Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 46/21, the present report includes an assessment of actions taken by various actors following the release in 2019 by the independent international fact-finding mission on Myanmar of a conference room paper on the economic interests of the Myanmar military. It also contains an identification of continuing and emerging challenges, using examples to highlight relevant issues.

Prepared pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 46/21, the present report sets out the trends and patterns of violations and significant regressions in human rights that have occurred in Myanmar since 1 February 2021. Myanmar is caught in a downward spiral of violence characterized by the increasingly brutal repression of individuals actually or seemingly opposed to military rule, by violent resistance to the coup and by several active non-international armed conflicts. Action must be taken to stem the pace at which individuals are being targeted by the military authorities and stripped of their rights, their lives and their livelihoods. The High Commissioner addresses recommendations to all parties in Myanmar, including the military authorities, the international community and the United Nations system.

The present report is submitted pursuant to resolution 39/2 of the Human Rights Council, in which the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit to it, at its forty-third session, a report on the root causes of the human rights violations and abuses faced by the Rohingya Muslim minority and other minorities in Myanmar. In the report, factors are identified that underlie the historical and current patterns of human rights violations and abuses against ethnic and religious minorities in Myanmar. The report concludes with recommendations on measures to be taken by the Government, the international community and other stakeholders to improve the situation.

In its resolution S-27/1, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the situation of human rights of Rohingya at its fortieth session, including on the level of cooperation and access given to the independent international fact-finding mission on Myanmar and other United Nations human rights mechanisms, the implementation of recommendations of the United Nations human rights system, including those made by the Council in resolution S-27/1, and to make recommendations for future actions.

The present report is produced by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights pursuant to the universal mandate of the High Commissioner for Human Rights under General Assembly resolution 48/141. The report examines the freedom of the press in Myanmar and the impact that high profile prosecutions of journalists have had in creating a culture of selfcensorship among journalists during the country’s transition to democracy.