BROUK urgently called to adopt UN Commission of Inquiry at the launch of the report “Countdown to Annihilation: Genocide in Myanmar”

RB News

November 2, 2015

London -- On 29th November at the launch of the ground-breaking report Countdown to Annihilation: Genocide in Myanmar which was written by ISCI scholars. BROUK President Tun Khin urgently called on the UN Human rights Council to adopt a resolution mandating international Commission of Inquiry to fully asses the situation of Rohingya. 

The event took place at the Hoxton Arches Central London and more than 100 people attended including human rights groups, British media and others. 

The report was written by ISCI scholar Professor Penny Green, Dr Thomas McManus, and Alicia de la Cour Venning. The report provides compelling evidence of a coordinated, State-led plan of genocide against the Rohingya. The report is based on ISCI scholars’ unprecedented systematic field research in Myanmar. 

The launch of the report was accompanied by a panel discussion with Penny Green, ISCI Director, Professor of Law and Globalisation, Queen Mary University of London, Tomás Ojea Quintana, Former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar ,Tun Khin, President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK and human rights activist, Sarnata Reynolds, Senior Advisor on Human Rights at Refugees International. 

In a report titled Countdown to Annihilation: Genocide in Myanmar researchers from the university-based International State Crime Initiative concluded that "dehumanisation and stigmatisation" techniques being used against Rohingya warrant comparisons with Germany in the 1930s and Rwanda in the early 1990s. 

Researchers said they found Nazi and SS paraphernalia such as t-shirts and helmets in official documents of the Arakan National Party, a Rakhine party. 

"It can be stopped but not without confronting the fact that it is, indeed, genocide," Professor Green said. Professor Penny Green also said “Myanmar’s Rohingya are being slowly annihilated through sporadic massacres, mass flight, systematic weakening and denial of identity. A genocidal process is underway in Myanmar and if it follows the path outlined in our report, it is yet to be completed. It can be stopped but not without confront" Mr Quintana said the International community has to take effective action and should support International investigation which he has proposed for a long time. 

"At this point, the situation of the Rohingya cannot be understood without considering a possible genocide," Mr Quintana said in comments released with the report. "At this point, the situation of the Rohingya cannot be understood without considering a possible genocide," he said in comments released with the report. The finding is backed by Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN's special Rapporteur of human rights in Myanmar between 2008 and 2014. 

BROUK President Tun Khin expresses his personal experiences of genocidal policy against Rohingya during his life in Arakan State. Tun Khin said “he doesn’t exist that is what Burmese Government says. They Burmese government also claim the ethnic Rohingya of Burma around 1 million Rohingya never existed”. 

Sarnata Reynolds mentioned the seriousness of the situation for Rohingya IDPS in Sittwe IDP camps and others. She also highlighted Rohingya refugee’s situation in Malaysia and other countries where she visited recently.