27 August 2018•Update: 28 August 2018
By Umar Farooq
WASHINGTON
UN representatives of the Netherlands and Kuwait said Monday they support the organization’s demand for genocide charges against the Myanmar army for their persecution of Rohingya Muslims.
"We are very concerned about the atrocities committed there and call for accountability and to refer the situation in Myanmar to the ICC," Netherlands' permanent representative to the UN Karel van Oosterom said before a UN Security Council meeting.
Kuwait's permanent representative to the UN Mansour Al-Otaibi also said his country supports the establishment of an international mechanism to punish those responsible for the crimes committed in the Rakhine state.
"Today's report is a very documented report with pictures and videos of these atrocities," Otaibi said. "We support accountability and I will talk about this at the UN Security Council meeting on Myanmar tomorrow."
The UN Security Council will meet Tuesday to discuss the situation in Myanmar and the report by the UN mission.
The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar called on top Myanmar’s top military officials, including commander-in-chief Staff Min Aung Hlaing, to be tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide committed against Rohingya Muslims.
"Military necessity would never justify killing indiscriminately, gang-raping women, assaulting children, and burning entire villages. The Tatmadaw’s [Myanmar's armed forces] tactics are consistently and grossly disproportionate to actual security threats, especially in Rakhine State, but also in northern Myanmar," the report said.
On Aug. 25, 2017, Myanmar launched a major military crackdown on the Muslim ethnic minority, killing almost 24,000 civilians and forcing 750,000 others including women and children to flee to Bangladesh, according to the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).
The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.
The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces. In its report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.
