World / Asia New UN rights chief wants criminal charges in Myanmar’s Rohingya genocide BL PREMIUM

Geneva — New UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has called for the creation of a new "mechanism" tasked with preparing criminal indictments over atrocities committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar. In her first speech as head of the UN rights office, the new high commissioner for human rights called on the UN Human Rights Council to create "an independent international mechanism for Myanmar, to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of the most serious international crimes, in order to expedite fair and independent trials in national and international courts". "I urge the council to pass a resolution, and refer the matter to the General Assembly for its endorsement, so that such a mechanism can be established," Bachelet said. Such a panel has already been created for the Syrian conflict. A UN fact-finding mission last month issued a damning report concluding there was enough evidence to prosecute Myanmar’s army chief and five other top military commanders for crim...