UN envoy urges action to end Rohingya suffering
A special UN envoy has urged Myanmar to end the suffering of tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who crossed into neighbouring Bangladesh after the Burmese military last year launched a crackdown in the state of Rakhine state.
"I urge the government of Myanmar to immediately cease the discrimination that the community continues to face, to act now to prevent any further serious rights violations and to conduct prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into those already alleged to have occurred," said Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur, who visited makeshift camps in the southern Bangladeshi district of Cox's Bazar bordering Myanmar last week.
Lee described the atrocities carried out on the minority Muslims in Myanmar as "far more extensive" than previously thought.
More than 70,000 men, women and children from the Muslim community fled violence after the Myanmar army launched crackdown following an early October attack on a police post in Rakhine state that killed nine officers.
Also on Monday, the Obama-era envoy to the UN human rights council, Keith Harper, attacked Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi for not speaking up against human rights abuses of the Rohingya.
"While Daw Suu Kyi was perfectly comfortable reaping benefits as a human rights icon for her own pro-democracy struggle, she is not prepared to display the political courage necessary to take a stand for an unpopular Muslim minority group and prevent the grave and systematic denial of their human rights," Harper said.
Harper was writing on Just Security, a blog run by the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University's School of Law.
The Rohingya have found shelter in refugee camps in Bangladesh where they tell stories of arson, gang-rape and murder committed by soldiers, allegations reiterated in a UN report released earlier this month. Harper has called for a full UN investigation into the allegations.
Yet he fears that Suu Kyi's "iconic status as pro-democracy crusader" makes it difficult for many in the West to hold her accountable.
"Even accepting that Suu Kyi does not sufficiently control the military, she has utterly failed to utilise her considerable bully pulpit, which would undoubtedly be impactful," he said.
A military-drafted constitution limits the power of the Suu Kyi-led democratic government, in charge since April. (dpa)
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