Violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters and the higher education community in Myanmar
Posted March 25, 2021
Scholars at Risk (SAR) has sent to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) the below letter raising concerns over widespread human rights violations by Myanmar’s military and police following the February 1 military coup and their disastrous impact on Myanmar’s higher education community.
SAR calls on the HRC and other state and non-state stakeholders, including the higher education community, to take all available steps to secure an end to actions by Myanmar’s military and police that restrict or punish peaceful protest; secure the release of imprisoned students, scholars, and other political prisoners; restore civilian-led government and rule of law; and protect and promote fundamental human rights, including academic freedom, in Myanmar.
Sent via email to the Honorable Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of the United Nations Human Rights Council
March 25, 2021
RE: Violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters and the higher education community in Myanmar
Your Excellency:
I write on behalf of Scholars at Risk (SAR) to express grave concern over widespread human rights violations by Myanmar’s military and police following the military coup that began on February 1, 2021. SAR respectfully urges the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to take all available steps to secure an end to actions by Myanmar’s military and police that restrict or punish peaceful protest; secure the release of imprisoned students, scholars, and other political prisoners; restore civilian-led government and rule of law; and protect and promote fundamental human rights, including academic freedom, in Myanmar.
SAR is an international network of more than 500 universities and colleges in 43 countries dedicated to protecting the human rights of scholars around the world, and to raising awareness, understanding of, and respect for the principles of academic freedom and its constituent freedoms of expression, opinion, thought, association, and travel. In cases like this, involving alleged infringement of these freedoms, SAR investigates hoping to clarify and resolve matters favorably.
SAR understands that, since the February 1 coup, Myanmar’s military (“the Tatmadaw”) and police forces have violently cracked down on civilians peacefully protesting the coup. As in past pro-democracy movements in Myanmar, university students and faculty have been a major force in protests, strikes, and other forms of peaceful dissent. In their attempts to quash and deter protesters peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, the military and police have frequently fired live rounds, rubber bullets, and tear gas. The use of lethal force has resulted in more than two hundred people killed, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), an NGO that advocates for the release of political prisoners in Myanmar.[1] Among those killed by security forces are growing numbers of students, such as Yadanabon University second-year student Ma Kyal Sin[2] and first-year medical student Khant Nyar Hein,[3] both shot during protests. Police have arbitrarily detained or arrested more than two thousand people.[4] They include University of Yangon professor Arkar Moe Thu, an organizer within the pro-democracy Civil Disobedience Movement, who is being held under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code.[5] The military has also stormed and taken over university campuses, among other civilian structures.[6] On March 7, for example, dozens of soldiers fired rubber bullets and tear gas in their efforts to take over the Mandalay Technological University campus.[7] Weeks earlier, soldiers raided the campus of the Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University, after which they reportedly threatened faculty and staff, telling them to “behave intelligently” before leaving.[8] Beyond gaining strategic footholds, raids and occupations of universities indicate a clear effort to exercise control over Myanmar’s higher education community and violently quash dissent by students, scholars, and other members of the campus community who have participated in protests.
The February 1 coup and the subsequent violent actions by military and police forces represent some of the most alarming assaults on human rights, democratic society, and the rule of law that we are seeing today. Thousands of civilians have lost their lives and liberties, with more deaths, injuries, and arrests expected.
Beyond the distressing loss of life and deprivation of human rights, SAR is deeply concerned about the future of Myanmar’s higher education community. In the years leading up to the coup, Myanmar had exhibited signs of positive developments within its academic sector.[9] Alongside that development, experts reported significant improvements in respect for academic freedom in Myanmar.[10] An express commitment to human rights was also evidenced, when, in 2016, human rights law was made a required course for all LLB students in Myanmar.[11] Given the interdependent and reinforcing relationships between quality higher education, respect for academic freedom among other human rights, and democratic society, SAR worries that the coup and the ongoing, brutal crackdown will erase the important progress Myanmar has made in recent years, endangering the country’s higher education community.
We therefore respectfully urge you to press military and police forces in Myanmar to immediately refrain from the use of force, detentions, and arrests against protesters; refrain from raiding and occupying educational facilities and other civilian structures; and remove military and police forces currently occupying the same facilities and structures. We further ask that you urge the military to swiftly restore democratic, civilian-led government and rule of law in Myanmar, and protect and promote human rights, including academic freedom, and other conditions needed for quality higher education and the free exchange of ideas.
We thank you for your consideration and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Robert Quinn
Executive Director
Scholars at Risk
CC:
Member States (Not individually listed here)
UN Human Rights Council
The Honorable Michelle Bachelet
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Honorable Thomas Andrews
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Honorable Irene Khan
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Honorable Clement Nyaletsossi Voule
Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Honorable Koumbou Boly Barry
Special Rapporteur on the right to education
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Honorable Kyaw Zeya
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to France
Permanent Delegate of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to UNESCO
Permanent Delegation of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to UNESCO
Mr. Peter Wells
Chief of Section
Higher Education
UNESCO
The Honorable Dato Lim Jock Hoi
Secretary-General
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
Dr. Ninnat Olanvoravuth
Secretary-General
Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning
The Honorable Josep Borrell Fontelles
High Representative/Vice-President
European Commission
The Honorable Eamon Gilmore
EU Special Representative for Human Rights
European External Action Service
The Honorable Ranieri Sabatucci,
Ambassador / Head of Delegation
Delegation of the European Union to Myanmar
MEP David McAllister
Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs
European Parliament
MEP Tomas Tobé
Chair of the Committee on Development
European Parliament
MEP Daniel Caspary
Chair of the ASEAN Delegation of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The Honorable Antony Blinken
Secretary of State
United States Department of State