By May Wong
 |
| United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. (Photo: AFP/Fabrice Coffrini) |
YANGON: The severity of the reported violations against
the Rohingya in Myanmar warrants the attention of the International Criminal
Court, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Wednesday
(Mar 8).
Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said the violations, “against a
backdrop of severe and longstanding persecution”, amount to the “possible
commission of crimes against humanity”.
He was addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva,
where he highlighted the current major human rights issues in more than 40
countries.
Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein urged the Human Rights Council
to at least establish a commission of inquiry into the violence committed
against the Rohingya, especially during the security clearance operation after
the Oct 9 attacks against three border posts in the Maungdaw district in
Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
About 10 security personnel were killed in the initial
incident.
After the attacks occurred, the authorities locked down
the area and conducted a security clearance to hunt down the perpetrators.
According to the UN, this forced more than 74,000 Rohingya to flee from
Maungdaw to neighbouring Bangladesh.
More than 20,000 Rohingya have been newly displaced
within Rakhine state.
During the security clearance operations, which are said
to have ceased last month, many allegations of atrocities such as rape, arson
and summary killings against the Rohingya surfaced.
The Myanmar government does not recognise the Rohingya,
saying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The government has also
consistently denied many of the reported allegations of violations against the
Rohingya.
The government had formed its own investigation
commission, led by Myanmar's vice president, to look into the allegations, but
many sceptics are unconvinced that the commission will deliver an impartial
report.