In advance of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC 47), Scholars at Risk urges COHOM to address the widespread human rights violations by Myanmar’s military and police following the February 1 military coup and their disastrous impact on Myanmar’s higher education community. Scholars at Risk urges COHOM to call on the Human Rights Council to take all available measures to secure an end to actions by Myanmar’s military and police that restrict or punish peaceful protest; secure the release of imprisoned students, scholars, and other political prisoners; secure the reinstatement of scholars wrongfully dismissed or suspended from their academic posts; restore civilian-led government and rule of law; and protect and promote fundamental human rights, including academic freedom, in Myanmar. This focus would align with commitments made under the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024to support action to protect academic freedom, and the autonomy of education institutions, and to “[d]eepen engagement with and enhance support for pluralistic civil society, including […] academics, […] in order to defend their right to exercise their roles free from any form of intimidation, discrimination or violence.”

Read our submission in full here.