human Rights on the oral presentation by Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro under agenda item 9
Madame Chair,
I have great pleasure in extending the warmest congratulations of the Myanmar delegation on your election as the Chairperson of the fifty-ninth session of the Commission on Human Rights and for the skilful and effective manner in which you have been conducting the proceedings of this session.
I should also like to offer the warmest congratulations of the Myanmar delegation to His Excellency Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello on his assumption of duties as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. We commend him for his constructive approach and great dedication to the cause of human rights. We wish him every success in his endeavours as the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Madame Chair,
Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro has just presented his oral report on his latest mission to Myanmar. He had already submitted his progress report contained in E/CN.4/2003/41.
I wish to express the deep appreciation of the Myanmar delegation to Professor Pinheiro for the quality, balance and professionalism that, in the main, characterize his reports.
With regard to the incident he referred to, may I briefly
say that we regret that this unfortunate incident had occurred during his visit
to
Madame Chair,
Progress in the political, economic, social and cultural conditions, in general, and improvements in human rights situation, in particular, in Myanmar have been sustained, steady and significant.
In this context, it is perhaps best to quote from the reports of Professor Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar. In his progress report, Professor Pinheiro has made the following comments and observations:
Quote
"The policy option now should be engagement, not isolation. By principled engagement - as he has indicated many times before - the Special Rapporteur understands, among other elements, a dialogue, support for change, empowerment of community, strengthening of autonomous civil society elements, and the enlargement of the presence and the capacity of United Nations agencies." "~)
"Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur is of the view that the sooner the international community is ready to assist, the better and smoother the change will be in Myanmar. He therefore continues to urge the international community to engage with Myanmar even before the SPDC introduces democratic reforms. He believes that the people of the country should not be held hostage to political transition. Every political transition in the world is a process, sometimes a tortuous and slow one, and it would be unrealistic and naive to expect an instant regime change in Myanmar."
"The Special Rapporteur conducted his third fact-finding mission to Myanmar from 17 to 28 October 2002. As during his previous missions, he received full cooperation from the Government, for which he expresses once again his sincere appreciation. He was able to carry out his programme in its entirety and enjoyed complete freedom of movement and access to private persons and others of interest."
"A very important step by the SPDC was the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, which, according to her, has been unconditional."
"On 21 November 2002 the first group of 115 prisoners, including members of the NLD and other "security" detainees, was freed; this was welcomed by the Special Rapporteur in his press statement."
"As during the previous missions, all the prisoners interviewed by the Special Rapporteur (see annex) confirmed that their general detention conditions had improved in recent years. This reflects the positive commitment of the authorities and the constructive cooperation with the ICRC since May 1999."
"The Special Rapporteur was pleased to learn from prisoners themselves that there had been no retaliation against persons interviewed during his previous missions, in accordance with the assurances received from the SPDC."
"The Special Rapporteur acknowledges as an important development the opening of an ILO Office in Yangon and the appointment in October 2002 of the ILO Liaison Officer to cover all activities relevant to ensuring the prompt and effective elimination of forced labour in the country. It would now be a very positive move for the SPDC to confirm its commitment to end forced labour by strengthening its cooperation with the ILO and allowing it free access throughout the country."
"The SPDC members believe that they have achieved much since 1989; ceasefires with many insurgent groups, infrastructure development, opening up to a market economy and foreign investment, diplomatic initiatives (e.g. membership of the Association of South-East Asian Nations), positive developments in the area of human rights mentioned by the Special Rapporteur in his previous reports (see E/CN.4/2002/45). According to third-party views, it is true that there has been more development, peace and stability in more areas than before and there is more freedom (in relative terms)."
Unquote
Madame Chair,
Furthermore, Professor Pinheiro has highlighted a number of very important positive developments in his oral report a few moments ago.
Members and observers of this esteemed Commission would have
no doubt noted the very important and positive developments
that was mentioned by Professor Pinheiro in
his oral report with regard to the contents of his discussions with His
Excellency General Khin Nyunt,
Secretary (1) of the State Peace and Development Council during his latest
mission to
I am sure that no one in this meeting hall will fail to recognize and to appreciate this extremely significant and positive development.
Professor Pinheiro has also made positive comments on the increased presence of ICRC in Myanmar and the progress in cooperation between the Myanmar Government and the UNHCR in northern Rakhine State.
He also noted as a positive step the visit of the representatives of Amnesty International to Myanmar in February 2003. These are most credible and well-documented facts, cited from the progress report and the oral report of Professor Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Myanmar.
They are an eloquent testimony to the positive developments in Myanmar and the significant achievements accomplished by the Myanmar Government in the field of promotion and protection of human rights.
Madame Chair,
May I also add a few more comments to give you a fuller picture of the latest developments.
Since Professor Pinheiro submitted his progress report, the Myanmar Government has released 45 prisoners on 16 March 2003. The number of prisoners, including NLD members, released in the past few months has risen to over 1000.
I wish to point out that there are misconceptions about the current status of the national reconciliation process in Myanmar. To give you a brief update, there have been 12 meetings between a special team led by a cabinet-level representative and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of the NLD. There have also been meetings between the two sides at the higher and lower levels. I should like to stress here that our national reconciliation process is a homegrown process in our own traditional way.
May I also offer a few comments in order to rectify some information in Professor Pinheiro's oral report which are factually incorrect. Myanmar has very friendly relations with her neighbours, including Thailand. We have mechanisms such as Joint Commissions and border committees at various levels. We work out matters relating to bilateral relations amicably and peacefully through bilateral channels. Cooperation through bilateral channels in this respect have worked very well and effectively.
I wish to point out that Myanmar has a healthy GDP growth rate of 8.4 percent against the original target of 6 percent in its five-year plan from 1996-1997 to 2000-2001. In fact, the United Nations Development Programme has upgraded Myanmar since 1999 from the category of "countries enjoying low development" to the "medium human development" category in their human development index. References in his oral report to paddy quota system, malnutrition and food insecurity are factually incorrect. Myanmar is self-sufficient in food production, and is exporting its surplus rice and other agricultural products. Myanmar is even considered to be a potential source of food security in the region.
Madame Chair,
I hope that the aforementioned positive and encouraging developments will be adequately reflected, as they should be, in the draft resolution on Myanmar this year. The resolution on the situation of human rights situation in Myanmar, tabled in the Third Committee of the fifty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly last year, was shorter and more sharply focussed. It is generally agreed that country-specific resolutions ought to be shorter, better focussed, constructive and forward-looking.
I hope that sponsors of this year's draft resolution on the situation of human rights in Myanmar will adopt such a new constructive approach.
Madame Chair,
We do hope that Professor Pinheiro will maintain and carry forward his constructive and positive approach in representing the human rights situation on Myanmar in future, as well. With the proviso that he does so, we shall continue our cooperation with him, as we have done in the past.
I thank you, Madame Chair.