I saw a video of a Myanmar soldier chopping the legs and hands of a Rohingya man on Facebook. Another soldier continued hitting him with the tip of his gun. I have been told that there are more of such videos on the internet.

It’s unbelievable that such atrocities are being committed, once again, in our backyard. And what’s worse is to see our leaders keeping mum.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has urged Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to stop the killings. This is not enough, especially when the videos and photographs from Arakan continue to show the Rohingya being butchered and their villages burnt down.

Malaysia has to quickly grow a political spine and vehemently condemn Myanmar’s crimes against humanity, which have been packaged as the government securing its borders from insurgents.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa) and ordinary civilians are two separate groups of people. Targeting civilians by using such lethal force against them goes against every international human rights law.

Malaysia played a pivotal role in bringing Myanmar back to the Asean fold. As such it has an added responsibility to ensure the country behaves.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has reached out to the Rohingya before and criticised Myanmar for its ongoing persecution against them.

Najib is the first Asean leader to do so. He even described the targeted violence as genocide, breaking ranks with the regional bloc’s non-interference policy.

He must act now as well. His trip to the US to meet with President Donald Trump isn’t half as important as the prime minister lobbying his Asean counterparts to warn Myanmar to stop the killings immediately. It’s also unfathomable that Najib would make a state visit to the US when we are seeing people being massacred in our neighbouring country.

And there are no signs of the violence abating.

More than 100 Rohingya are dead, and counting. Thousands have been displaced. And those who have fled to the Bangladesh border are stranded there as the government has refused to allow them in.

Suu Kyi’s government has stopped aid to Arakan, forcing the World Food Program to abandon its work. This could starve 20,000 Rohingya to death.

Staff members of international non-governmental organisations have been expelled from Arakan as well, drawing concerns that the military could continue to kill with impunity. This is more so as the government, has once again, barred the media from the state as well.

The Malaysian government and Asean have to, therefore, act to stop the killings now. Or all the regional states would be accountable for the body count in the following days and weeks.

CHARLES SANTIAGO is the Member of Parliament for Klang.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.