 It is an honor to be addressing the 45th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council. While COVID-19 has prevented me from joining you today in Geneva or traveling to Myanmar, I want to thank the permanent representative of Myanmar for engaging in a series of conversations with me over the phone and human rights defenders in Myanmar for engaging with me remotely despite some having to travel considerable distances to use web-based platforms. I would like to note that more than 400 Myanmar civil society organizations recently provided to me and are submitting to you today an open letter expressing their views and recommendations on human rights in Myanmar. Now in a few short weeks Myanmar will hold national elections. In July, the permanent representative said that this election should be fair, free, credible, transparent and that the results should accurately reflect the will of the people. I agree, but I regret to report that even before a single vote is cast, the upcoming election in Myanmar will fail to meet this standard. The results of an election cannot accurately reflect the will of the people when the right to vote is denied because of a person's race, ethnicity, or religion. And I have seen no evidence that the government is willing or prepared to facilitate the right to vote for hundreds of thousands of voting age Rohingya located in Rakhine State or in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Now this is not to say that there has not been some progress. Polling stations, for example, will no longer be located in military camps, but there are significant challenges including the fact that this election will occur as armed conflicts rage. I therefore urged in my last report that Myanmar officials immediately begin to prepare measures that would accommodate voters in conflict zones and provide them the right to vote. I have seen no evidence that this has occurred or that it has even been attempted. The tatmada has subsequently urged that voting be canceled in certain areas because of security. Madam President, I am concerned that denying the right to vote for those living in volatile areas will only exacerbate ongoing armed conflicts. A ballot must always be preferable to a bullet. Another immediate challenge is conducting an election while combating COVID-19. The pandemic is severely restricting opportunities for candidates to campaign and this has made access to the media particularly important. Unfortunately, in order for candidates to have access to state media their messages to voters must be approved by the government including messages that are critical of the government. Vague and subjective criteria allow government officials to prohibit opposition candidates from accessing state media and therefore Myanmar voters. A candidate can be denied this access for example if his or her message and I quote disrespects existing laws, tarnishes the image of the nation or defames the tatmada. I recently learned of a candidate who was prohibited from using the term oppressed or mentioning the situation facing children in Myanmar including a reference to a UNICEF report. The same type of vague and subjective criteria that has been used to imprison activists voicing criticisms of those in power are now silencing candidates seeking public office. Both situations involve violations of human rights including the right to freedom of expression. Meanwhile the Ministry of Transport and Communications has ordered the blocking of more websites in Myanmar including the website of a civil society organization that was reporting on the tatmada and its economic activities and interests. The reason? The site was spreading what the Ministry termed fake news. The Ministry did not explain what was fake in order to provide the opportunity for the group to question or appeal the decision. Other websites ordered shut include news sites serving ethnic minority areas. Now this is not only an infringement on fundamental rights it is also dangerous. Information can be critical to saving lives in a pandemic and information is the heartbeat of a free and fair election. Also dangerous is the government's blocking of internet service in 9 townships in Makhain and Chin state. Now the good news at least on the surface is that internet service has returned to these townships. The bad news is that it is limited to obsolete 2G service. This means in practical terms that access to internet service in these areas continues to be effectively denied. I've been informed that people living in these townships are still unable to send or receive information. On the other end of this spectrum is the danger that candidates and political parties will choose to use bigotry and hate speech as political weapons. The people of Myanmar know that this poison not only can impact an election but can ignite violence. There should be no place in elections for these incendiary messages be they on campaign posters or in the internet. Everyone can play a role to stop hate speech. This includes those who control internet platforms most particularly Facebook. Facebook is ubiquitous in Myanmar with tens of millions of users. It is admitted that in the past it provided a platform for messages that led to catastrophic outcomes in Myanmar. It now claims to be working hard to play a positive role in the upcoming elections. I hope so. Last week the High Commissioner expressed her concerns about Rayainga villages in Rakhine state that were so brutally attacked in August of 2017 and those who once lived there. These are satellite photographs of a Rayainga village, Kankia. The image on the left shows Kankia before it was attacked and destroyed. The middle photograph is what it looked like after the attack. The photo on the right was taken this year and shows a military installation where homes and villages once stood. This is a close-up of what was once Kankia. People living in the area have confirmed that this is indeed a military facility and may contain other government buildings. What about those who once called Kankia their home? Last week the permanent representative declared to this body, commencement of repatriation is our priority. Last December the government adopted a national strategy whereby internally displaced persons will be afforded fundamental rights including the right to be consulted, to be reintegrated into their place of origin and have access to education, health and opportunities to earn a living. These are laudable aims and they should be extended to those who were displaced to camps outside of the border. But what does repatriation mean for those who once lived in Kankia? How can they be reintegrated into their place of origin when it has become a military base? Where is justice for those stranded in refugee camps in Bangladesh while facilities are constructed on their homeland for the same military that stands accused at the International Court of Justice for committing genocide against them? Two weeks ago news broke that two Tatmadaar soldiers had confessed to massacres, rape and other crimes against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State in 2017. Their two confessions were filmed by the Arakhan Army and in mid-August the men reportedly appeared in Bangladesh seeking protection and again confessing their crimes. While no charges have been filed against the two men, sources confirm that they are now in the hands of the International Criminal Court or the ICC where they could face trial or serve as cooperating witnesses. The government of Myanmar should welcome and cooperate with the ICC. It should also offer its full cooperation to the independent investigative mechanism for Myanmar, which continues to collect information for possible future prosecutions of international crimes committed in Myanmar, including it Kinshin and Shan states. It has already provided information to both parties to the Gambia v Myanmar case at the International Court of Justice, regarding the application of the genocide convention currently to what happened to the Rohingya. I urge the cooperation of others in these pursuits of justice, including Facebook. I commend Facebook for preserving evidence of possible crimes, but I am disappointed that Facebook has chosen not to cooperate with the request for information that the Gambia has made through a U.S. federal court as part of its ongoing dispute with Myanmar at the International Court of Justice. For far too many civilians, the horror and brutality of war continues in Rakhine State. Dozens of innocent people, including increasing numbers of children, have been killed or wounded in Rakhine State since my last report to you. Just two weeks ago today, two five-year-old children were killed and another was wounded by artillery fire in the I-Bone Township. Serious questions have been raised about whether these children and growing numbers of other children and families are being caught in the crossfire of war or being deliberately targeted. What is clear is that these assaults need to stop and that the Secretary General's call for a ceasefire must be heeded immediately. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Myanmar has ratified, declares, governments must do everything they can to protect care for children affected by war and armed conflicts. Every child has the right to life. Governments must do all they can to ensure that children survive. We owe them nothing less. Madam President, members of the Human Rights Council, thank you for the honor of addressing you today, for your kind attention and for your willingness to protect and defend those whose human rights are under threat or under siege, even when it is difficult to do so. Thank you.