A/HRC/42/50 Constitution to ensure civilian oversight and control, genuine democratization is impossible. 117. The new parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing the Constitution has an opportunity to pursue a clearer separation of powers and guarantees of fundamental freedoms. Its success hinges largely on the Tatmadaw conceding its political and economic privileges, willingly or under domestic and international pressure. Financial and political isolation of the Tatmadaw is essential to encourage and support domestic action to break its stranglehold on the country’s future. 118. Democratization must be accompanied by the settlement of 70 years of conflict. The Rohingya in Rakhine continue to be persecuted. This does not bode well for the 1 million Rohingya refugees yearning to return to their lands. The mission has concluded that equitable, sustainable economic development in Rakhine is impossible unless and until all restrictions on the Rohingya are lifted. The Government of Myanmar must guarantee their most basic fundamental human rights. It must implement effective guarantees to acknowledge or recognize the citizenship of the Rohingya through a direct citizenship application process, with the rights of due process guaranteed. Such a process cannot be followed through the national verification card procedures; the right to citizenship of Rohingya must be recognized in an amended Constitution and citizenship law. This will support the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. In the absence of certainty over their status, the Rohingya cannot, and simply will not, return. Consideration should be given to enabling Rohingya to apply for citizenship from Bangladesh and elsewhere. 119. The mission found many commonalities in the experiences of ethnic groups in Myanmar. Discrimination and marginalization are the common thread. As the latest conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army demonstrates, the counterinsurgency strategy of the Tatmadaw remains consistent with its “four cuts” policy, with another ethnic group falling victim to its brutal tactics. Indeed, the domination of one ethnic group over others is preventing the development of Myanmar as a unified nation State. 120. The mission has concluded that, despite the structural and systemic challenges, the Government led by the National League for Democracy can do far more to move the democratic transition forward. The National League for Democracy has an absolute majority of seats in both houses of the parliament, even when the military seats are counted; it has full control over all Myanmar laws, apart from the Constitution, and is able to repeal or amend the country’s most discriminatory laws, including those pertaining to citizenship and the four laws for the protection of race and religion enacted in 2015. It can repeal or amend the repressive laws governing freedom of expression and association. The National League for Democracy requires only the moral courage and the political will to do so. 121. The Government has yet to condemn its human rights violations, past and present. Pursuing genuine accountability either at the domestic or international level remains as urgent a priority today as it was in 2018. Myanmar should cooperate with the ongoing proceedings in the International Criminal Court, and expand the Court’s jurisdiction through a formal declaration. 122. The mission welcomes international efforts to advance accountability, including the decision by the Human Rights Council to establish the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, the initiatives taken by the International Criminal Court to investigate and possibly prosecute those responsible for the alleged deportation and other crimes against Rohingya, the moves to bring a case to the International Court of Justice and the Secretary-General’s independent review of the role of the United Nations in Myanmar. The Independent Investigative Mechanism will play a crucial role in facilitating accountability; States must, however, work with it to initiate prosecutions. Similarly, the United Nations must institute the cultural change necessary to address the systemic failures of its past engagement in Myanmar. 123. Despite these important efforts, the mission deeply regrets the continuing inability of the Security Council to act by referring the situation of Myanmar as a whole 19