News / Interviews

UN must report Myanmar’s crimes to ICC: Activist

Monday, 09 January 2017 4:50 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 09 January 2017 6:54 PM ]

Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, who tried to cross the Naf River into Bangladesh to escape sectarian violence, are kept under watch by Bangladeshi security forces in Teknaf on December 25, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

At least 65,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled persecution and violence in Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh since the army launched a crackdown in the northwestern State of Rakhine in early October. The United Nations has warned that the ongoing human rights violations against the Rohingya in Rakhine could be tantamount to “crimes against humanity.”

Massoud Shadjareh, head of the Islamic Human Rights Commission in London, believes what is happening in Myanmar goes far beyond crimes against humanity saying “it is the final stage of [an] ethnic cleansing.”

“The information that is coming out is really just a tip of the iceberg. There is [are] no reporters allowed to report or no human rights organization allowed to function and there is no independence of information organization to be able to [declare] inform fully of what is happening,” the activist told Press TV in an interview on Monday.

He also noted the reason why the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar has continued for a very long time is that the international community lacks the required political will to take necessary measures about it.

The activist further argued international organizations like the United Nations should report Myanmar's crimes to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

He went on to say sanctions should be used as a tool to force Myanmar to stop this barbaric act of killing and torturing of the innocent Rohingya Muslims.

Shadjareh further criticized the Muslim world specially the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for the silence towards the ongoing crimes in Myanmar.

Rakhine has been the scene of communal violence at the hands of Buddhist extremists since 2012. Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands have been forced from their homes to live in squalid camps in dire conditions in Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

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