UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng [official profile] said [UN News Centre report] Monday that violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state could amount to crimes against humanity. Responding to a UN report [JURIST report] issued last week, Dieng said the treatment of members of the Rohingya community was “revolting and unacceptable.” Dieng stated:

If people are being persecuted based on their identity and killed, tortured, raped and forcibly transferred in a widespread or systematic manner, this could amount to crimes against humanity, and in fact be the precursor of other egregious international crimes. This must stop right now!

Dieng urged the government to protect its people, calling on officials to allow an international team of inspectors in to observe the situation. Dieng wants the end of discriminatory practices against Muslims, urging a solution for peaceful coexistence in the country.

The situation in Myanmar has continued to be one closely monitored by advocacy groups and world organizations. Earlier this week Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] endorsed [JURIST report] an investigation into the abuses against the Rohingya population, specifically sexual abuses against women. Last month a prominent Muslim lawyer in the country was shot and killed [JURIST report] outside an airport in Myanmar, which brought condemnation from an UN expert about the human rights situation in the country. The continued abuses against this vulnerable population led the UN to send an envoy to the country last month to assess the human rights [JURIST report] situation.