Chittagong, Bangladesh: A Rohingya delegation from the Burmese Rohingya Orgnisation UK (BROUK) made a presentation on human rights abuses committed by the Burmese regime against the Rohingya community in northern Arakan, Burma in the 15th United Nation Human Rights session in Geneva on September 22, according to Khurshid Ahmed, Joint Secretary of BROUK.

The programme was held in Room 23 in the United Nations Main Building from 15:00 to 17:00 hour, the Joint Secretary.

Htun Khin (aka) Ziaul Gaffar, president and Khurshid Ahmed, Joint Secretary of BROUK attended the session as members of NGOs, Islamic Human Rights Commission UK,  where other two members of Islamic Human Rights Commission UK (IHRC) also attended.

The presentation was delivered by Htun Khin. He highlighted the worst human rights violation against all the people in Burma, particularly the Rohingya ethnic in northern Arakan committed by the Burmese military regime.

Htun Khin mentioned all kinds of human rights abuses against Rohingya community of northern Arakan in detail; religious persecution; restriction in marriage; restriction in movement; forced labour; extortion; among others. He also spoke of the Rohingya community, who have been expelled from their homeland by the regime and have been sheltered in different countries around the world such as Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Thailand, and Malaysia, where the community needs all kinds of basic humanitarian aids for their survival.

Htun Khin also discussed how the Rohingya community feels and their need for education and healthcare both inside and outside northern Arakan.

Htun Khin concluded his presentation, urging the international community: to establish an UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity committed by the junta against the Rohingya ethnic and other ethnics in Burma; to call on the regime to lift all restrictions on the Rohingya community; to provide humanitarian aid, education and healthcare for Rohingyas in Arakan State and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia and to find and resolve the root cause of the long term suffering of Rohingya refugee problem. Finally, Htun Khine urged the UN Human Rights Council to establish a UN Fact-Finding Mission with the mandate to investigate all human rights violation against Rohingya in Arakan, Burma.

After the presentation, Htun Khin and Khurshid Ahmed answered questions which the audience raised.

The Human Rights Council, the principal UN intergovernmental body responsible for human rights, opened its 15th session in Geneva from 13 September to 1 October, according to OHCHR’s website.

In a speech to the Council, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay stressed the “pressing need” for human rights protection “both in emergencies and chronic human rights situations.”

“Special procedures mandate holders, press reports and advocates consistently point out that human rights defenders, journalists, and civil society activists in all regions of the world face threats to their lives and security because of their work,” Pillay said on 13 September.

She pointed out that in some countries, “peaceful dissidents, human rights advocates, lawyers, and press representatives have been targeted and violently attacked” and “ad hoc laws or other restrictive measures” have been used to curtail “civil society’s scope of action and social activism.”

“I urge the Human Rights Council and the international community to support squarely and vocally human rights defenders.”