UNHRC to hold special session on Rohingyas December 5

In an effort to put additional pressure on Myanmar over its treatment of Rohingyas in the Rakhine state, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is going to hold a special session in Geneva on December 5 in which Bangladesh is expecting a resolution to be adopted. “Yes, a special session on Rohingyas will take place at the UNHRC in Geneva,” Dr Dipu Moni, former foreign minister and the chair of the parliamentary standing committee on the foreign ministry, told The Independent yesterday. Holding special session is very unusual, said officials concerned, adding that adoption of a resolution will put added pressure on Myanmar to pay heed to the international outcry regarding the plight of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas, who had to flee their homes in Rakhine to save themselves from the brutalities of the Myanmar security forces, local Buddhist mobs and people from other ethnic groups.

Bangladesh made the request late last month and as it could muster the support of one third of the 47-member human rights council, the chief of the world rights body approved the session, they said.

The objective of such a session is to get a resolution on the crisis involving serious violations of human rights of Rohingya people in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, said a top official of the foreign ministry.

“We were hopeful of getting a resolution in our favour,” said another top official. The officials said that a simple majority is needed for a resolution, which is non-binding in nature, and that Dhaka is working to ensure the necessary support.  They said that the findings of UN human rights experts, who recently visited Bangladesh including Cox’s Bazar, will help Bangladesh get a resolution passed.

According to the experts, an independent fact-finding mission appointed by the UNHRC in March last year to “establish the facts and circumstances of alleged human rights violations by military and security forces, and abuses, in Myanmar, in particular in Rakhine State” was “deeply disturbed” by accounts of killings, torture, rape, arson and aerial attacks reportedly perpetrated against the Rohingya community in Myanmar.

UNHRC to hold special session on Rohingyas December 5

In an effort to put additional pressure on Myanmar over its treatment of Rohingyas in the Rakhine state, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is going to hold a special session in Geneva on December 5 in which Bangladesh is expecting a resolution to be adopted. Yes, a special session on Rohingyas will take place at the UNHRC in Geneva, Dr Dipu Moni, former foreign minister and the chair of the parliamentary standing committee on the foreign ministry, told The Independent yesterday. Holding special session is very unusual, said officials concerned, adding that adoption of a resolution will put added pressure on Myanmar to pay heed to the international outcry regarding the plight of hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas, who had to flee their homes in Rakhine to save themselves from the brutalities of the Myanmar security forces, local Buddhist mobs and people from other ethnic groups. Bangladesh made the request late last month and as it could muster the support of one third of the 47-member human rights council, the chief of the world rights body approved the session, they said. The objective of such a session is to get a resolution on the crisis involving serious violations of human rights of Rohingya people in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, said a top official of the foreign ministry. We were hopeful of getting a resolution in our favour, said another top official. The officials said that a simple majority is needed for a resolution, which is non-binding in nature, and that Dhaka is working to ensure the necessary support. They said that the findings of UN human rights experts, who recently visited Bangladesh including Coxs Bazar, will help Bangladesh get a resolution passed. According to the experts, an independent fact-finding mission appointed by the UNHRC in March last year to establish the facts and circumstances of alleged human rights violations by military and security forces, and abuses, in Myanmar, in particular in Rakhine State was deeply disturbed by accounts of killings, torture, rape, arson and aerial attacks reportedly perpetrated against the Rohingya community in Myanmar.