Michelle Bachelet
The United Nations human rights boss Michelle Bachelet called on China on Monday to allow monitors into the country following "deeply disturbing" allegations of large re-education camps in which Uighurs are detained in far western Xinjiang province.
The former Chilean president, in her maiden speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council, said that she was sending teams to Austria and Italy to look into protection of migrants. She voiced concern that 500 migrant children in the United States taken away from their parents have not yet been returned.
Bachelet urged the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen to show greater transparency in their rules of engagement and hold to account perpetrators of deadly air strikes on civilians, including that which hit a bus of children in Saada last month.
Myanmar has disregarded the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court’s (ICC) ruling that the court has jurisdiction to investigate the crimes against Rohingya Muslims in the country’s northwestern Rakhine state."The Court has jurisdiction over the crime against humanity of deportation allegedly committed against members of the Rohingya people," the Hague-based court said in a statement on Thursday."The reason is that an element of this crime -- the crossing of a border -- took place on the territory of a State party [Bangladesh]," it added.This statement said it “may also exercise its jurisdiction with regard to any other crime set out in article 5 of the [ICC Rome] Statute, such as the crimes against humanity of persecution and/or other inhumane acts.”However, Myanmar government expressed disregard for the ICC's decision."Myanmar reiterates its position, that not being a party to the Rome Statute, it is under no obligation to respect the ruling of the court,” Myanmar's Office of the President said in a press release on Friday."Myanmar reiterates that it has not deported any individuals in the areas of concern and in fact has worked hard in collaboration with Bangladesh to repatriate those displaced from their homes,” the press release claimed.- Mass gang rapes and killingsThe decision by the ICC came a week after the UN released a report documenting mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces. In its report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar called on Myanmar’s top military officials, including army commander-in-chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, to be tried at the International Criminal Court for genocide committed against Rohingya Muslims.Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).In a recent report, Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience, the OIDA raised the estimated number of murdered Rohingya to 23,962 (± 881) from a Doctors Without Borders figure of 9,400.More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, the OIDA report said, adding that 17,718 (±780) Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar’s army and police. Over 115,000 Rohingya houses were also burned down and 113,000 others vandalized, it added.According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly children and women, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community.The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.The UN has documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.
Myanmar disregards ICC’s ruling over Rohingya issue
A Myanmar foreign investment official said on Wednesday he "totally underestimated" the economic damage of the Rohingya crisis, adding that the outcry over the jailing of two Reuters reporters would also have some impact on his country's reputation.Asked at an investor forum in Singapore what impact the crisis had on Myanmar's economy and investment, the director general of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA), which promotes private sector development and investment, said previously the government had been able to control outbreaks of communal tension.But the crisis in Rakhine State was different."I totally underestimated," the official, Aung Naing Oo, told the forum, referring to the impact of an eruption of violence in 2016, which snowballed in 2017.UK: Human rights group discusses Rohingya crisisBangladesh PM: Myanmar delaying Rohingya repatriation"But after two years ... now you can see that FDI in Myanmar is heading down, it is declining," he said, referring to foreign direct investment, though adding that he was confident the government could stabilise the situation.Approved foreign investment into Myanmar has fallen in 2016 and 2017, according to data issued by the DICA, which operates under the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, and last year was the lowest since 2013.Myanmar's government spokesman, Zaw Htay, contacted by telephone, responded with a message to say he was not immediately able to take any questions.Facebook removes Burmese translation featureMore than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Myanmar's Rakhine State into Bangladesh since a military crackdown that began a year ago after Rohingya insurgents attacked security posts.A U.N. mandated fact-finding mission said last week that Myanmar's military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya with "genocidal intent" and called for top generals to be prosecuted. Myanmar rejected the findings.The government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticised for failing to speak out against the military crackdown in Rakhine, and investors have voiced concern that sanctions that long hobbled the economy for years under military rule could be reinstated over it.Dozens of Myanmar civil society groups condemn conviction of Reuters reportersIn addition, two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were jailed for seven years on Monday after being found guilty of breaching a law on state secrets.They denied wrongdoing and their conviction drew international condemnation.The reporters were investigating a massacre of Rohingya villagers by security forces at the time of their arrest in December. The military later confirmed that a massacre had taken place and punished several soldiers.Myanmar army apologises for mistaken photos in book on Rohingya crisisAung Naing Oo, who has played a major role in drafting business laws, said the reporters' case had attracted widespread media coverage and their treatment would be a factor Western businesses would consider when making investment decisions."Not only the international community but also ... some of the local communities are not happy with the decision so therefore that will have some impact on our reputation," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the forum. 
Myanmar official says 'totally underestimated' economic impact of Rohingya crisis
Bachelet presses for new body on crimes against Myanmar Rohingya
Bachelet called for an international mechanism to collect evidence of crimes against Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar including murder and torture, with a view to future prosecution.
Bachelet, in her first speech to the Human Rights Council since taking office on Sept. 1, said: "This mechanism would also complement and support the preliminary examination of the ICC (International Criminal Court) Prosecutor.
"I urge the Council to pass a resolution and refer the matter to the General Assembly for its endorsement so that such a mechanism can be established."