HRW’s call is a truly conscience-driven call

Dr. Ridwanul Hoque writes for DOT : 
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that Myanmar should disband its commission of inquiry into abuses in Rakhine state because it is clearly unwilling to seriously investigate alleged grave crimes against ethnic Rohingya. At a news conference on December 12, 2018, Rosario Manalo, chair of the Independent Commission of Enquiry, stated that the commission had found “no evidence” to support allegations of human rights abuses in the four months since it officially opened its investigation, the New York-based human rights organization said in a report. Her statement shows that the commission is disregarding evidence and testimony collected by United Nations fact-finders, the United States State Department, and international human rights organizations since violence broke out in Rakhine State in 2016, it said. “The Myanmar commission’s dismissal of the extensive documentation of gross human rights abuses against the Rohingya makes abundantly clear that it is not serious about seeking justice… “The UN Security Council should stop giving credence to this commission and refer the  situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court” said Brad Adams, Asia director of the HRW.
In this backdrop, my take is that HRW’s call is a call that is truly conscience-driven. This Commission was established in late July 2018 by Myanmar halfheartedly and solely to mitigate mounting international pressure on the country in the wake of the ‘text-book’ case of genocide on the Rohingya. The four-member Commission is not independent in any sense of the term. Two local members were closely tied with the government and the Chair’s impartiality is not beyond question too. Exclusion of the UN involvement or other independent presence makes the Commission questionable. Not surprisingly, therefore, the Commission has found no evidence of ethnic cleansing, or genocide, or crimes against humanity as opposed to a series of international findings of such atrocities, including the one by the UN Fact Finding Mission. The Commission’s modus operandi was secretive too, and never did it disclose how it was investigating the case. It is unfortunate that a week into what can be called the Commission’s statement of exoneration, international community or civil society has not acted enough to denounce the Myanmar Commission’s abdication of duty.
The writer is a Professor of Law, Department of Law, University of Dhaka