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로힝야 집단학살에 대한 국제사법재판소(ICJ)의 

긴급조치 명령 환영한다 

미얀마 정부는 긴급조치 명령 성실히 이행해야

집단학살 책임자 처벌하고, 로힝야에 대한 차별과 탄압 중단해야

 

지난 23일 유엔 최고법원인 국제사법재판소(ICJ)는 미얀마 정부에 로힝야족 집단학살을 막기 위해 할 수 있는 모든 조치를 취할 것을 명령했다. 구체적으로 ICJ는 ▷제노사이드 범죄의 방지와 처벌에 관한 협약에 따라 미얀마 정부가 로힝야에 대한 초법적인 살인과 학대, 성폭행을 비롯한 성적 폭력, 집과 마을에 대한 방화, 농지와 축산활동 파괴, 식량과 생필품 박탈 등을 막을 조치를 즉시 취할 것 ▷군대와 준군사조직, 무장부대 등 미얀마 정부의 지시나 지원을 받는 모든 조직과 개인들도 로힝야를 겨냥하여 제노사이드 범죄에 해당하는 행위를 하지 않을 것 ▷제노사이드 범죄의 어떠한 증거도 파괴되지 않도록 조치를 취하고, 증거들을 보존하기 위한 조치도 분명히 할 것 ▷미얀마 정부는 4개월 뒤 어떤 조치를 취했는지 보고하고, 이후 최종 판결이 나올 때까지 6개월마다 관련 조치와 상황을 보고할 것을 명령했다. 로힝야와 연대하는 한국시민사회모임은 ICJ의 긴급조치 명령을 환영하며, 미얀마 정부는 학살에 대한 책임을 인정하고 긴급조치를 성실히 이행할 것을 촉구한다.

 

로힝야에 대한 미얀마 정부의 차별과 탄압은 지난 40여년간 계속되어왔다. 2018년  유엔 미얀마 진상조사단(UN Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar)은 444페이지에 달하는 보고서를 통해 미얀마 군부의 탄압 행위는 가늠하기조차 어려울 정도였다며 미얀마의 로힝야 학살 범죄를 ‘전쟁범죄’, ‘반인도주의적 범죄’, ‘제노사이드’ 라고 규정한 바 있다. 2019년에도 유엔은 미얀마에 남아있는 60만 명의 로힝야들에 대한 잔혹 행위가 계속되고 있고, 로힝야들의 삶은 개탄스러울 정도라는 보고서를 발표하기도 했다. 이번 ICJ의 긴급조치 명령은 로힝야들이 여전히 “심각한 제노사이드의 위험”에 놓여있다는 것을 인정한 의미있는 결정이다. 또한 세계에서 가장 박해 받는 민족인 로힝야에 대한 더 이상의 잔혹 행위를 멈추라는 국제사회의 엄중한 경고이기도 하다. 

 

문제는 미얀마 정부가 학살에 대한 책임을 부인하고 있다는 것이다. 지난해 12월 ICJ 재판에서도 아웅산 수치 국가자문역은 “자원 부국에서 다분히 일어나는 내부 무장갈등이었고, 인종학살의 의도는 없었다”며 학살 혐의를 전면 부인하고 국제사회가 너무 성급한 판단을 하고 있다며 미얀마 군 사법제도에 따라 이미 이루어지고 있는 진상규명 활동을 존중해야 한다고 진술했다. 그러나 그가 언급한 미얀마 독립조사위원회(ICOE)는 수치의 ICJ 진술과 거의 일치하는 조사 결과를 지난 1월 20일 발표했다. ICOE는 일부 군인들에 의한 부적절한 물리력 사용 등은 전쟁범죄에 해당할 수 있지만 국가와 민족, 인종, 종교 집단을 파괴하려는 의도 또는 제노사이드를 자행하려는 의도가 있었다고 주장할 증거는 불충분하다고 밝혔다. ICOE가 공정하고 독립적인 조사를 수행할 수 있는 구조를 가지고 있는지, 국제기준에 따라 조사를 수행할 수 있을지에 대한 심각한 국제적 우려가 있었던 만큼 이번 결과는 예견된 것이었다. 여기에 더해 ICJ의 긴급조치 결정을 앞두고 내놓은 ICOE의 최종 결과는 미얀마 정부의 책임을 회피하기 위한 또 다른 방어막이었을 뿐이다. 

