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Special Advisor to the
Secretary-General on the Prevention
of Genocide Adama Dieng. UN Photo/Manuel
Elias
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6 February 2017 – The scale of violence against the
Rohingya community in Myanmar's Rakhine state documented in a recent United
Nations human rights report is a level of dehumanization and cruelty that is
“revolting and unacceptable,” the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of
Genocide said today, underlining the Government's responsibility to ensure that
populations are protected.
In a statement, Special Adviser Adama Dieng said the
flash report issued last week by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR) gave further credibility to allegations that security
forces were committing serious human rights violations against civilians in
northern Rakhine state from the very beginning of the recent escalation of
violence, which was precipitated by attacks on border posts in early October
2016 and the ensuing operations by those forces.
According to the findings contained in the OHCHR 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.
“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,” said Mr. Dieng.
“This
must stop right now!” he declared.
Current panel not a credible option to carry out new
investigation
Mr. Dieng also expressed concern that the commission
previously appointed by the Government to investigate the allegations and
which, despite having unhindered access to the region, found no evidence, or
insufficient evidence, of any wrongdoing by Government forces.
“[However,] 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,” the
Special Adviser added. “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,” he
noted, welcoming the Government's commitment to open an immediate probe.
“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,” Mr. Dieng said.
“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,” he concluded.
News Tracker: past stories on this issue
UN report details 'devastating cruelty' against Rohingya
population in Myanmar's Rakhine province: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=56103