Suu Kyi aide dismisses UN pressure over abuse of Rohingya

A close aide to Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has dismissed mounting international pressure over the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state despite evidence provided by the UN of murder, rape and torture at the hands of government forces.

Win Htein said on Wednesday that recent remarks by UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar Yanghee Lee about the abuse of the Rohingya were "biased" and "unfair."

"What Yanghee Lee is doing is not fair. It's biased," media outlets quoted Htein as saying.

"We do not care about this kind of unfair report. Because we do not care, we do not worry."

Lee recently slammed Myanmar's continued discrimination against Rohingya Muslims.

The UN official has called for Myanmar to immediately end its crackdown on the Muslim minority.

Lee has said that the magnitude of violence against the Rohingya is far more extensive than the UN rights office perceived.

The UN official says Myanmar's military stands accused of committing acts of violence against the Muslims, such as slitting throats, indiscriminate shootings, burning houses with people tied up inside, and gang-raping women.

Lee is expected to turn up the heat next week by calling a formal commission of inquiry into abuses against the Rohingya. 

A four-month crackdown on the stateless Muslim minority has seen over 70,000 Rohingya flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

Escapees have given the UN chilling accounts of babies being stabbed to death and people being burned alive.

SS