 

미얀마 정부는 이번 ICJ의 명령을 엄중하게 받아들이고 긴급조치를 성실히 이행해야 한다. “로힝야에 대한 집단 학살은 없었다”, “일부 로힝야들이 학대의 정도를 과장했을 수 있으며 국제사법시스템이 아직 허위 정보를 걸러낼 능력이 있지는 않다”고 반발할 일이 아니다. 미얀마 정부는 국제사회와 함께 로힝야 학살의 진상을 규명하고 책임자를 반드시 처벌해야 한다. 조사나 인도주의 활동을 위해 미얀마에 있는 로힝야 마을에 대한 안전하고 자유로운 접근 역시 허용해야 한다. 또한 지난 40년간 무국적자로 온갖 차별과 박해를 받아온 로힝야 난민들의 자발적이고 안전하며 존엄한 귀환이 보장될 수 있도록 로힝야를 소수민족으로 인정하고 시민권을 다시 부여해야 한다. 로힝야에 대한 혐오와 차별, 탄압은 이제 끝내야 한다. 한국 정부 역시 국제사회와 함께 미얀마 정부가 ICJ의 긴급 조치를 완전히 이행하도록 촉구해야 한다. 

 

2020년 1월 27일

로힝야오 연대하는 한국시민사회모임

 

보도자료https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OTLIgZMVawKOVGz7FpN2iu0Amg_DToZXf52Z... target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[원문보기/다운로드] 

 

감비아만큼의 정의

 

전은경 / 참여연대 국제연대위원회 활동가

 

 

“고마워요, 감비아”(Thank you, Gambia)

 

세계 최대 규모의 난민캠프인 방글라데시 콕스바자르 쿠투팔롱 캠프에 거주하고 있는 로힝야 난민들이 국제사법재판소(ICJ)의 긴급조치 명령을 환영하며 들어 올린 손팻말이다. 지난 23일 유엔 최고법원인 국제사법재판소는 재판부 만장일치로 미얀마 정부에 로힝야족 집단학살을 막기 위해 할 수 있는 모든 조치를 할 것을 명령했다. 이는 지난해 11월 감비아가 이슬람협력기구(OIC) 57개국을 대신해 미얀마를 로힝야 집단학살 혐의로 국제재판소에 제소하고 추가 피해를 막기 위한 긴급조치를 명령해달라고 요청한 데 따른 것이다.

 

나도 서아프리카의 작은 나라 감비아가 정말 고맙다. 지난달 로힝야 캠프를 방문했을 때 미얀마 군부에 의한 잔혹한 학살을 증언하며 국제사회의 단순한 ‘지원’이 아닌 ‘정의’를 원한다고 말하던 로힝야 난민들이 떠오르기 때문이다.

 

유엔은 로힝야 사태에 대해 ‘반인도주의적 범죄’ ‘전쟁범죄’ ‘제노사이드’(대량학살)라고 규정했지만 미얀마 정부는 신빙성이 없고 유엔이 내정에 간섭한다며 책임을 부인해왔다. 지난해 12월에 있었던 국제재판소 재판에서도 아웅산 수치 국가자문역은 로힝야 사태에 대해 “자원 부국에서 다분히 일어나는 내부 무장 갈등이었다” “인종학살의 의도는 없었다”며 학살 혐의를 전면 부인했다.

 

이번 국제재판소의 결정은 로힝야족이 여전히 심각한 제노사이드의 위험에 놓여 있다는 것을 인정한 의미 있는 결정이다. 감비아는 미얀마 정부를 국제재판소에 제소하면서 “미얀마 정부와 국제사회에 분명한 메시지를 전달하고자 한다. 우리 주변에서 벌어지고 있는 끔찍한 잔혹 행위에 대해 아무것도 하지 않는다는 것은 우리 세대의 크나큰 수치다”라고 했다. 한국 정부와 기업이 로힝야 사태를 기억하고 주목해야 할 이유다.

