Statement by Adama Dieng, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide following OHCHR’s report on the situation in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar
(New York, 6 February 2017)
The United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of
Genocide, Adama Dieng, stated that he was shocked and alarmed to read the
accounts of serious human rights violations being committed against Muslim
Rohingya in northern Rakhine State by Myanmar’s security forces, as set out in
the report published on 3 February by the United Nations Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). According to the findings of the report,
human rights violations committed by the security forces include mass
gang-rape, extra judicial killings – including of babies and young children –
brutal beatings and disappearances. These attacks have taken place in the
context of an escalation of violence in northern Rakhine State since border
security posts were attacked by armed assailants in early October 2016.
There have been allegations that security forces were
committing serious human rights violations against the civilian population of
northern Rakhine State from the very beginning of the recent escalation of
violence. “I and many others have been urging the authorities to conduct an
independent and impartial investigation into these allegations. The
investigation conducted by OHCHR gives further credibility to those accounts
and describes a level of dehumanization and cruelty that is revolting, and
unacceptable. This must stop right now!”
The Special Adviser welcomed the Government’s commitment
to investigate the matter immediately. The commission previously appointed by
the Government to investigate allegations of human rights violations in norther
Rakhine state, which was led by Vice-President U Myint Swe, reported just a few
weeks ago that it had found no evidence, or insufficient evidence, of any
wrongdoing by Government forces.
“I am concerned that the Government Commission, which had
unhindered access to the location of the incidents, found nothing to
substantiate the claims, while OHCHR, which was not given access to the area,
found an overwhelming number of testimonies and other forms of evidence through
interviews with refugees who had fled to a neighbouring country” stated the
Special Adviser. “The existing Commission is not a credible option to undertake
the new investigation. I urge that any investigation be conducted by a truly
independent and impartial body that includes international observers. If the
Government wants the international community and regional actors to believe in
their willingness to resolve the matter, they must act responsibly and
demonstrate their sincerity.”
According to the Special Adviser, “There is no more time
to wait. All of this is happening against the background of very deeply rooted
and long-standing discriminatory practices and policies against the Rohingya
Muslims and a failure to put in place conditions that would support peaceful
coexistence among the different communities in Rakhine State. If people are
being persecuted based on their identity and killed, tortured, raped and
forcibly transferred in a widespread or systematic manner, this could amount to
crimes against humanity, and in fact be the precursor of other egregious international
crimes. The Government has a responsibility to protect its populations against
these atrocious and punishable acts.”
****
For media queries please contact:
Claudia Diaz, Office on Genocide Prevention and the
Responsibility to Protect
http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/adviser/
Phone: +1 917-367-2061; Email: diazc@un.org
Source: https://goo.gl/1AIfEu