Message from the Head of the Mechanism for Myanmar

Message from the Head of the Mechanism for Myanmar

Message from Nicholas Koumjian, the Head of the Myanmar Mechanism.

Message from the Head of the Mechanism  —  The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (hereafter, “the Mechanism”) is up and running and working to fulfil its mandate to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of serious international crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011. Since I took up my mandate on 1 July 2019, the Mechanism has recruited over half of its approved positions, with more staff arriving every month. We have received the materials collected by the International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFM) and initiated discussions with governments, non-governmental organisations, academics, other United Nations entities, businesses and technical experts who we believe may have evidence and information that can shed light on the crimes within our mandate. The Mechanism has also been building the necessary cooperative frameworks with key actors, including information providers, establishing internal protocols necessary for conducting fair and independent investigations in a complex environment and devising investigative strategies. The Mechanism aims to use the latest expertise and technologies that will assist in carrying out complex investigations.

As the Mechanism continues to gather evidence, it is simultaneously analysing the information now in its possession, including materials received from the FFM The analysis will help the Mechanism formulate its strategies for fulfilling its mandate “to prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings, in accordance with international law standards, in national, regional or international courts or tribunals that have or may in the future have jurisdiction over these crimes.”

The Mechanism continues to seek all relevant information that can fill in gaps in the evidence now in its possession or that can validate or challenge that evidence. The Mechanism will continue to seek access to crime sites and witnesses inside Myanmar and regularly reach out to the Government of Myanmar to seek its cooperation.

Equally important, the Mechanism is working to establish a regular interactive dialogue with victims, civil society and the public in Myanmar, in the region and beyond. While much of what the Mechanism is doing cannot be discussed publicly due to the need to respect the confidentiality of independent criminal investigations, the Mechanism will seek to provide information on the purpose and direction of its work. This first triannual Bulletin is one of the ways we are trying to honour this commitment.

Outreach, particularly engagement with victims, is one of the most important elements of our work. In November 2019, the Mechanism conducted its first mission to the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh. I wanted to see the conditions, meet with victims and their representatives and hear their views. I wanted to explain our mandate to them, explain what they could expect from us. We also met with civil society representatives from other parts of Myanmar and will continue to do so. We want to understand and respond to their concerns, and we will always put the highest priority on the safety of all those with whom the Mechanism interacts.

Recent judicial activities related to Myanmar at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and in Argentina have highlighted the importance of accountability for crimes committed in Myanmar and the complementarity of the Mechanism with those proceedings. As set out by Human Rights Council resolution 39/2 of 27 September 2018, the Mechanism’s mandate is to share evidence and case files with national, regional or international courts that will hold individuals criminally accountable in proceedings that meet international standards. The resolution also recognizes the importance of preserving evidence of serious international crimes, based on past experience that it can often take many years for criminal proceedings to begin. This is an important aspect of the Mechanism’s mandate: our evidence and case files will be available for use for many years to come, increasing the chance for perpetrators to be held accountable and justice to be delivered to victims. We are committed to doing our utmost to ensure that when the opportunity arises anywhere in the world to bring perpetrators to justice, our evidence is ready.