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GENEVA – The UN Human Rights Council has stepped up pressure to punish Myanmar's military commanders for a brutal campaign against Rohingya Muslims, deciding Thursday to create a body to speed up criminal prosecutions.
The council overwhelmingly supported a resolution to establish an "independent mechanism" that will collect and analyze evidence of "the most serious international crimes" and prepare cases that will facilitate the handling of cases in national, regional or international courts. .
The council's action came a month after the UN investigation team declared that the Myanmar army commander, General Min Aung Hlaing, and other high-ranking generals should be prosecuted in front of the police. an international tribunal. He recommended genocide prosecutions for a campaign that forced some 750,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh, and crimes against humanity related to actions against other ethnic minorities.
The team presented a 444-page report to the council this month, outlining the poignant details of a Myanmar army-led campaign that led to the systematic killing of thousands of people, the massive rape of women and men. girls and the massive destruction of villages.
Myanmar categorically rejected accusations that its security forces had committed mass atrocities and refused to cooperate with the investigation team. His ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Kyaw Moe Tun, told the council that the team's report was based on "unverified information" and that the resolution would hinder the dialogue and repatriation of those who had fled.
Thirty-five of the 47 board members supported the resolution. The only countries to oppose it are China, the Philippines and Burundi. The others abstained or did not vote.
Thursday's resolution is the result of collaboration between the 28 countries of the European Union and the 57 states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It has been co-sponsored by more than 100 countries from all regions.
"This is unprecedented," said Farukh Amil, Ambassador of Pakistan and Coordinator of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, after the vote, citing the level of cooperation. "It's a very powerful message that has been passed on to the Government of Myanmar."
The body established by the Council will be similar to the international, impartial and independent mechanism set up by the General Assembly two years ago to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the atrocities committed in Syria. The diplomats hoped that the new entity would be operational in the year.
A significant difference is that, unlike the Syrian organization that provides voluntary contributions from States, the Myanmar organ will be funded by United Nations core funds and spared the need to lobby at the international level. to obtain resources.
The council also voted to extend the term of the investigation team for a year.
Diplomats saw Thursday's decision as a first step towards resolving the much more controversial issue of how and where to prosecute those identified as responsible.
The International Criminal Court has decided that it has jurisdiction to investigate the forced evictions of Rohingya from Myanmar. But China will likely veto calls to the UN Security Council for Myanmar to be brought to court to investigate all atrocities.
Another option would be to create an ad hoc tribunal of the kind to prosecute crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. But that would also require the support of the Security Council, and China could also block that.
"The pressure to move forward is very strong," said Carl Hallergard, EU Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.
Diplomats and human rights groups have seen the Human Rights Council vote demonstrate its ability to take meaningful action on critical human rights issues soon after the United States decided
It "shows that multilateralism remains very important," said Ambassador Amil of Pakistan. "The United States is working, the Human Rights Council is working".