 

한국 정부는 제노사이드 협약의 가입국으로서 로힝야 학살의 진상조사와 책임자 처벌을 위해 지금까지 어떤 노력을 했는가. 미국, 유럽을 비롯한 국제사회가 로힝야 사태에 대한 책임을 물어 미얀마 군부에 제재를 가하는 사이 주미얀마 한국대사는 “로힝야 사태로 다른 나라들이 투자를 주저하고 있을 때가 한국에 기회”라며 학살이 벌어진 라카인주에 대한 투자를 독려하고 있다.

 

한국 기업들은 어떠한가. 로힝야족이 물고기를 잡고 살던 평화로운 마을을 밀어버린 땅에서 대규모 항만시설을 확충하고 신시가지를 만들 목적으로 복합단지 조성 사업을 진행하고 있다. 제노사이드와 전쟁범죄를 저지른 미얀마의 군 재벌들과 손잡고 합작투자를 하여 그 이익을 나누고 그 돈이 또다시 인권유린에 사용되는 것에 일조하고 있기도 하다. 지난해 유엔의 미얀마 진상조사단은 <미얀마 군부의 경제적 이익>이란 보고서에서 미얀마 군 재벌과 비즈니스 파트너십을 갖는 14개 외국 기업을 지목했는데, 유감스럽게도 그 가운데 6개가 한국 기업이다.

 

이러면서 정부는 사람, 평화, 상생번영의 신남방정책을 펼친다고, 기업들은 사회적 책임투자를 하고 있다고 말할 수 있는가. 한국 정부와 기업은 로힝야 집단학살에 대해 더 이상 침묵하거나 방관해서는 안 된다. 국제사회와 함께 미얀마 정부가 성실히 긴급조치를 이행하도록 촉구하고 구호에 그치지 않는 진정한 의미의 신남방정책을 펼쳐야 한다.

 

감비아만큼 용기 있는 실천력까지 바라지는 않는다. 그저 국경 너머의 이웃들 앞에 부끄럽지 않았으면 좋겠다.

 

 

http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/opinion/column/926279.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">한겨레에서 보기>>

Myanmar Must Prioritize Protection of Civilians in Rakhine State,

Address the Roots of the Conflict

 

We, the undersigned civil society organisations, people’s organisations and individuals, affirm our belief in peoples’ right to self-identification, and the primacy of dialogue and a politically-negotiated settlement in transforming conflicts.

 

We express our deep anguish and concern with the latest escalation of violence in Rakhine State, Burma/Myanmar, and the attacks against unarmed civilians. We condemn the targeting of civilians of any ethnicity and religion, by any armed group, for any reason. This latest wave of conflict, which has festered for decades and been perpetrated by the Burma/Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) on the Rohingya population, was lately spawned by the Tatmadaw's heavy-handed response to a recent attack by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on border guard and police outposts. The aftermath of the ferocious Myanmar/Burma military action has led to hundreds of innocent civilian people being killed and hundreds of thousands displaced. Over 600,000 civilians from northern Rakhine State, mostly members of the Rohingya community, have been forced to flee their homes. We are particularly concerned about the “clearance operations” conducted by the Burma/Myanmar military, during which various independent reports have documented systematic burning of Rohingya villages, sexual violence against Rohingya women, and opening fire on unarmed civilians. 

 

The conflict’s impact on the civilian population has been multiplied by restrictions on humanitarian access to vulnerable communities. In 25 August 2017, humanitarian agencies were forced to suspend all operations in northern Rakhine State, including provision of aid to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable populations due to several factors including the security situation on the ground, government field-visit restrictions and protests by ethnic Rakhine against international aid. While some aid workers have reportedly been allowed access to Rakhine, the overall approval process remains cumbersome. Myanmar media and government-linked social media accounts have contributed to a strong anti-international sentiment in the country fanned by circulation of falsified information including information linking humanitarian agencies and the ARSA. Myanmar nationalists, including those within the government and military as well as those in the host countries in Southeast and South Asia, have also contributed to an atmosphere of fear and hatred through hate speech, propaganda and inflammatory remarks that dehumanize the Rohingya and increase support for the military’s response. 

