Myanmar: UN Human Rights Council creates independent mechanism to expedite prosecutions

On September 27, the Council voted by an overwhelming majority to establish an ongoing independent mechanism to “collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of the most serious international crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011” in a move that will “expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings” against the perpetrators of grave human rights violations who have so far acted with impunity.

FIDH and its member organisations ALTSEAN-Burma and Odhikar have systematically advocated before the international community to ensure such accountability for this brutal and systematic onslaught against the Rohingya population, sharing the findings of their report, released on September 17, entitled “No stone unturned - Q&A on accountability for crimes in Myanmar” which answers the most pressing questions on accountability for crimes in Myanmar and explains the international justice mechanisms and their scope of application.

The UN Security Council should now refer the situation of Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and commit to providing concrete support to, and cooperation with, the ICC in order to ensure that prosecutions are carried out without delay in relation to all crimes within the ICC’s jurisdiction and in all parts of the country.

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