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We would like to take this opportunity to recognise the assiduous and comprehensive work carried out by Mr Tomas Quintana in his role as Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar.
Following last November’s election, Myanmar has an opportunity to address the humanitarian needs of its people and engage constructively on its international human rights obligations.
We welcomed the release of Aung San Suu Kyi as a positive step and hope that this leads to the release of all political prisoners.
During the Universal Periodic Review session earlier this year the international community expressed grave concern regarding human rights abuses in Myanmar. We hope that Myanmar will heed those calls and work closely with the United Nations to address its human rights record.
New Zealand’s intervention on Myanmar’s UPR addressed the core human rights treaties, forced displacement and set out our concerns for the wellbeing of all children. In particular, we recommended that Myanmar:
In this regard, we would be interested to know what work Mr Quintana will be doing on the rights of children and in particular the issue of child soldiers.