 

We believe that aside from the immediate end in hostilities and emergency humanitarian response, we must address the root causes of the issue and bring into focus the structural-legal discrimination against the Rohingya people. We must also situate the recent violence and abuses within the overall and long-standing patterns of human rights violations against ethnic civilians by the Burma/Myanmar military in other conflict areas in Myanmar that includes - but not limited to - northern Shan and Kachin States. Impunity for abuses against civilians during decades of conflict with ethnic armed organizations has encouraged the Burma/Myanmar military to apply the same tactics in Rakhine State. 

 

There will be no end to the cycles of conflict and displacement in Rakhine State without addressing the main drivers and the roots of this conflict.

 

 

Thus, the below signatories call on the:

 

Burma/Myanmar Military to:

• Cease violence against and abuses of unarmed civilians in Rakhine State and the other conflict areas such as northern Shan and Kachin States.
• Comply with relevant international human rights and humanitarian law standards and norms, particularly with regards to the protection of civilians in conflict, and protection of children, women and minorities.
• Hold accountable those who have committed crimes against civilians.
• Cooperate with the civilian government to allow access for humanitarian groups to assist the entire displaced population, without discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, or citizenship status.

 

Burma/Myanmar Civilian Government to:

• Publicly call on the Burma/Myanmar military to protect civilians and abide by international law in its military engagements.
• Hold accountable any soldiers and civilians who have committed crimes in the conduct of military operations.
• Cease circulation of unverified, inflammatory material on social media and condemn hate speech against Rohingya and other ethnic minorities. 
• Allow independent monitors including the UN-mandated Fact Finding Mission and independent media into northern Rakhine State and other areas of Myanmar.
• Allow unconditional access for humanitarian aid/response in Rakhine State and other parts of Myanmar. Seek assistance from the international community particularly among co-members of ASEAN to provide humanitarian relief and protection to displaced people.
• Review and amend the 1982 Citizenship Law to be in line with international norms; end restrictions to citizenship and freedom of movement of the Rohingya people.
• Comply with relevant international human rights and humanitarian law standards and norms, particularly in regards to the protection of civilians in conflict, and protection of children, women and minorities.
• Undertake a process of review and amendment of the 2008 Constitution in order to bring the military under civilian control and ensure accountability for serious crimes.

 

Civil Society in Burma/Myanmar to:

• Cease circulation of unverified, inflammatory material on social media and condemn hate speech towards the Rohingya and other minorities.
• Promote understanding of human rights and humanitarian law, particularly in regards to protection of civilians and non-discrimination.
• Call on the government to allow access to independent media and unhindered humanitarian aid.
• Engage the Burma/Myanmar military and government on cessation of hostilities, review of discriminatory legal frameworks, and compliance with international human rights conventions.
• Link efforts with other ethnic and relevant regional and international civil society platforms.

 

International/regional intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to:

• Coordinate to monitor developments in Rakhine State and other conflict-affected areas, as well as monitor governments’ action on the refugees, mindful of ‘Do No Harm’ principles.
• Support/impose a global arms embargo and advocate to relevant governments to cease military-to-military engagement and impose targeted sanctions against the Burma/Myanmar Army, until it ends attacks against civilians.
• Support and cooperate with the UN-mandated Fact Finding Mission on alleged crimes and human rights violations throughout Burma/Myanmar particularly in northern Rakhine, Shan and Kachin States. 

