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Link to UNCHR
(E/CN.4/2001/NGO/108)
COMMISSION
ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty-seventh
Session
Item
10 of the Provisional Agenda
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
RIGHTS
Written statement*/ submitted
by the Asian Legal Resource Centre,
a non-governmental organization in general consultative status
The Secretary-General has received the
following written statement which is circulated in accordance
with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31.
[30 January 2001]
Food Scarcity in Myanmar
1. The right to food is a fundamental human
right, guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
[article 25(1)] and the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (article 11). Notwithstanding, the
right to food of people in the Union of Myanmar has been
submerged by the military domination of that country. Substantial
evidence suggests that the Government of Myanmar is
systematically denying food to the civilian population through a
range of practices implemented to ensure perpetuation of its
undemocratic rule.
2. The Asian Legal Resource Centre brought
these concerns to the attention of the Commission's fifty-sixth
session (E/CN.4/2000/NGO/61), in light of findings made by the
People's Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarization in Burma.
The October 1999 report of the People's Tribunal was also cited
by the former Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
in Myanmar (E/CN.4/2000/38, paragraph 37; statement to the
General Assembly of October 26, 2000). The Asian Legal Resource
Centre appreciates the efforts of the former Special Rapporteur
to highlight food security concerns in Myanmar in the context of
the systemic and flagrant human rights abuses there. The Asian
Legal Resource Centre also welcomes the Commission's appointment
of Mr. Jean Ziegler as Special Rapporteur on the right to food
and urges him to seriously examine conditions in Myanmar as a
part of his mandate.
3. The People's Tribunal has recommended to
the Government of Myanmar that it "address widespread food
scarcity throughout the country by giving highest priority to
food security as a basic human right". Regrettably, the
government has declined to entertain the Tribunal's
recommendations and has demonstrated unwillingness to alter its
policies and practices exacerbating conditions of food
insecurity. Government claims that food scarcity does not exist
in Myanmar are overwhelmed by contrary evidence. The Asian Legal
Resource Centre is convinced that the government's failure to
fulfill its obligations constitutes a breach of international
law. The Government of Myanmar must be held responsible for the
pervasive food insecurity there.
4. As outlined previously, the Government of
Myanmar continues to violate the right to food through denial of
the right to work, pernicious taxation, confiscation of land and
repeated demands for unpaid civilian labour. It prevents or
inhibits people from working freely to achieve their food
security. Farmers are not permitted to choose when, where and how
to cultivate. In areas of armed conflict they are subject to
unstable life-threatening conditions that prevent them from using
their labour, land and natural resources to earn a living. In
other parts of the country, farmers are the victims of policies
that place their own wellbeing after the interests of the state.
Regardless of economic circumstances, civilian communities are
obliged to satisfy demands for goods and services from the
military.
5. Paddy farmers, the largest occupational
sector of the country, are subject to a compulsory paddy-purchase
programme enforced by government agencies nationwide. The quota
is based upon the land-holdings of each farmer and without regard
to actual production. While reports indicate a rise in paddy
production and exports in 2000, the People's Tribunal has
stressed that food production does not in itself equate with food
security, as "rice exports and growth in GDP [are] specious
indicators of economic progress which belie Myanmar's daily
hunger" (oral submission). Irrespective, government policies
continue to emphasise expanded production and export earnings, as
distinct from rudimentary day-to-day food security concerns of
most people in the country.
6. Myanmar's armed forces continue to be
directly responsible for the most severe violations of the right
to food. Counter-insurgency operations randomly destroy food
stocks and crops, relocate civilian communities, and expropriate
cash and materials. Reports indicate that in some areas military
operations directly target rural food supplies and crops without
distinction, displace people from villages, scatter them into
hills and jungles or force them into relocation sites. Standing
between these people and starvation is nothing more than their
extraordinary tenacity. Widespread dislocation is resulting in
serious and long-term structural food scarcity, not mere seasonal
hunger due to occasional military incursions.
7. Evidence of growing malnutrition among
Myanmar's children is a particular concern. The Government of
Myanmar is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, which contains certain positive obligations for ratifying
states. The High Commissioner's 2000 report on the right to food
stresses those positive obligations (E/CN.4/2000/48, paragraphs
24 and 26): "By ratifying the Convention, States parties
have committed themselves to take all measures to prevent and
'combat […] malnutrition' of children and to guarantee 'the
provision of adequate nutrition.'" In spite of Myanmar's
ascension to the Convention, UNICEF estimates that 45 percent of
Myanmar's children under five suffer stunted growth, indicating
severe malnutrition that is belittled by the paltry government
resources allocated to address this long-term catastrophe.
8. Violations of the right to food in
Myanmar are systemically linked to the ongoing expansion of
militarisation there. The former Special Rapporteur has observed
that, "Extreme poverty and the absence of food security have
been the result of a policy characteristic of the militaristic
approach adopted by the Authorities" (Statement to the
General Assembly). Routine state functions have been militarised
to the extent that virtually all transactions between the people
and the state involve a degree of coercion. National agricultural
policy is oriented away from the people and towards satisfying
military and state needs. The military presence affects even the
most fundamental day to day economic decisions of regular
families.
9. The right to food is universal and
fundamental: it transcends national boundaries and claims of
sovereignty. The international community and particularly United
Nations agencies are without exception obliged to recognise the
slowly emerging man-made food security crisis in Myanmar. The
Asian Legal Resource Centre calls upon the Commission to:
a. Respond concretely to the recommendations
of the People's Tribunal on Food Scarcity and Militarization in
Burma.
b. Appoint a new Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in Myanmar at the soonest possible
date.
c. Encourage the Special Rapporteur on the
right to food to prioritise conditions in Myanmar among those
concerns to be examined under his mandate.
d. Examine whether in particular the
Government of Myanmar has violated the Convention on the Rights
of the Child by its failure to address massive child malnutrition
in the country.
10. Finally, the Asian Legal Resource Centre
reiterates its call that an international commission be
established to examine the hidden food security crisis in Myanmar
before its already endemic proportions deepen into tragedy.
*/ This written statement is issued,
unedited, as received from the submitting non-governmental
organization(s).
Posted on 2001-01-30
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