Reuters Staff
GENEVA (Reuters) - The Myanmarese government appears to
be pursuing a policy of starvation in Rakhine state to force out the remaining
Muslim Rohingya population, a U.N. investigator said on Monday.
The military has also started new offensives in Kachin
and Kayin states, Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee told the United Nations Human
Rights Council in Geneva.
Lee said atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim minority
“bear the hallmarks of genocide”. She called for the council to set up an entity
in Bangladesh, where more than 650,000 Rohingya have fled, to collect evidence
for potential trials.
Myanmar’s envoy Htin Lynn rejected Lee’s remarks and
called for the council to fire her.
Lee said the violence in Rakhine had eclipsed anything
seen in recent years in Myanmar, where the government has also fought
insurgents in Shan, Kayin and Kachin states.
Myanmar: UN expert calls for accountability over violence
in Rakhine State http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22793&LangID=E
She had received information that the military mounted
new ground offensives last week using heavy artillery in Kachin’s gold and
amber-mining area of Tanai.
Myanmar’s military had also advanced into Mutraw District
in Kayin State, an area controlled by the Karen National Union, despite a
ceasefire agreement, she said.
“This ceasefire violation led to 1,500 villagers from 15
villages having to flee. I am very concerned about these continuing offensives;
the path to peace is through inclusive political dialogue, and not through
military force,” she said.
In Rakhine state, Myanmar appeared to be pursuing a
policy of forced starvation to make life there unsustainable for the Rohingya,
Lee said.
Marzuki Darusman, chairman of a fact-finding mission on
Myanmar set up by the council, said his team had received a flood of allegations
against the security forces in Rakhine, Kachin, Shan and elsewhere.
“All the information collected by the Fact-Finding
Mission so far further points to violence of an extremely cruel nature,
including against women,” he said.
“The Fact-Finding Mission has met with women who showed
fresh and deep bite marks on their faces and bodies sustained during acts of
sexual violence.”
Myanmar’s Ambassador Lynn did not respond to the
criticism in detail but told the council it was wrong to assert that Myanmar’s leadership
remained indifferent to the allegations.
“Our leadership and the government shall never tolerate
such crimes. We are ready to take action, where there is the evidence,” he
said.