A/HRC/43/59 I. Introduction 1. The present report submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 40/29, covers developments in Myanmar since the previous report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, to the Council in March 2019 (A/HRC/40/68), oral updates presented to the Council in June and September 2019 and a report to the General Assembly in September 2019 (A/74/342). This is her last report before ending her term. 2. Despite the Government of Myanmar having withdrawn its cooperation with the Special Rapporteur, she continues to seek to engage with the Government to address human rights issues in the country. She requested to visit Myanmar in January 2020; however, the request was denied (see annex I). Continuing nevertheless to seek opportunities for dialogue, on 4 February 2020 the Special Rapporteur sent a list of questions to the Government to which she has not received a response (see annex II). 3. The Special Rapporteur conducted visits to Thailand, from 15 to 17 January, and to Bangladesh, from 17 to 23 January 2020. She thanks the Governments of both countries for facilitating the visits. In Thailand, she met with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations working on human rights issues in Myanmar. In Bangladesh, she met with Government officials and United Nations representatives in Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar. She visited the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and met refugees and representatives of civil society and non-governmental organizations working on the refugee response. She held a videoconference with the United Nations country team for Myanmar. 4. The Special Rapporteur observes that the period of her mandate has spanned significant moments in the recent history of Myanmar. She recalls the great spirit of optimism she and others had when she took up her mandate in 2014, in particular regarding the transition to democracy. She enjoyed access to the country, and had frank dialogues with the Government and civil society, the United Nations and the international community. She travelled widely over three years, visiting Yangon, Nay Pyi Taw, Kachin, Shan, Rakhine, Kayin and Mon, and met with a wide variety of stakeholders, including victims of human rights violations, communities affected by development projects, internally displaced persons and people detained in prison. 5. When she took up her mandate in 2014, it was broadened by Human Rights Council resolution 25/26 to include progress in the electoral process and reform in the run-up to the 2015 election. In March 2016, in its resolution 31/24, the Council additionally asked her to identify benchmarks for progress and priority areas for technical assistance and capacitybuilding. The Special Rapporteur prepared draft joint benchmarks, based on prior recommendations that she had shared with the Government, and proposed a timeline for implementation. She had engagements with the Government on some of these benchmarks but limited progress has been made. While her repeated recommendations provide Myanmar with the practical means to protect, respect and fulfil human rights, few have been implemented. 6. The magnitude and tragedy of events in Myanmar during the Special Rapporteur’s tenure cannot be overstated. Following the violence in northern Rakhine in October 2016, the Special Rapporteur visited the area. She also visited Cox’s Bazar for the first time and met with those who had fled the military operations. After hearing about the brutality they had suffered at the hands of security forces, she recommended that the Human Rights Council establish a commission of inquiry into what had occurred in Rakhine, and that it hold a special session on the situation in Kachin and Shan States. The Council, in its resolution 34/22, established an independent international fact-finding mission, mandated to establish the facts and circumstances of those alleged human rights violations by military and security forces, and abuses, in Myanmar. After further extreme violence was perpetrated in northern Rakhine starting in 25 August 2017, which the Special Rapporteur found bore the hallmarks of genocide, she proposed that the Council set up an accountability mechanism. The Council established the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar by its resolution 39/2 in September 2018 and the mechanism was 2