A/HRC/39/CRP.2 31. The Mission systematically sought the informed and specific consent of all interviewees to use and/or share the information given, ensuring confidentiality as appropriate. The consent of every person interviewed and any conditions attached to it were recorded in the database, as were any potential protection risks. 32. The database will be kept as part of the Mission’s archives, along with all its physical records and in line with United Nations requirements regarding the archiving of materials. The OHCHR will be the custodian of these archives. It is authorised to provide access to competent authorities carrying out credible investigations to ensure accountability for human rights violations and abuses in Myanmar in line with international norms and standards. Access will be be granted to information only in accordance with the terms of the sources’ informed consent and only after any protection concerns are duly addressed. C. Legal Framework 33. Facts were assessed in light of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law, as applicable in Myanmar. The Mission also considered the human rights guarantees under the domestic law of Myanmar. 1. International human rights law 34. Myanmar is bound by the United Nations Charter and the pledge to take action for the achievement of “universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”. 5 Regardless of the extent to which States have ratified specific human rights treaties, they must respect internationally recognised human rights. Human rights are not limited to citizens of the State, but must be guaranteed to all individuals within the territory or jurisdiction of the State, irrespective of their nationality or lack thereof. 6 The content and scope of Myanmar’s international human rights obligations are articulated in treaties ratified by Myanmar, in customary international law and in various instruments of soft law. (a) Treaty Law 35. As of August 2018, Myanmar has ratified four of the core United Nations human rights treaties: the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Optional Protocol thereto on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC-OP-SC); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD); and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESC). 7 In doing so, Myanmar consented to be bound by the obligations articulated in these treaties and accepted that domestic laws and practice cannot be invoked to justify a failure to comply. 8 It agreed to engage with the United Nations treaty bodies established to monitor the implementation of the treaties and to duly consider their findings and recommendations. Myanmar has also indicated that it is actively considering acceding to other core human rights treaties. 9 5 6 7 8 9 United Nations Charter, arts. 55(c) and 56. Only a limited number of rights can be limited to citizens, under strict conditions (see para. 68 below). B. Ramcharan, “The Law-Making Process: From Declaration to Treaty to Custom to Prevention”, in The Oxford Handbook on International Human Rights Law, D. Shelton ed. (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 511; D. Weissbrodt, The Human Rights of Non-Citizens (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008). See also A/HRC/19/43, para. 2. Dates of accession or ratification by Myanmar are: CRC (15 July 1991), CEDAW (22 July 1997), CRPD (7 December 2011), CRC-OP-SC (16 January 2012), ICESC (6 October 2017). Myanmar signed the ICESC on 16 July 2015, meaning that it had to refrain from actions contrary to the object or purpose of the Covenant from that date. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, art. 27. A/HRC/31/13/Add.1, para. 7. Myanmar has not yet ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and its Second Optional Protocol aiming to the abolition of the death penalty; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and its 11