BRUSSELS: Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday rejected a decision by the UN’s rights council to investigate allegations of crimes by Myanmar’s security forces against minority Rohingya Muslims.
The UN body agreed in March to dispatch a fact-finding mission to the Southeast Asian country over claims of murder, rape and torture in Rakhine state.
“We do not agree with it,” Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader, told a press conference with EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini during a visit to Brussels, when asked about the probe.
“We have disassociated ourselves from the resolution because we do not think that the resolution is in keeping with what is actually happening on the ground.”
Nobel laureate Suu Kyi said that the country would be “happy to accept” recommendations that were “in keeping with the real needs of the region.
“But those recommendations which will divide further the two communities in Rakhine we will not accept, because it will not help to resolve the problems that are arising all the time.”
Suu Kyi has seen her international star as a rights defender wane over failing to speak out about the treatment of the Rohingya or to condemn the crackdown.
Rights groups say hundreds of the stateless group were killed in a months-long army crackdown following deadly attacks on Myanmar border police posts. Almost 75,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh where they have related grisly accounts of army abuse.
But Suu Kyi rejected suggestions that she or Myanmar authorities were deliberately overlooking atrocities.
“I am not sure quite what you mean by saying that we have not been concerned at all with regards to the allegations of atrocities that have taken place in the Rakhine,” she said.
“We have been investigating them and have been taking action.”
Mogherini called on Myanmar to support the UN inquiry.
“The establishment of the fact-finding mission is one of the very few issues of disagreement between us,” she said alongside Suu Kyi.
“This can contribute in establishing the facts for the past, provided that we fully agree on the need to work together on the way forward,” she said.
UN investigators say the crackdown likely amounts to crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
But Suu Kyi told the BBC earlier this month: “I don’t think there is ethnic cleansing going on.”
![]()
Suu Kyi rejects UN Myanmar probe
Suu Kyi rejects UN Myanmar probe
Japan’s Takaichi moves toward snap election after only 3 months in office
- Move an attempt to capitalize on Sanae Takaichi’s popularity to help governing party regain ground
- But it will delay a vote on a budget that aims at boosting a struggling economy and addressing soaring prices
TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved the lower house of Parliament on Friday, paving the way for a Feb. 8 snap election.
The move is an attempt to capitalize on her popularity to help governing party regain ground after major losses in recent years, but will delay a vote on a budget that aims at boosting a struggling economy and addressing soaring prices.
Elected in October as Japan’s first female leader, Takaichi has been in office only three months, but she has seen strong approval ratings of about 70 percent.
Takaichi is also seeing rising animosity with China since she made pro-Taiwan remarks. And US President Donald Trump wants her to spend more on weapons as Washington and Beijing pursue military superiority in the region.
The dissolution of the 465-member lower house paves the way for a 12-day campaign that officially starts Tuesday.
Takaichi hopes to win majorities
Takaichi’s plan for an early election aims to capitalize on her popularity to expand a governing majority in the lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber Parliament.
The scandal-tainted LDP and its coalition have a slim majority in the more powerful lower house after an election loss in 2024. The coalition does not have a majority in the upper house and relies on winning votes from opposition members to pass its agenda.
Opposition leaders criticized Takaichi for delaying passage of a budget needed to fund key economic measures.
“I believe that the only option is for the people, as sovereign citizens, to decide whether Sanae Takaichi should be prime minister,” she told a news conference Monday when announcing plans for the election. “I’m staking my career as prime minister” on it.
A hard-line conservative, Takaichi wants to highlight differences with her centrist predecessor Shigeru Ishiba.
Takaichi stresses that voters need to judge her fiscal spending moves, further military buildup and tougher immigration policies to make Japan “strong and prosperous.”
While an upbeat and decisive image has earned her strong approval ratings, especially among younger people, the LDP is not popular as it recovers from a political funds scandal. Many traditional LDP voters have shifted to emerging far-right populist opposition parties, such as the anti-globalist Sanseito.
China, Trump and corruption scandals
Meanwhile, Japan faces escalating tensions with China after Takaichi made remarks suggesting that Japan could become involved if China takes military action against Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. A furious China has increased economic and diplomatic retribution.
Takaichi wants to push further a military buildup and spending increases, while Trump has pressured Japan to spend more on defense.
The move is an attempt to capitalize on her popularity to help governing party regain ground after major losses in recent years, but will delay a vote on a budget that aims at boosting a struggling economy and addressing soaring prices.
Elected in October as Japan’s first female leader, Takaichi has been in office only three months, but she has seen strong approval ratings of about 70 percent.
Takaichi is also seeing rising animosity with China since she made pro-Taiwan remarks. And US President Donald Trump wants her to spend more on weapons as Washington and Beijing pursue military superiority in the region.
The dissolution of the 465-member lower house paves the way for a 12-day campaign that officially starts Tuesday.
Takaichi hopes to win majorities
Takaichi’s plan for an early election aims to capitalize on her popularity to expand a governing majority in the lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber Parliament.
The scandal-tainted LDP and its coalition have a slim majority in the more powerful lower house after an election loss in 2024. The coalition does not have a majority in the upper house and relies on winning votes from opposition members to pass its agenda.
Opposition leaders criticized Takaichi for delaying passage of a budget needed to fund key economic measures.
“I believe that the only option is for the people, as sovereign citizens, to decide whether Sanae Takaichi should be prime minister,” she told a news conference Monday when announcing plans for the election. “I’m staking my career as prime minister” on it.
A hard-line conservative, Takaichi wants to highlight differences with her centrist predecessor Shigeru Ishiba.
Takaichi stresses that voters need to judge her fiscal spending moves, further military buildup and tougher immigration policies to make Japan “strong and prosperous.”
While an upbeat and decisive image has earned her strong approval ratings, especially among younger people, the LDP is not popular as it recovers from a political funds scandal. Many traditional LDP voters have shifted to emerging far-right populist opposition parties, such as the anti-globalist Sanseito.
China, Trump and corruption scandals
Meanwhile, Japan faces escalating tensions with China after Takaichi made remarks suggesting that Japan could become involved if China takes military action against Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own. A furious China has increased economic and diplomatic retribution.
Takaichi wants to push further a military buildup and spending increases, while Trump has pressured Japan to spend more on defense.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.