U.N. rights boss calls for referring Myanmar to ICC for Rohingya crimes

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein talks to reporters in Jakarta Indonesia February 7, 2018. REUTERS/Beawiharta

By Stephanie Nebehay

Reuters

March 9, 2018

GENEVA - The top United Nations human rights official called on Friday for the U.N. General Assembly to refer alleged atrocities committed against the Muslim Rohingya minority in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution.

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, also urged Myanmar’s government to allow monitors into northern Rakhine state to investigate what he called suspected “acts of genocide” against the Muslim minority. 

“We are saying there are strong suspicions that, yes, acts of genocide may have taken place. But only a court can confirm this,” Zeid told a news conference in Geneva. 

Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Tom Miles