A/HRC/7/18 page 12 a threat to security, and by legislation that criminalizes the circulation of any written information, whether or not it is published, without the permission of the official censor. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act and other similar laws, which have been used to imprison many political prisoners, places far greater restrictions on rights and freedoms than would be necessary to meet the requirements of national security, public order or morality. The Act requires all books, magazines, periodicals, song lyrics and film scripts to be approved by censors prior to publication or distribution; anyone breaching it may be punished by up to seven years of imprisonment and a fine. VI. HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION 50. The Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to ensure that humanitarian agencies can operate in a mutually agreeable environment, in accordance with the guiding principles provided by the United Nations country team in March 2006. The Special Rapporteur encourages the provision of humanitarian assistance to Myanmar and believes that there must be transparency and accountability in the monitoring of that assistance to ensure that it is not misused for personal gain. Myanmar nationals employed by agencies working in the country must be afforded protection against any form of threat or intimidation for their work in humanitarian and development programmes. A. International human rights and humanitarian obligations 51. The Government of Myanmar has an obligation under the Charter of the United Nations, which provides for the promotion of “universal respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”. Under international law, the Government has an obligation to thoroughly investigate grave violations of human rights, to prosecute those responsible for their perpetration and, if their guilt is established, to punish them. Those responsible for human rights violations must stand trial and their victims must obtain reparation. 52. Myanmar is party to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Slavery Convention, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It has not signed the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the United Nations Convention against Corruption. 53. Myanmar has not signed the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflict (Protocol II) and the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (Protocol III).