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Human Rights Council
Forty-sixth session
22 February–24 March 2021
Agenda item 4
Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenants on Human Rights, and reaffirming all relevant Human Rights Council and General Assembly resolutions and decisions on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, the most recent being Assembly resolution 75/238 of 31 December 2020 and Council resolutions S-27/1 of 5 December 2017, 37/32 of 9 April 2018, 39/2 of 27 September 2018, 40/29 of 22 March 2019, 42/3 of 26 September 2019 and 43/26 of 22 June 2020,

Welcoming the Security Council statement on the situation in Myanmar of 4 February 2021, the statement by the President of the Security Council on Myanmar of 10 March 2021, the meetings of the Security Council held on 2 February and 5 March 2021 and the briefing convened by the General Assembly with the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar on 26 February 2021,

Recalling its resolution S-29/1, adopted by the Human Rights Council at its special session on the human rights implications of the crisis in Myanmar, held on 12 February 2021,

Reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, political independence, territorial integrity and unity of Myanmar,

Condemning in the strongest terms the deposition of the elected civilian Government by the Myanmar armed forces on 1 February 2021,

Condemning in the strongest terms also the declaration of the state of emergency, the suspension of the parliament and the arbitrary detention and arrest of President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, other government officials and politicians, human rights defenders, journalists, civil society members, local and foreign advisers and others,

Expressing deep concern at attacks against and arrests and harassment of journalists and media workers and the restrictions on and interruptions to the Internet and social media, which unnecessarily and disproportionately restrict the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and the right to freedom of association,

Expressing deep concern also at the violent acts, including killings, committed against peaceful demonstrators exercising their right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, which have led to deaths and many injuries, including of children and medical staff, in several cities and towns, as a consequence of the indiscriminate use of lethal force against a crowd and the misuse of less-lethal weapons by the Myanmar armed forces and police,

Expressing deep concern further at reports of several laws being and having been amended since the deposition of the elected civilian Government and the suspension of the parliament, which remove rights with respect to liberty and security of person and due process,

Expressing deep concern that the results of the election and the expressed democratic wishes of the people of Myanmar have not been honoured, and welcoming the conduct of general elections on 8 November 2020, despite the health and security challenges, which marked an important milestone in the State’s transition towards civilian and democratic rule, while noting with concern the disenfranchisement of certain ethnic and religious minorities, including the Rohingya, and the continuing restrictions on the right to freedom of expression online and offline, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information,

Reiterating its grave concern that the Rohingya were in effect made stateless by the enactment of the 1982 Citizenship Law, dispossessed from previously held rights and eventually disenfranchised, from 2015, from the electoral process,

Welcoming the work and the reports of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, including his report submitted to the Human Rights Council at the present session, while deeply regretting the non-cooperation of Myanmar with the Special Rapporteur and the denial of access to Myanmar since December 2017 and the ongoing noncooperation of the Myanmar armed forces,

Welcoming also the conclusions on children and armed conflict in Myanmar of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict of the Security Council, and noting the concerns expressed by the Working Group about the grave violations committed against children, and the concern expressed by the Secretary-General in his sixth report on children and armed conflict in Myanmar, Welcoming further the work and the reports of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, established by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 39/2, to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011, in particular in Chin, Kachin, Kayin, Rakhine and Shan States, making use of the information handed over by the independent international fact-finding mission, and to prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings, in accordance with international law standards, in national, regional or international courts or tribunals that have, or may in the future have, jurisdiction over these crimes, in accordance with international law, and in particular its report submitted to the Human Rights Council at its forty-fifth session,

Encouraging the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar to continue its efforts to advance its public outreach, in order to explain its mandate and work process to victims and other stakeholders,

Welcoming the work of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar, and encouraging her further engagement and dialogue involving all relevant stakeholders, including civil society, as requested by the General Assembly in its resolution 72/248 of 24 December 2017,