Aung San Suu Kyi should have resigned as Myanmar’s de-facto leader over the army’s mass killings of Rohingya Muslims, the UN’s human rights chief has said.

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said the Nobel Peace prize winner should have risked returning to house arrest rather than being a “spokesperson of the Burmese military”.

His comments come after the Nobel committee said Ms Suu Kyi would not be stripped of the prize she was awarded in 1991 for campaigning for democracy, despite a UN report concluding Myanmar’s army had carried out genocide against the Rohingya people.

The Buddhist-majority country’s military, which has been accused of systematic ethnic cleansing, has rejected the report.

Ms Suu Kyi last year claimed an “iceberg of misinformation” was fuelling allegations of Rohingya persecution.

Her silence over the mass killings has previously been likened by researchers to “legitimising genocide”.

“She was in a position to do something,” Mr Hussein told the BBC. “She could have stayed quiet – or even better, she could have resigned.

“There was no need for her to be the spokesperson of the Burmese military. She didn’t have to say this was ‘an iceberg of misinformation’. These were fabrications.

“She could have said, ‘Look, you know, I am prepared to be the nominal leader of the country but not under these conditions.

“Thank you very much, I will resign, I will go back into house arrest – I cannot be an adjunct accessory that others may think I am when it comes to these violations’.”

Ms Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest because of her campaign to bring democracy to Myanmar, which was ruled by a military junta for 49 years.

Her efforts made her an international symbol of courage and peaceful resistance to oppression, and following her release she led the National League for Democracy to victory in 2015, in the nation’s first openly contested election for decades.

But she has been strongly criticised for failing to speak out against the persecution of Rohingya, more than 700,000 of whom have fled the Myanmar’s Rakhine state for neighbouring Bangladesh since the military began a violent persecution of the ethnic minority in late 2016.

Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women and children wait in line for a food distribution of super cereal at Action Against Hunger Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees gather near the fence in the "no man's land" zone between Myanmar and Bangladesh border AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women cry as they shout slogans during a protest rally to commemorate the first anniversary of Myanmar army's crackdown AP Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures A Rohingya Muslim child holding an umbrella while under the rain AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees cry as they pray during a gathering to commemorate the first anniversary of Myanmar army's crackdown which lead to a mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh AP Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Police stand near the checkpoint at the Shwe Zar village in Maungdaw township, Rakhine State, western Myanmar EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures A group of Rohingya refugee children stand at a makeshift camp EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugee Juhara, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, poses for a portrait at the Kutapalong refugee camp near Cox's Bazar in southern Bangladesh. Juhara passes her days carting water with difficulty to thirsty bricklayers working in a bustling corner of Cox's Bazar. She has just one hand - the other was cleaved off in a raid on her village after the August 25 clampdown started last year. Her husband and parents were killed. The 40-year-old said she ran for her life but was hunted down and savagely attacked AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees walk on a road along a makeshift camp in Kutubpalang EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees are seen outside of their makeshift tent in the Kutupalong camp in Cox's Bazar Reuters Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Thousands of Rohingya refugees staged protests for "justice" on August 25 on the first anniversary of a Myanmar military crackdown that forced them to flee to camps in Bangladesh AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures A Rohingya refugee child looks through a window at a makeshift camp in Teknuf EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugee women hold placards as they take part in a protest at the Kutupalong refugee camp Reuters Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures A young Rohingya boy waits in line for a food Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees shout slogans during a protest march AFP/Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugee girl with other children at a makeshift camp in Teknuf in Cox's Bazar EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women protest on the first anniversary of the Rohingya crisis Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women and children receive super cereal at Action Against Hunger Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya girls share a laugh in Kutupalong, the largest refugee camp housing the Rohingya Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees gather near the fence in the "no man's land" zone between Myanmar and Bangladesh border AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees attend a ceremony organised to remember the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rashida Begum, a Rohingya refugee woman walks on the Kutupalong camp in Cox's Bazar Reuters Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures A Rohingya refugee bursts into tears as she shouts slogans during a protest march AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugee baby Nur Sadek two years old undergoing treatment at a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in Teknuf in Cox's Bazar EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees protest Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees perform prayers AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rashida Begum, a Rohingya refugee woman bathes her son in the Kutupalong camp Reuters Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees protest Getty Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees walk on a muddy road EPA Rohingya crisis one year on – Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women and children wait in line for a food distribution of super cereal at Action Against Hunger Getty

Ms Suu Kyi is yet to publicly comment on a UN Human Rights Council declaration on Monday that Myanmar’s army had committed genocide against the nation’s Rohingya.

In the damning final report of a UN fact-finding mission, investigators said Myanmar’s commander-in-chief and five other named generals should face prosecution for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Myanmar’s government has dismissed the report, accusing the international community of “false allegations”, and said its army had been responding to a legitimate threat from Rohingya militants.

“Our stance is clear and I want to say sharply that we don’t accept any resolutions conducted by the Human Rights Council,” Zaw Htay, the government spokesman, said.