 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) and its members states to:

• Prioritize immediate dialogue between Burma/Myanmar and other ASEAN members on Rohingya issue with the aim to seek a sustainable solution to the conflict and to address the continuous human rights violations against the Rohingya and other minorities in Burma/Myanmar.
• Open borders and pro-actively accept and provide shelter and assistance to fleeing refugees from Rakhine State. Respect the fundamental principle of non-refoulement, in accordance with international law, which forbids a country from returning asylum seekers to their country of origin when they would be likely to face persecution based on race, religion, nationality, and from membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
• Send an ASEAN peace and humanitarian mission to provide humanitarian relief to displaced persons in Rakhine State and in Bangladesh.
• Urge the Burma/Myanmar government to conduct a comprehensive review of its 1982 Citizenship and other discriminatory laws in order to ensure that all persons should have rights and equal access to citizenship and are not treated unfairly on grounds of ethnicity, political and religious beliefs
• Revisit and review ASEAN Charter principles and current practices and consider embedding prevention norms for internal conflicts. 
• Strengthen and mobilize ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR) and ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) mandate and mechanisms to tackle the crisis, and similar cases.
• Move towards a collective and decisive approach to regional conflict prevention, in line with its priority theme on "peace and stability." 

 

 

Initial Signatories:

Organisations

Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC)

Solidarity for ASEAN Peoples' Advocacies (SAPA)

Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) / GPPAC Southeast Asia, Philippines

Progressive Voice (PV)-Myanmar/Burma

SUARAM-Malaysia

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

Working Group for Peace (WGP), Cambodia

Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT), Cambodia

Cambodia Civil Society Working on Asian (CCWA) 

Cambodian Civil Society Partnership (CCSP)

IM Centre for Dialogue and Peace-Indonesia

Institut Titian Perdamaian (Peace Building Institute) (ITP), Indonesia

People’s Empowerment Foundation, Thailand

Southeast Asian Conflict Studies Network (SEACSN)

ASEAN SOGIE Caucus

Think Centre, Singapore

SAMIN, Indonesia

Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN)

Center for Peace Education-Miriam College (CPE), Philippines

Acehnese Civil Society Task Force (ACSTF), Indonesia

Asia Democracy Network (ADN)

ALTSEAN-Burma

International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID), Indonesia

Pusat KOMAS, Malaysia

Islamic Renaissance Front, Malaysia

MARUAH, Singapore

Vietnamese Women for Human Rights (VNWHR)

Arakan Watch 

Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee (RARC), Malaysia 

Rohingya Youth Development Forum (RYFF), Arakan-Burma

Rohingya Academy

Destination Justice, Cambodia

Coalition for Integrity and Social Accountability, Cambodia

Cambodian Youth Network (CYN), Cambodia

Centre for Development Resources

KontraS, Indonesia

Swedish Burma Committee (SBC)

GZO Peace Institute, Philippines

Burmese Relief Center, Japan 

Free Burma Campaign, South Africa

Info Birmanie, France

International Campaign for the Rohingya 

Karen Community of Canada 

Rhiza Collective

The Arakan Project

Coalition of Cambodia Farmer Community

Vietnam Committee on Human Rights

Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM), Malaysia

 Empowering Singaporeans, Singapore

ReturnOurCPF, Singapore

Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (APR2P)

Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP)

Women Health, Philippines

Migrants Rights Council, India

Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan (PKKK/NRWC), Philippines

Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Philippines

RIGHTS Network, Philippines

Vietnam Coalition Against Torture

 Buhay Na May Dignidad Para Sa Lahat (DIGNIDAD)/Life of Dignity For All, Philippines

 Action Aid International

Network for Transformative Social Protection (NTSP)

SYNERGY (Social Harmony Organization), Myanmar/Burma

Khmer Kampuchea Krom for Human Rights and Development Association (KKKHRDA), Cambodia

ASEAN Youth Forum

Boat People SOS

Burma Human Rights Network 

Burma-Initiative

Stiftung Asienhaus

Acehnese Women's Education Foundation

Women Peace Network-Arakan

Sustainability and Participation thru Education and Lifelong Learning (SPELL), Philippines 

Centre for Community Development and Social Work (Codes Vietnam) 

Center for Community Development and Education (CCDE)

