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UN Security Council pushes Myanmar on accountability over Rohingyas

May 10, 2018 15:34·
Unicef gets $15.7m Japan fund for children women in Cox’s Bazar

Unicef gets $15.7m Japan fund for children women in Cox’s Bazar

Matthew Smith, co-founder and chief executive director of Fortify Rights, said the Security Council should go further than referring the case to the world court that prosecutes war criminals. He added that "there may be civilian leaders as well who may be liable for worldwide crimes in this situation" but said Fortify Rights has focused on the military.

Rohingya insurgent attacks on security posts in Rakhine in August past year sparked a military operation that has sent almost 700,000 Rohingya fleeing to refugee camps in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. Thousands are believed to have died and the United Nations and USA officials have called the government's military campaign ethnic cleansing.

The U.N. Security Council urged Myanmar's government on Wednesday to fulfill its commitment to hold perpetrators of violence against Rohingya Muslims accountable and to address the root causes that led about 700,000 members of the ethnic minority to flee to Bangladesh.

The council statement on Wednesday reaffirmed its most significant pronouncement on the Rohingya, a presidential statement it adopted in November.

Diplomats said Britain, backed by France and the United States, had rejected the proposed changes by China and negotiations were continuing. China has close ties to Myanmar's military. Bangladesh is a member of the ICC but Myanmar is not.

The members of the Security Council expressed their deep appreciation to the government of Bangladesh for its efforts to provide refugees protection and assistance, and expressed their determination to continue supporting Bangladesh, and Bangladeshi host communities, especially in preparing for the upcoming monsoon season and in providing refugees with sustainable support. But in May 2014, Russian Federation and China cast a double-veto against a resolution approved by the 13 other council members and more than 60 countries that would have referred Syria to the global war crimes tribunal.

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The UNSC made the call in light of the importance of undertaking transparent investigations into allegations of human rights abuses and violations.

Amnesty International's senior director for worldwide law and policy, Tawanda Mutasah, said his group had viewed satellite imagery, photos and interviewed victims to conclude that the case must go to the court "for justice to be done, for accountability to be secured".

Param-Preet Singh, associate director of global justice at Human Rights Watch, said diplomacy hasn't been working, and inaction "gives the Security Council a free pass".

"We all believe. that based upon the facts and the law that the situation in Myanmar should be referred to the International Criminal Court", said Param-Preet Singh, associate director, international justice for Human Rights Watch, at a news conference before the UN Correspondents Association in Manhattan on Tuesday.

Eight members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are not state parties to the ICC: Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

"Time and again Myanmar authorities have shown themselves to be completely unwilling to even acknowledge the crimes alleged against its security forces and military, let alone take steps to bring those responsible to book", she said.

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