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GENEVA (Reuters) – The United States Human Rights Council on Thursday voted to establish a body to prepare evidence of human rights violations in Myanmar, including possible genocide, future lawsuits.
FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows villages formerly inhabited by the Rohingya as seen from Myanmar military helicopters that transported US emissaries into northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, on May 1, 2018. REUTERS / Michelle Nichols / Photo File
The Council, consisting of 47 members, voted by 35 votes to three, with seven abstentions, in favor of a resolution presented by the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
China, the Philippines and Burundi voted against, whose supporters said they were supported by more than 100 countries.
Myanmar Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun said the resolution was based on the report of a US fact-finding mission (FFM) that his government flatly rejected, was unbalanced, biased and encouraged the country's disunity.
"The draft resolution is based on serious but unverified allegations and recommendations by the Mission that could even jeopardize the country's national unity," he said.
He stated that the intrusive language and demands of the resolution would not contribute to finding lasting solutions to the delicate situation in Rakhine State in Myanmar.
The resolution establishes a body to "gather, consolidate, preserve and analyze evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011 and to prepare cases to facilitate and expedite fair criminal proceedings". and independent ".
The new agency will work closely with any future suit brought by the ICC, which said earlier this month that it is competent for the alleged deportation of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
A year ago, government troops carried out a brutal crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine State following attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on 30 Myanmar police stations and a military base. More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled the repression and most are now living in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh.
The Mission's report indicates that the Myanmar army carried out mass killings and rapes of Rohingya with "genocidal intent" and called on the commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing and five generals appointed to be prosecuted for the crimes. more serious.
In its resolution of Thursday, the Council stated that there was enough information to justify that the competent court "determines its responsibility in case of genocide".
Chinese diplomat Chen Cheng told the Council that Beijing was opposed to the resolution as it was likely to aggravate tensions. "It's not in anyone's interest," he said.
Reporting by Tom Miles; Edited by Jon Boyle / Mark Heinrich