 Europe solidaire sans frontières (ESSF), France

Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), New Delhi, India

Tampadipa Institute, Myanmar/Burma

Mrinal Gore Interactive Centre for Social Justice and Peace, India

Partido Manggagawa, Philippines

National Garments Workers Federation, Bangladesh

Migrant CARE, Indonesia

Mindanao Peoples’ Peace Movement (MPPM), Philippines

Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee, Pakistan

National Garments Workers Federation, Bangladesh

Focus on the Global South

Stop the War Coalition, Philippines

New Trade Union Initiative, India

Bangladesh Krishok Federation, Bangladesh

Philippinenbüro e.V., Germany

Network of Young Democratic Asians (NOYDA)

People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), South Korea

PeaceMOMO, South Korea

Green Formosa Front, Taiwan

Genocide Watch, United States

Alliance for Peacebuilding, United States

International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI)

World Federalist Movement (WFM)

Permanent Peace Movement (PPM), Lebanon

Middle East and North Africa Partnership for Preventing of Armed Conflict (MENAPPAC)

femLINKpacific / GPPAC Pacific, Fiji

Vanuatu Human Rights Coalition, Vanuatu

Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales (CRIES) / GPPAC Latin America and the Carribean, Argentina

International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN) / GPPAC South Caucuses, Georgia

Foundation for Tolerance International (FTI) / GPPAC Central Asia, Kyrgyztan

GPPAC Eastern Europe

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect

Igarapé Institute, Brazil

United Nations Association of the United Kingdom (UNA-UK), UK

Nansen Dialogue Centre, Serbia

 

Individuals

Sushil Pyakurel, Former Commissioner National Human Rights Commission , Nepal 

Andrew Khoo, Advocate and Solicitor, Malaysia

Prof. Walden Bello, Philippines

Wensislaus Fatubun, Papuan Film-maker, Human Right Defender and Lobbyist in Geneva

A. S. M. Enamul Hoque, Independent Consultant (development, public health and humanitarian service) and human rights activist, Bangladesh  

Huynh Thuc Vy, chairwoman of Vietnamese Women for Human Rights (VNWHR), Vietnam

Bruce Van Voorhis, United States

Masjaliza Hamzah, Human rights activist, Malaysia

Marina Mahathir, Writer, Malaysia

Dayang Karna Bahidjan, Development Worker and Muslim woman, Mindanao-Philippines

 Andrew Paul, MA Candidate, York University, Toronto, Canada

Ging Cristobal, Philippines

 Han Hui Hui, Singaporean Human Rights Defender, Singapore

 Anabelle Vitacion, Philippines

Naomi Fontanos, Philippines

Tuan Q. Nguyen, USA

 Tabrani Yunis, Director of Center for Community Development and Education (CCDE)-Aceh, Indonesia

Tabrani Yunis, Indonesia

Dorothy Guerrero, Philippines

Oksana Chelysheva, member of Union of Journalists of Finland 

Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy, India

Prof. Anuradha Chenoy, India

William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Defender and Freelance Journalist, UK 

Thin New Soe, Burma/Myanmar

Aresenio Pereira da Silva, Timor Leste

Susanne Sutthisunsanee, Thailand

Dr. Eduardo Tadem, Philippines

Prof. Gamini Keerawella, Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Sri Lanka

Dr. Jehan Perera, National Peace Council of Sri Lanka

[Joint Statement]

Joint Statement of the South Korean Civil Society in Commemoration of the 4th Anniversary of the Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day

 

This year marks the 4th anniversary of the Rohingya genocide committed by the Myanmar military. In 2017, the military genocide killed tens of thousands of Rohingyas, deprived 800,000 of their homes and forced them to refugee camps in other countries. Now, four years later, the tragedy is still standing in the very place with no end in sight. Rohingyas are still struggling as refugees in harsh conditions without being able to return to their home. Some are wandering through the Indian Ocean under constant threat to their lives. The COVID-19 pandemic is driving their lives as refugees into a crisis of survival by cutting off relief and support. The light of Rohingyas’ lives are fainting, faced with the sad reality that their existence is slowly being forgotten on Earth, as the Myanmar military hopes.

