New UN Special Rapporteur to visit Burma

15 July 2014 – Ms. Yanghee Lee, the new United Nations Special Rapporteur on Burma, is to make her first official trip to the country at the invitation of the government this Thursday.

She is scheduled to visit two ethnic states of Arakan and Kachin, Rangoon and Nay Pyi Taw, as well as Mandalay.

Appointed last month by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor, report and advise on the situation of human rights in Burma, the new Special Rapporteur will ‘gather first-hand information on the current human rights situation in Burma’.

Ms. Lee said in a statement: “A frank and open exchange of views will be vital to help me better understand the realities on the ground. And it is my intention, as Special Rapporteur, to work closely with the Government and
people of Myanmar, towards the promotion and protection of human rights in the country.”

During her 10-day visit, she will meet with government officials, political, religious and community leaders, and victims of human rights violations.

At the end of her trip next Saturday, the human rights expert is set to hold a press conference, and submit her report to the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in October.

Yanghee Lee, 58, from the Republic of Korea, had served as member and chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child before succeeding Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana as the UN Human Rights envoy to Burma.#