UN appoints new Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar

The U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) appointed Kelley Anne Eckels-Currie as the new Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar to replace Tom Andrews, who served in the role from 2020-26, during its 61st regular session in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

“Big congrats to Kelley Currie… She is uniquely positioned to fulfill this role,” Matthew Smith, the founder and CEO of Fortify Rights, shared on social media. Smith added that Currie would bring a “longstanding commitment to truth and justice” to the role.

The HRC extended the mandate of the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Myanmar for one year, meaning Currie will likely only serve in the role until April 2027, but this is subject to the standard annual renewal process for country-specific mandates.

“The Council decides to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar for a further period of one year… to make recommendations on additional steps necessary to address the ongoing crisis,” the HRC stated in a report following the conclusion of its 61st session on April 1.

The HRC 61st session, which began on Feb. 23, is a six-week period of debates, panel discussions, and reviews of human rights situations globally.

The Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) shared its congratulations to Currie on social media, stating that it looked forward to her leadership and continued international efforts toward justice and accountability for the people of Myanmar.

Currie has worked for over 30 years focusing on Myanmar’s political and human rights situation. She previously served as U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues and as the U.S. representative to the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

She is also the founder of the Burma Transition Initiative at the Project 2049 Institute, where she documented the Myanmar military’s impact on civilian governance.

Since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, Currie has focused her efforts on justice and accountability mechanisms and has briefed international agencies on violence against civilians and resistance groups opposed to the coup.

Currie is the seventh human rights expert to hold this role since 1992, a mandate the U.N. created only for countries with “serious or systematic human rights violations.”

Her predecessors include Thomas Andrews 2020-26; Yanghee Lee 2014-20; Tomás Ojea Quintana 2008-14; Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro 2000-08; Rajsoomer Lallah 1996-2000; and Yozo Yokota 1992-96.

The mandate on Myanmar was established in 1992 following three decades of human rights concerns following the 1962 military coup, which replaced parliamentary democracy with military dictatorship.

Violations escalated during the 1988 nationwide pro-democracy uprising, known as the ‘8888 Uprising,’ when the military killed thousands of peaceful pro-democracy protesters and detained emerging political leaders, including National League for Democracy (NLD) party co-founder Aung San Suu Kyi, who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her non-violent activism.

The U.N has since documented a pattern of abuses, including the violent suppression of the peaceful protests during the 2007 Saffron Revolution, as well as the 2016-17 military “security clearance” operations in Rakhine State targeting members of the ethnic Rohingya nationality, which is now being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.

A case against Myanmar for alleged genocide against the Rohingya was opened in 2019 at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the U.N.’s top court. In 2022, the U.S. declared the Myanmar military had, in fact, committed genocide against the Rohingya in 2017.

Following the 2021 coup, reports of human rights violations have intensified, including the use of lethal force against protesters, arbitrary arrests, and mass displacement as the nationwide uprising against a return to military rule began.

The U.N. reports that at least 6,764 civilians have been killed since the 2021 coup. The Armed Conflict and Location Data (ACLED) Project estimates that at least 93,000 have been killed over the last five years.

The U.N. Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the HRC and is not a U.N. staff member or salaried position, a structure intended to ensure neutrality and independence.

The role includes conducting independent investigations, reporting findings to the HRC and the General Assembly, and providing recommendations to the international community on how to address crises in the countries the special rapporteur is assigned to monitor.