Rohingya crisis: Myanmar rejects UN report, says it does not support human rights violation

Government spokesman Zaw Htay said that Myanmar did not agree or accept any report published by the UN Human Rights Council.

Htay also added that Myanmar is strictly against human rights violation.

"We didn't allow the FFM [the UN Fact-Finding Mission] to enter into Myanmar, that's why we don't agree and accept any resolutions made by the Human Rights Council," Htay told local Global New Light.

He said that the country has its own independent enquiry commission to respond to the "false allegations made by the UN agencies and other international communities".

In a previous investigation conducted by the army, the body had cleared itself of committing any transgression.

The UN report, prepared by investigators Marzuki Darusman, Radhika Coomaraswamy and Christopher Sidoti, 'underlined the horrific and organized nature of the brutality meted out on civilians in Myanmar’s Rakhine state since 2011, as well as Kachin and Shan states'.

“The fact-finding Mission has concluded, on reasonable grounds, that the patterns of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law that it is found, amount to the gravest crime under international law,” Sidoti said.

“These have principally been committed by the military, the Tatmadaw,” he added, referring to Myanmar’s armed forces.

“The Mission has concluded that criminal investigation and prosecution is warranted, focusing on the top Tatmadaw generals, in relation to the three categories of crimes under international law; genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

“In Myanmar, there is a very clear chain of command. There is no doubt in our minds whatsoever that what we saw happen in Rakhine as a whole, would not have happened without it, firstly, being within the knowledge of the senior military leadership and secondly, under their effective control. And it’s because of the clarity of the chain of command in Myanmar that we have recommended the investigation and prosecution of these six,” he added.

The report took into account 800 testimonies and quoted a victim-cum-survivor as saying that she is lucky to have gotten away with being raped only three times.

Radhika Coomaraswamy, a former UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, said: "The scale, brutality, and systematic nature of rape and violence indicate that they are part of a deliberate strategy to intimidate, terrorize, or punish the civilian population,” she said. “They’re used as a tactic of war that we found include rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, forced nudity and mutilations."

Despite being out of favour with the international community for its handling of the Rohningya issue, Myanmar has gained significant support from China.

Speaking against the UN report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: "Unilteral criticism or exerting pressure is actually not helpful in resolving the problem."

The Rohingya issue, which made headlines last year, has displaced over 700,000 people. The violence has also killed thousands.