A UN expert on Monday urged [press release] the participants of the upcoming 21st Century Panglong Conference in Myanmar to prioritize human rights in their discussions. Yanghee Lee [official profile], the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, noted that human rights are at the core of the conflicts in Myanmar and thus must be a focus in order to achieve the desired long-term peace. Lee also acknowledged the necessity of involvement by women, young people and civil organizations, as they have been and will be affected by the outcome of this peace conference. This is the first major peace conference since the National League for Democracy assumed power in March.

Human rights has been on the forefront of Myanmar’s new democratic government since ending a decades-old military rule. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] released a report in June stating that human rights abuses against the Rohingya in Myanmar may amount to crimes against humanity [JURIST report]. Also in June UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed [JURIST report] shock at the increasing number of children recruited and killed in armed conflicts in several countries; the government of Myanmar alone released [JURIST report] 46 underage child recruits from the military in March as part of a UN join action plan made in 2012. In May Human Rights Watch urged [JURIST report] the Myanmar Parliament to reconsider a proposed law that they say has the advocacy organization says has the potential to limit free expression and peaceful assembly. Also in May US Secretary of State John Kerry offered support to Myanmar’s newly democratic government and urged [JURIST report] the country to push more democratic reform and address human rights issues.