Myanmar should
guarantee the rights and medical care of children from the Rohingya Muslim
minority detained in an army crackdown launched in October, a U.N. human rights
investigator said on Thursday.
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| File photo of Rohingya kids |
Children as young as
10 were among hundreds of men detained on charges of consorting with Rohingya
insurgents, Reuters revealed in March, citing a previously unreleased police
document.
Thirteen juveniles
were among more than 400 arrested since Oct. 9, when insurgents attacked police
posts in northwestern Rakhine state, near the border with Bangladesh, according
to the police document, dated March 7.
The insurgent
attacks led to the biggest crisis of leader Aung San Suu Kyi's first year in
power, prompting some 75,000 Rohingya to flee the subsequent army crackdown to
Bangladesh.
Speaking at the U.N.
Human Rights Council in Geneva, Yanghee Lee, the organization's special
rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said children should not be
"arbitrarily deprived of their liberty" and the government should
guarantee their right to timely proceedings.
"I remind the
government that children should be detained strictly as a last resort, for the
shortest appropriate period of time, and must be treated with humanity and
respect in a manner which takes into account their age," said Lee.
She also urged the government
to investigate the death of a child who, according to the government, died
because of ill health in February. The government did not report the death
until last week, she said.
In April, a deputy
executive director of the U.N. children's fund (UNICEF), Justin Forsyth, sought
the release of the children while on a visit to Myanmar.
The United Nations,
in report based on interviews with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, said
Myanmar's security forces had committed mass killings and gang rapes against
Rohingya during their campaign, which could amount to crimes against humanity.
The military has
denied the accusations, saying it was engaged in a legitimate counterinsurgency
operation.
Myanmar's ambassador
in Geneva, Htin Lynn, did not directly address the issue of the detained
children, limiting his remarks to say that the Convention of the Rights of the
Child applied "equally to all children in Myanmar".
Lee also called on
Myanmar to "fully cooperate" with a recently established U.N.
fact-finding mission to investigate the alleged human rights violations by the
military.
Suu Kyi has opposed
the mission, saying this week it would create "greater hostility between
the different communities".
On Thursday,
ambassador Htin Lynn echoed her comments:
"It will not
help solve the problems Myanmar is facing in Rakhine State ... We are ready to
work with the international community on any advice or arrangements should they
constitute part of the solution, not part of the problem."
(Reporting by
Stephanie Ulmer-Nebehay; Writing by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Robert
Birsel)
Source: http://reut.rs/2rv4Eg3
Related topic, read
here: http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/06/15/525406/Myanmar-UN-Yanghee-Lee-Justin-Forsyth