Myanmar must condemn monk´s ´sexist´ attack: UN rights chief

GENEVA: The UN human rights chief on Wednesday urged Myanmar to condemn attacks on his envoy, who was labelled a "whore" after criticising controversial draft bills considered discriminatory to women and minorities.

Hundreds of monks rallied against United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Yanghee Lee last week and Myanmar´s most influential radical nationalist monk Wirathu called her a "whore in our country".

"The sexist, insulting language used against the UN´s independent human rights expert on Myanmar... is utterly unacceptable," UN human rights chief Zeid Ra´ad Al Hussein said in a statement.

"It is intolerable for UN Special Rapporteurs to be treated in this way and I call on religious and political leaders in Myanmar to unequivocally condemn all forms of incitement to hatred, including this abhorrent public personal attack against a UN-appointed expert," he added.

The monk´s attack came after Lee said the draft legislation -- including curbs on interfaith marriage, religious conversion and birth rates -- would be a further sign that Myanmar was "backtracking" in its democratic reforms if passed by parliament.
Activists say the laws are particularly discriminatory against women and religious minorities in the Buddhist majority country.

Zeid said it was Lee´s job to address "key human rights issues and the situation of minorities in the country, particularly the Rohingya Muslim community."

The UN expert had in fact expressed admiration for the work of inter-religious leaders in the town of Lashio in Northern Shan State towards ensuring peaceful relations between communities, he said.

But, he added, she had also raised "serious concerns" about the draft legislation and about the situation of Rohingya Muslims displaced within Rakhine State and living in camps in difficult conditions.