Annex III 99 ANNEX III: LETTER FROM FORTIFY RIGHTS TO MYANMAR PRESIDENT WIN MYINT President Win Myint Office of the President Naypyidaw Republic of the Union of Myanmar August 7, 2019 Dear President Win Myint, Fortify Rights is a nongovernmental organization based in Southeast Asia. We support human rights defenders, investigate human rights violations, and engage governments and others on solutions. Fortify Rights is preparing a report about the National Verification Card (NVC) process and citizenship rights for Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Our research focuses on human rights violations related to the NVC process, including torture, threats, intimidation, and restrictions on freedom of movement and livelihoods. The report will include recommendations to the Government of Myanmar to ensure the government upholds its human rights obligations under Myanmar law and international law. Our findings are based on first-person interviews with Rohingya in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Malaysia and with local and international humanitarian workers, and others. We are writing to ensure that our reporting accurately represents the policies and practices of the Myanmar government with regard to the citizenship process, including NVCs. To fully incorporate your views in our forthcoming publication, we would appreciate a response no later than August 16, 2019. If an in-person meeting would be preferable, we would be happy to discuss our research in detail at a time that is most convenient for your schedule. Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter. We look forward to engaging with your office to further advance human rights protections in Myanmar. Sincerely, Matthew Smith Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Fortify Rights Matthew.Smith@FortifyRights.org +66 85 028 0044 United States P.O. Box 110 Belfast, Maine, 04915 USA +1.207.518.7983 Thailand P.O. Box 314 Phra Kanong Post Office Bangkok 10110 +66.87.795.5454 Switzerland 78 Route de Florissant CH 1206 Geneva #rights4all fortifyrights.org fortify.rights@fortifyrights.org 1/2 Fortify Rights endeavors to produce objective human rights publications based on all available information. We hope your office will respond at your earliest opportunity to the attached questions so that we may reflect your views in our reporting. Please also feel free to include any additional information, materials, or statistics that might be relevant to our research.