Collect evidence to charge Myanmar with genocide

The government should collect documents on atrocities carried out by Myanmar army against Rohingyas so that the country can be tried for committing genocide and crimes against humanity, said eminent jurist and constitution expert Shahdeen Malik yesterday.

“Along with providing humanitarian assistance, the government should also collect evidence of atrocities and crimes against humanity committed by Myanmar army so that they can be tried for committing genocide in Rakhine state,” said Shahdeen Malik, while speaking at a programme in the capital's Jatiya Press Club.

National Association for Resource Improvement (NARI) organised the programme to release its human rights report on Rohingya women and children.

The report is based on interviews of 74 Rohingya females in which they described their utter pain of losing their family members, including husband and children, at the hands of Myanmar troops. 

The interviewees told NARI that the Myanmar army gang raped the Rohingya girls and killed them.

“The soldiers did not even leave married and pregnant women -- not even the elderly ones,” says the report.

“Some left their injured children on the way as they couldn't travel further [to reach Bangladesh border],” the report also says.

Anowara Begum was three-month pregnant when she was raped by two Myanmar military men. She asked for mercy citing her pregnancy. But the military raped her forcibly, says the NARI report.

Speaking as the chief guest, Shahdeen Malik said it is unfortunate that the government is yet to start preserving the records of crimes against humanity committed by Myanmar army.

He also criticised the government for involving International Organization for Migration instead of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as lead agency to look after the future repatriation process of Rohingya people. UNHCR is the appropriate authority to do the work, he added.

He also urged the government to formulate a long-term policy or strategy on how to repatriate Rohingya people following discussions with all stakeholders.

“Otherwise, it might take 10 years to settle the Rohingya crisis…,” he also said.

Hasna Jasimuddin Moudud, president of NARI, said the Rohingya women who were subjected to repeated atrocities, need justice -- not just relief items.

'ROHINGYAS TO FACE HARDSHIPS IN MONSOON' 

Health Minister Mohammed Nasim yesterday at another programme said the global community must pressurise the Myanmar government to take back Rohingyas immediately.

Living condition of the Rohingya people will worsen gradually during the upcoming monsoon, Nasim told a roundtable organised by Bangla daily Prothom Alo at its office in the capital.

The minister also alleged that some international non-government organisations (NGOs) are trying to keep the Rohingyas in Bangladesh for a long time so that the NGOs can be benefited.

“We don't need to take aid or assistance. You [the global community] must put pressure on the brutal Myanmar government to take back the Rohingyas,” Nasim said.

“We will be in a big trouble if they were not taken back," he said, adding that hills and trees had already been cut off to make makeshift shelter for Rohingyas.