In March 2017, the United Nations Human Rights Council decided to urgently dispatch an Independent International Fact-Finding Mission to establish the facts and circumstances of the alleged human rights violations by military and security forces, and abuses, in Myanmar, in particular in Rakhine State, with a view to ensuring full accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims.
In March this year, the team, including Australian human rights expert Chris Sidoti, said in its interim report to the Human Rights Council that it had collected “concrete and overwhelming” evidence of “human rights violations of the most serious kind in all likelihood amounting to crimes under international law”.
Chris Sidoti will discuss the evidence gathered in the series of missions to Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand, the responses of the UN system to the crisis, the urgent need in the refugee camps as monsoon season approaches - and the way forward from here. The Fact-Finding Mission will present its final report to the Human Rights Council in September.
Venue: UNSW Law Staff Common Room, Level 2, Law Building UNSW (F8) Venue map
Photo: © UNHCR/Roger Arnold
Chris Sidoti is an international human rights consultant, specialising in the international human rights system and in national human rights institutions.
Since 2000 he has provided consultancy services on human rights law and practice to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNDP, UNICEF, the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions and several national human rights institutions.
He was director of the International Service for Human Rights in Geneva (2003-2007), served as Australian Human Rights Commissioner (1995-2000), Australian Law Reform Commissioner (1992-1995) and Foundation Director of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1987-1992).
From 1999 to 2003 he was principal facilitator and interlocutor in a human rights initiative between the Government of Australia and the Government of Myanmar.
