A/HRC/39/41
the decision by the Committee Mr. Asfari’s treatment in detention has reportedly
deteriorated. His wife has been denied entry into Morocco on four occasions. On 13
February 2018, Mr. Asfari was placed in solitary confinement until 13 March 2018. On 13
July 2018 the Committee’s Rapporteur on Reprisals and Follow-up wrote to the
Government emphasizing the need to refrain from rep risals (G/S0 229/3MAR(8)
606/2014). On 31 July 2018 the Government responded, and the Committee decided to
keep the follow-up dialogue on this case open, emphasizing the need for the full
implementation of remedies requested. Another meeting was suggested during the
Committee’s session from 12 November to 7 December 2018.
19.
Myanmar
78.
During a briefing by members of the Security Council on their mission to Myanmar,
it was reported that Myanmar security forces had threatened Rohingya villages with
reprisals if they talked with the Security Council delegation during the v is it an d t o ld t he
villagers that those who had done so were being looked for. A Securit y Co u ncil memb er
noted that it was unacceptable that anyone should feel intimidated about speaking wit h t h e
Council (see S/PV.8255, page 6).13 Reports indicate that Rohingya villagers from Pan Taw
Pyin, Rakhine State who met with the delegation on 1 May 2018, have been forced into
hiding after being targeted by Myanmar’s security agencies. Tatmadaw, including members
of Military Security Affairs, reportedly requested local authorities to submit a list of all t h e
villagers who had spoken with the delegation. While young villagers were interacting wit h
the delegation, members of the military reportedly took video footage of the youth and then
chased them and scolded them after the interviews. Villagers who participated in the
meeting reportedly fear intimidation, harassment, and arrests. Furthermore, before the
Security Council delegation visited Rakhine, authorities in Maungdaw township had
reportedly warned the Rohingya in the surrounding villages against telling members of t h e
Security Council anything adverse about the government or security forces.
79.
Ms. Yanghee Lee, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human
rights in Myanmar, reported to the Human Rights Council in March 2018 that she had
received information about violent reprisals committed by the armed forces against
civilians who she had met with following her visit to Rakhine State in Jan uary 2017 (s ee
A/HRC/37/70, para. 63). These include a killing, beatings, and rape. The Special
Rapporteur received credible information that the armed forces attacked a village in
Rakhine a couple of days after her 2017 visit as a reprisal against those in th e co mmu n it y
who spoke to her. The armed forces reportedly gathered the village men and women
together, and subjected them to severe mistreatment, beatings and assaults, and in an o t her
village, one man was killed.
80.
The Governing Body of the ILO reported on 7 February 2018 that it remained
concerned about two cases of apparent reprisal against complainants in forced labour cases
(see GB.332/INS/8, para. 15).14 The two cases were also raised by the Special Rap p ort eur
on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, in her March 2018 report to the Human
Rights Council (see A/HRC/37/70, para. 15).
81.
The ILO expressed concern about the detention on 18 August 2017 of Mr. Aung Ko
Htwe, who had been forcibly recruited into the army in 2005 at age 14 (see GB.332/ INS/ 8,
para. 16). He receives continued protection according to the 2007 agreement b et ween t h e
ILO and Myanmar that gives victims the right to lodge complaints alleging the use of
forced labour and to seek redress without “retaliatory action.” 15 In 2009, Mr. Htwe’s family
filed a complaint about his underage recruitment with the ILO and, under its agreement o f
Supplementary Understanding, is entitled to continued protection from reprisals relat ed t o
his forced recruitment complaint. At the time he was serving a commuted 10-y ear p ris on
sentence for allegedly being implicated in a murder with two other child soldiers wh en h e
was attempting to flee the army in 2007, a case that had been addressed by t h e ILO t o n o
avail.
13
14
15
GE.18-13325
UN Security Council, Briefing by Security Council mission to Bangladesh and Myanmar (28 April to
2 May 2018), 8255 th meeting, S/PV.8255m 14 May 2018.
ILO, Follow-up to the resolution concerning remaining measures on the subject of Myanmar adopted
by the Conference at its 102nd Session (2013), 7 February 2018.
ILO, Supplementary Understanding between the Government of Myanmar and ILO, 2007.
33