December
28, 2017
SEOUL
— The United Nations' independent investigator into human rights in Myanmar has
called for international pressure on China and Russia to try to get them to
oppose human rights abuses in Myanmar.
U.N.
special rapporteur Yanghee Lee, who was last week barred by the Myanmar
government from visiting the country , singled out China and Russia because
they had failed to back some moves in the U.N. aimed at trying to halt the
Myanmar military's crackdown on the Muslim community in Rakhine State.
"I’d
like to ask the international community to continue to work with China and
Russia to persuade them to stand on the side of human rights," Lee told
Reuters in an interview.
Neither
has joined the United States, the European Union, and the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation in condemning the crackdown that has led to the exodus of
thousands of refugees into Bangladesh. In response to Lee, Chinese foreign
ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that "external actors" adding
pressure over human rights will not help to resolve the issue, and may make it
more complicated.
This
would not be in the interests of Myanmar, its neighbours or the international
community, she said at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Thursday. "We
hope that countries or individuals external to the issue can create a positive
environment that is more conducive to Myanmar resolving the issue for themselves,"
Hua added.
The
Russian foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
The
Russian government has previously warned against interfering in Myanmar’s
internal affairs. Russia’s ambassador to Myanmar, Nikolay Listopadov has said
it is “against excessive intervention, because it won’t lead to any
constructive results.”
The
Myanmar armed forces are accused by members of Muslim community and human
rights advocates of carrying out killings, rapes and village burnings, in what
top officials in the United Nations and United States have described as ethnic
cleansing.
The
Russian and Chinese stance is particularly important because either of them can
block the U.N. Security Council from referring allegations of crimes against
humanity to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. The ICC cannot act
against Myanmar without a referral because Myanmar is not an ICC member.
Myanmar has denied human rights abuses, saying its military is engaged in a
legitimate counter-insurgency operation. The military exonerated itself of all
accusations of atrocities in an internal investigation, which published its
findings on 13 November. Myanmar's foreign affairs ministry has said Lee was
not objective or impartial in a report she issued in July, and it wanted a fair
investigator.
Reuters/Hyonhee
Shin
Ref;
The Global New Light of Myanmar
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