Star Online Report
The United Nations (UN) human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al
Hussein today condemned “widespread, systematic and shockingly brutal attacks”
against Rohingyas, as well as decades of discrimination and persecution.
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| File photo of UNHCHR Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein |
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also urged a
special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the current situation of
Rohingyas in northern Rakhine state of Myanmar “to take the appropriate action
to stop this madness now”.
“How much do people have to endure before their suffering
is acknowledged and their identity and rights are recognised, by their
government and by the world?” he asked.
He also urged the council to consider making a
recommendation to the UN General Assembly that it establish a new impartial and
independent mechanism, complementary to the work of the Fact-Finding Mission
into the latest wave of violence and abuses, to assist individual criminal
investigations of those responsible.
Don’t miss to read UN news & OHCR here:
Myanmar: UN human rights chief calls for
international criminal investigation of perpetrators of violence against
Rohingya http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22488&LangID=E
Myanmar: systematic attacks on Rohingya
require international response http://www.ohchr.org/EN/pages/home.aspx
UN rights chief calls for probe into attacks against
Rohingya, says genocide ‘cannot be ruled out’ http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=58223#.WieOJUqWbct
He said that given the decades of statelessness imposed
on the Rohingya, policies of dehumanising discrimination and segregation, and
the horrific violence and abuse, along with the forced displacement and
systematic destruction of villages, homes, property and livelihoods - “can
anyone rule out that elements of genocide may be present?”
“Ultimately, this is a legal determination only a
competent court can make,” he told the Council.
“But the concerns are extremely serious, and clearly call
for access to be immediately granted for further verification.”
By December 2, an estimated 626,000 refugees - or more
than half the estimated number of Rohingya living in Rakhine State - had fled
to Bangladesh since October 2016, and particularly since August 2017. The
Myanmar Government has said its latest campaign in northern Rakhine was in
response to attacks by insurgents.
Special Session of the HRC on the human rights situation
of the minority Rohingya Muslim population and other minorities in the Rakhine
State of Myanmar
Statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid
Ra’ad Al Hussein: https://lnkd.in/dhNR-JA
Zeid said his Office had sent three teams to Bangladesh
this year to monitor the situation and interview refugees.
He said witnesses reported acts of appalling barbarity
committed against the Rohingya, including deliberately burning people to death
inside their homes; murders of children and adults; indiscriminate shooting of
fleeing civilians; widespread rapes of women and girls; and the burning and
destruction of houses, schools, markets and mosques.
Zeid said he had reported to both the Human Rights
Council and the Security Council about the persistent allegations of serious
human rights violations by security forces.
Yet, he added, prosecutions for alleged acts of violence
against them, including sexual violence – whether committed by security forces
or civilians – appeared to be extremely rare.
“Refusal by international as well as local actors to even
name the Rohingyas as Rohingyas – to recognise them as a community and respect
their right to self-identification – is yet another humiliation, and it creates
a shameful paradox: they are denied a name, while being targeted for being who
they are,” he added.
Zeid told the Special Session of the Council that it
appeared very probable that by continuing to dehumanise the Rohingya the state
authorities would fuel even wider levels of violence in the future. “We cannot
afford to hear that historical and tragic refrain, one more time, that no one
knew it would turn out to be like this — what a lie that would be,” he said.
The High Commissioner warned against the premature
repatriation of any refugees in the absence of sustained human rights
monitoring on the ground and without first addressing the root causes of the
crisis.
He cited a similar situation in the 1990s when refugees
who fled Rakhine State started to return but was again forced to take flight.
“The world cannot countenance a hasty window-dressing of
these shocking atrocities, bundling people back to conditions of severe
discrimination and latent violence which seem certain to lead in the future to
further suffering, and more movements of people,” the UN human rights chief
said.