UNPO Members High on Agenda in Forthcoming UN Examinations
Violations against UNPO Members living or exiled in Rwanda, Nepal and Myanmar raised in stakeholders’ report ahead of UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review process.
UNPO has drawn attention to violations against various Member groups in three UN states ahead of their inaugural examinations at the Human Rights Council through the Universal Periodic Review process. Rwanda will be one of the first states during the 10th Session of the UPR Working Group to receive comments, questions and recommendations from UN member states on January 24 2011, followed by Nepal on January 25 2011 and Myanmar on January 27 2011.
UNPO was cited sixteen times in the 10 page report on Rwanda, underlining the disproportionate level of violence and sexual abuse faced by the Batwa, as well as their poor integration and high levels of poverty. Dispossesion of land and forcible relocation of the Batwa was another area of concern included in the stakeholder’s report which was due to large numbers of returning migrants in the months and years following the 1994 genocide and government sponsored economic activities such as logging and agricultural projects.
Twenty organisations submitted to the stakeholder report in Nepal, and UNPO was cited several times in reference to their concern for the wellbeing and security of refugees especially of the sizeable Tibetan and Uyghur populations. UNPO urged the government of Nepal to sign and adhere the 1951 UN Convention and the 1967 UN Protocol on refugees, to show their international commitment to standards accepted in the treatment of refugees and implemented by most other states.
In the stakeholder’s report on Myanmar, UNPO underlined the difficulties for the Chin, Karenni, Mon and Naga people in preserving their language, culture and traditions and for Christians to practice their religion freely. UNPO argued that the ratification of the ILO Convention 169, the UN Declaratio on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the ICCPR and the ICESCR would be a first step towards safeguarding the rights of all citizens in the country.
UNPO intends to be in Geneva during the 10th Session of the Working Group of the UPR in order to ensure concerns are raised by UN state parties.
To see the Stakeholder report on Rwanda click here.
To see the UNPO report on Rwanda, click here.
To see the Stakeholder report on Nepal click here.
To see the UNPO report on Nepal, click here.
To see the Stakeholder report on Myanmar click here.
To see the UNPO report on Myanmar, click here.
