UN special rapporteur on human rights in
Myanmar calls for international probe into abuses against Rohingya Muslims.
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Myanmar's army launched a bloody crackdown against
the
Rohingya in October [Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters]
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Myanmar "may be trying to expel" all ethnic
Rohingya from its territory, a UN rights expert says, pushing for a high-level
inquiry into abuses against the Muslim minority community.
Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in
Myanmar, told the UN rights council in Geneva on Monday evidence indicated a
full purge could be the ultimate goal of the institutional persecution being
perpetrated against the Rohingya.
Bangladesh experiences biggest Rohingya refugee influx in
two decades: https://youtu.be/nWHwUFDTj_w
"Conducting a household survey - where those absent
may be struck off the list that could be the only legal proof of their status
in Myanmar - indicates the government may be trying to expel the Rohingya
population from the country altogether," she said.
The army launched a bloody crackdown against the Rohingya
in October in the northern Rakhine state following attacks by rebels on several
border posts.
UN investigators say during the military operation women
were gang-raped by soldiers and Rohingya babies were slaughtered.
Lee wants the rights council to establish the UN's
highest-level probe, a Commission of Inquiry, to investigate the crackdown, as
well as violent episodes in 2012 and 2014.
Myanmar's UN envoy in Geneva U Htin Lynn said at the
council on Monday the allegations were unverified and one-sided. He said
security operations in Rakhine had stopped and the curfew was eased earlier
this month.
"The situation in Rakhine state is very complicated
in nature and thus requires complicated answers. It also requires greater
understanding by the international community," he said.
"Myanmar does not accept the idea of a commission of
Inquiry, as we are seriously addressing the allegations nationally."
Threat to democracy
The council could set up the commission before its
session ends later this month, but key players including the European Union
have not yet backed Lee's call because of concern that a damning UN
investigation might threaten the country's fragile democracy drive.
Myanmar's Rohingya: 'We are living in a cage' https://youtu.be/0adJgOk1_8o
Speaking to reporters after her council appearance, Lee
said she believed support for an inquiry was tepid, including within the EU.
Countries "won't say they are not going to support
your call, but I do hear ... [countries] say that maybe Aung San Suu Kyi needs
more time", Lee said, referring to the Nobel peace laureate who leads
Myanmar's civilian government.
Aung San Suu Kyi's administration, which took charge last
year after decades of oppressive military rule, has rejected Lee's bid to set
up the investigation and insisted its own national probe can uncover the facts
in Rakhine.
Lee conceded a full international probe "could have
a destabilising effect" - in that it may implicate the military in crimes
against humanity - but she insisted it was in the government's interest to get
the facts out.
WATCH: The Rakhine Crisis
@AJEnglish http://aje.io/mkn2
She also told the council the government's internal probe
had already been proved inadequate.
Representatives from the EU, the Netherlands and Britain
all avoided the question of the investigation during Monday's discussion.
Julian Braithwaite, Britain's envoy to the council, said
the international community needed to "engage [Myanmar] without damaging
the delicate civilian-military balance".
Myanmar's Rohingya: Is Peace Possible? - Talk to Al
Jazeera: In the Field: https://youtu.be/Auz3GQju0Oc