 

Nonetheless, finding the truth about the horrendous crime and punishing those responsible seems distant. Instead of being punished internationally, the Myanmar military, the main culprit of the genocide, has staged a coup, pushing back Myanmar's democracy. The gunfire once directed at the Rohingya is now directed at the people of Myanmar. The lives and human rights of the people of Myanmar are in a state of emergency, and the tragic and unfortunate situation in which many lives are sacrificed continues. Similar to the Rohingya genocide, these massacres and atrocities committed by the Myanmar military clearly violate the values of life, safety, human rights and democracy as stipulated in international law. This is the result of the international community’s failure to hold the Myanmar military gravely accountable for the Rohingya genocide. Myanmar is being driven into a civil war, and the damage is completely done to the people of Myanmar.

 

The massacre and atrocities by the Myanmar military are anti-life and anti-human rights acts that cannot be condoned as a national problem. The international community must fulfill the mutual cooperation obligations of governments to realize and guarantee the values of life, safety, human rights, and democracy as stipulated in international law. The Korean civil society calls on the international community to stop sitting idle and to take decisive measures against the Myanmar military's genocide and atrocities, including the Rohingya, to prevent this from ever happening again. In addition, we urge the South Korean government to make substantial diplomatic efforts to protect the Rohingya’s human rights and Myanmar’s democracy in ASEAN and the United Nations, and to take stern measures in accordance with the international standards to prevent South Korean companies’ investments in Myanmar from being linked to Myanmar’s military-run companies or human rights violations of Rohingya people.

 

Over the past four years, the international community has started to recognize the seriousness of the Rohingya genocide, urging the recognition of the Rohingya as members of the Myanmar society and calling for human rights guarantee. This signals a positive sign in holding the Myanmar military accountable. It is also encouraging that, in the process of fighting the military coup, a sense of acceptance and solidarity with ethnic minorities is growing within Myanmar. In particular, reflecting on and apologizing to the Rohingya people for discriminatory acts, and the growing awareness that they are members of the Myanmar society who should coexist together is a positive change that gives hope even in the difficult reality of the Rohingya. We sincerely hope that this trend will spread and peace in Myanmar could be achieved.

 

On the 4th anniversary of the Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day, the South Korean civil society commemorates the victims of the genocide, and will continue to make efforts to protect the dignity and human rights of the Rohingya. In addition, facing the harsh reality of Myanmar today, we send our sincere support to the Myanmar people’s struggle for democracy and a humane life. The South Korean civil society promises to stand with the people of Myanmar til the very end, in strong solidarity for a society where the values of life, safety, human rights, and democracy are realized and all members of the ethnic groups in Myanmar live in peace and harmony.

 

 

August 26, 2021

 

List of signatories (33 organisations):

Asian Companions Against Brutality

Asian Dignity Initiative

Changjak21

Columban JPIC Korea

Dasan Human Rights Center

Ecosophialab

Goyang YMCA

Green Party Seoul

Gyeongbuk Bukbu Migrant Workers' Center

Hope Center with Migrant Workers

HOPEC

Human Rights Movement Space 'Hwal'

Incorporated Organization Shilcheon Bulgyo

Jeju Peace Human Rights Institute WHAT

Jesuit Research Center for Advocacy and Solidarity

JPIC_Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill

Justice, Peace and Ecology Committee of Catholic Religious Men in Korea

KOCO (Korean Solidarity for Overseas Community Organization)

Korean House for International Solidarity

Migrants Trade Union

MINBYUN – Lawyers for a Democratic Society International Solidarity Committee New Bodhisattva Network

O.F.M. JPIC

Palestine Peace and Solidarity in South Korea

Peace & HR Education Center

People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD)

Progressive 3.0

Refugee Rights Center, NANCEN

Solidarity for Another World

St.John of God JPIC

Supporters Group for Migrant Workers Movement

Unninetwork

Women's Network Group Anne's Friends