The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has described the Northern Rakhine of Myanmar, that witnessed unprecedented atrocities orchestrated by the Myanmar security forces against Rohingyas, as one of the ‘prolific slaughterhouses of humans’ and said that the five permanent members of the United Nations security council (UNSC) are responsible for the killings while the principal burden with the killers themselves. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein also came down heavily on the veto system of the UNSC, which according to him, has been used to block unity of actions to save lives.

“Eastern Ghouta, the other besieged areas in Syria; Ituri and the Kasais in the DRC; Taiz in Yemen; Burundi; Northern Rakhine in Myanmar have become some of the most prolific slaughterhouses of humans in recent times, because not enough was done, early and collectively, to prevent the rising horrors,” the high commissioner said at the opening of the 37th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva yesterday.

“Time and again, my office and I have brought to the attention of the international community violations of human rights which should have served as a trigger for preventive action. Time and again, there has been minimal action,” he added.

The UN human rights chief said, “Second to those who are criminally responsible – those who kill and those who maim – the responsibility for the continuation of so much pain lies with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.”

“So long as the veto is used by them to block any unity of action, when it is needed the most, when it could reduce the extreme suffering of innocent people, then it is they – the permanent members – who must answer before the victims,” he said. “France has shown commendable leadership among the P5 in championing a code of conduct on the use of veto; the United Kingdom has also joined the initiative, now backed by over 115 countries,” said Zeid in his address which is his last in a March session. “It is time, for the love of mercy, that China, Russia and the United States, join them and end the pernicious use of the veto,” he said.

Referring to instances of human rights violations across the world, the global body’s human rights chief said, “Perhaps we have gone mad, when families grieve in too many parts of the world for those lost to brutal terrorism, while others suffer because their loved ones are arrested arbitrarily, tortured or killed at a black site, and were called terrorists for simply having criticised the government; and others await execution for crimes committed when they were children.”

“While still more can be killed by police with impunity, because they are poor; or when young girls in El Salvador are sentenced to thirty years imprisonment for miscarriages; when transgender women in Aceh are punished and humiliated in public.  When Nabeel Rajab is sentenced to five years for alleging torture; or when 17 year-old Ahed Tamimi is tried on 12 counts for slapping a soldier enforcing a foreign occupation,” he said.  

“When journalists are jailed in huge numbers in Turkey, and the Rohingya are dehumanised, deprived and slaughtered in their homes – with all these examples bedevilling us, why are we doing so little to stop them, even though we should know how dangerous all of this is?” he questioned.