ICC opens probe into Myanmar's treatment of Rohingyas
The Hague, Sep 19 : The International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary examination into Myanmar's alleged crimes against its Rohingya Muslim minority, including killings, sexual violence and forced deportations.
The move was the first step towards a full investigation of Myanmar's military crackdown that killed thousands and forced over 700,000 of the stateless people flee the northern Rakhine state into neighbouring Bangladesh.
The development came nearly two weeks after judges ruled that even though Myanmar did not sign up to the Hague-based ICC, the court still had jurisdiction over crimes against the Rohingyas because Bangladesh is an ICC member, the BBC reported.
In August, Myanmar rejected a UN report calling for military figures to be investigated for genocide. The Myanmar Army has previously cleared itself of wrongdoing in the Rohingya crisis.
The military launched a crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine last year after Rohingya militants carried out attacks on police posts. Hundreds of thousands have since fled to Bangladesh.
There have been widespread allegations of human rights abuses, including arbitrary killing, rape and burning of land over many years.
ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on Tuesday said she had decided "to carry out a full-fledged preliminary examination of the situation at hand".
Bensouda said the initial probe, which could lead to a formal investigation by the ICC, could focus on a number of alleged "coercive acts" that possibly led to the "forced displacement" of Rohingya Muslims.
She said that these might include "deprivation of fundamental rights, killing, sexual violence, enforced disappearance, destruction and looting".
The Hague-based court would also consider whether persecution or "other inhumane acts" played a part in the plight of the Rohingya.
The ICC announcement came as British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who was set to arrive in Myanmar on Wednesday for talks with the country's leaders, promised additional support for victims of sexual violence.
Hunt will visit Rakhine and will also meet Myanmar's State Counsellor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who recently said her government could in hindsight have handled the Rohingya situation differently.
Earlier on Tuesday, UN investigators presented a 444-page report detailing alleged violations committed by the Myanmar military in relation to violence against the Rohingya Muslim population.
"It is hard to fathom the level of brutality," the head of the UN's fact-finding mission on Myanmar, Marzuki Darusman, told the UN Human Rights Council, adding that the military showed a "total disregard for civilian life".
The report was criticised by Myanmar's Ambassador to the UN, Kyaw Moe Tun, who labelled it "one-sided" and "flawed".
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
