Ministry Statements & Speeches:
President,
New Zealand welcomes Myanmar’s participation in this process.
We recommend that Myanmar take concrete steps to eliminate discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities in Myanmar, including the Rohingya people, both in law and practice, including by repealing the “Race and Religion Protection Laws of 2015”.
We recommend that Myanmar amend the Citizenship Law of 1982 to ensure that citizenship is granted free from discrimination based on ethnicity or other grounds prohibited by international human rights commitments.
New Zealand recommends that Myanmar amends current law and enforcement practices to enable free expression and transparent journalism, while also addressing the online promulgation of incitements to discrimination, hostility and violence.
Finally, New Zealand recommends that Myanmar take further action towards the formal abolition of the death penalty, including through legislative changes to remove capital punishment from its penal code, and ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Thank you.