By REUTERS & THE IRRAWADDY
30 May 2017
The UN named a trio of independent experts on Tuesday to
investigate widespread allegations of killings, rape and torture by Burma’s
security forces against Rohingya Muslims in Arakan State.
The mission will seek access to Burma, where the army
last week rejected allegations of abuses during a crackdown last year which forced
some 75,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. The UN urged the
government to “fully cooperate” by making available the findings of its
domestic investigations and by “granting full, unrestricted and unmonitored
access”.
The two other members are Radhika Coomaraswamy, a
human rights veteran and lawyer from Sri Lanka, and Australian activist Christopher
Sidoti, said the U.N. statement, issued after private consultations within
the 47-member state forum.
The Council agreed to set up the fact-finding mission
last March in a resolution strongly condemning violations and calling for
ensuring “full accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims.”
A UN report in February said Burma’s security forces had
committed mass killings and gang rapes in a campaign that “very likely”
amounted to crimes against humanity and possibly ethnic cleansing. The report
by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was based on extensive interviews
with Rohingya survivors in Bangladesh.
Both Burma’s de facto leader State Counselor Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi and Burma’s military commander-in-chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing have
rejected the team of experts.
In her State of the Union address last month Daw Aung Suu
Kyi said she did not accept a fact-finding mission into Arakan State. “It does
not mean we disrespect the UN,” she added, “it is just that it does not
correspond with our country’s [situation].”
On the occasion of the 72nd Anniversary of Armed Forces
Day last month, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing reiterated that the Rohingya population
did not belong to Burma, but were interlopers from Bangladesh—and that any
international political intervention on the pretext of assisting refugees from
this community would threaten Burma’s sovereignty.
Last week, more than 50 civil society groups in Burma
urged the government to fully cooperate with the fact finding mission, claiming
it would “foster a rule-of law culture.” Last month, 23 international
organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Fortify
Rights, called on overseas governments to engage Burmese authorities in
allowing unfettered access to the UN fact-finding mission.
More:
Indian lawyer Indira
Jaising to lead UN probe into Rohingya crackdown http://po.st/GsOktl
UN rights council names team to probe Rakhine crackdown: http://frontiermyanmar.net/en/un-rights-council-names-team-to-probe-rakhine-crackdown
President of Human
Rights Council appoints Members of Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar: https://shar.es/1RC5KE