‘ROHINGYA GENOCIDE LIKELY’
Ethnic cleansing underway in Myanmar, says UN human rights chief
THE United Nations human rights chief said yesterday he strongly suspects that “acts of genocide” may have taken place against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State since August.
Reports of bulldozing of alleged mass graves showed a “deliberate attempt by the authorities to destroy evidence of potential international crimes, including possible crimes against humanity,” Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council.
Zeid noted that his office said on Tuesday that it believed ethnic cleansing was underway in Rakhine.
Rohingya were still fleeing because of “systematic” if lower-intensity persecution and violence there, he said.
There was no immediate comment by the Myanmar governcouncil, ment. In the its delegation is allowed to respond today.
Zeid’s office had received reports of land inhabited by Rohingya being appropriated and members of other ethnic groups replacing them.
“A recent announcement that seven soldiers and three police officers will be brought to justice for the alleged extrajudicial killing of 10 Rohingya men is grossly insufficient.”
Myanmar’s government must take steps to provide real accountability for violations and respect the rights of Rohingya, including to citizenship, Zeid said. A fact-finding mission set up by the council, headed by former Indonesian Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman, is due to report on its initial findings on Monafter day interviewing victims and survivors in Bangladesh and other countries.
Pending its final report, the UN General Assembly should establish a new independent mechanism to expedite criminal proceedings in courts against those responsible, Zeid said. In another development, a Rakhine Buddhist leader facing treason charges linked to deadly riots appeared in a Myanmar court yesterday.
The Buddhist Rakhine community, some of whom are accused of aiding soldiers in the crackdown on Rohingya, has also frequently clashed with the central government and tensions have soared since riots rocked Mrauk U, a town in Rakhine, in January.
Aye Maung, once the chairman of an ethnic Rakhine political party, was arrested after the unrest for allegedly making an inflammatory speech against the central government.
Facing charges of high treason, incitement and unlawful association, he has insisted on his innocence and accused the authorities of a political witch-hunt.
Unlike the Rohingya, the Rakhine are recognised by the government as an ethnic minority, but are often marginalised under a system that favours the nationally dominant Bamar.