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Aung San Suu Kyi July 17, 2019. AFP / Thet Aung

The Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi must be held accountable, the UN commission of inquiry said, in the face of accusations of crimes against humanity perpetrated by the army. 600 000 Rohingyas still present in Burma are threatened with genocide.

With our correspondent in Geneva, Jérémie Lanche

In a year, the list of people suspected of war crimes, crimes against humanity or crimes of genocide has grown considerably. Of six names in the last report of the commission of inquiry, it rose to a hundred today. The UN accuses the army and its generals. But suspicions weigh more and more on Aung San Suu Kyi.

" In our first report, we said that Aung San Suu Kyi was not directly responsible [for the crimes committed against the Rohingya, ed]. But the leader was not as clear as we would have liked. So the question is whether it could be involved, "said Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the UN commission of inquiry.

Prudence therefore remains on the side of the United Nations, which refuses to formally accuse the Nobel Peace Prize . Still, the Burmese leader does not have her hands tied either, says another member of the commission of inquiry, Chris Sidoti.

► See also: Burma: two years later, back on the key dates of the Rohingya crisis

" It's civilians who control education and Rohingya children do not have access to schools. It is the civilians who are in charge of health and the Rohingyas in the IDP camps are deprived of it. Aung San Suu Kyi's party runs the justice. It controls all the laws of the country except those inscribed in the Constitution. The more time passes, and the more it will be impossible for Burmese government civilians to evade their responsibilities before an international criminal court, "he insists.

The investigators are certain: it could take years, but those responsible for the atrocities in Burma will be judged one day. An independent mechanism will continue to collect evidence that can be used in a possible trial.