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Myanmar accused of hideous violence against Rohingya

Cardinal Bo calls on military to end offensive against civilians in Rakhine State
Myanmar accused of hideous violence against Rohingya

Two Rohingya women aged 18 and 20 and who are sisters said they were gang-raped by Myanmar soldiers at their village, Udang in the northern part of Rakhine state in mid-November. Myanmar’s security forces have carried out extreme acts of violence against Rohingya civilians says reports by the U.N and Human Rights Watch. (Photo by Sam Jahan/AFP)

Published: February 07, 2017 09:13 AM GMT
Updated: February 07, 2017 09:15 AM GMT

Fatema Khatun fled to Leda unregistered refugee camp in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh with her husband Abdul Amin and four children in early December 2016.

Their other two sons, Salimullah and Amanullah, were detained and their daughter, Dildar Begum was picked up by the Myanmar military in mid-November in their home Kearipara village.

"We have fled to save our lives and we have lost contact with them. We don't know whether they are dead or alive," said Khatun.

"I saw soldiers taking young men to the forest to shoot them. They sorted out pretty girls and women and likely detained them for abuse and rape. Maybe my sons and daughter had the same fate," she told ucanews.com.

Abu Taher from Kearipara village in Rakhine state fled to Bangladesh in early December and now lives in Kutupalong unregistered refugee camp with his wife and six children. He said he witnessed a rape in his village.

"It was late November when a group of 20 soldiers raided the village and most of the villagers went into hiding. I too hid myself but secretly watched some soldiers raping a woman in a neighbor's house one by one. I was so shocked and scared that I immediately decided to leave the village," Taher told ucanews.com.

A leading rights group and the U.N. this week also have weighed in with details of extreme human rights abuses committed by Myanmar security forces.

Myanmar government forces committed rape and other sexual violence against ethnic Rohingya women and girls as young as 13 during security operations in northern Rakhine state in late 2016, Human Rights Watch said on Feb. 6.

The Myanmar army and border guard police took part in rape, gang rape, invasive body searches, and sexual assaults in at least nine villages in Maungdaw district between Oct. 9 and mid-December, stated a report by the rights group.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights also released a flash report on Feb. 3 that documented mass gang rape, killings (including of babies and young children) brutal beatings, disappearances and other serious human rights violations by the security forces.

The U.N. report said that actions by security forces were likely to add up to "crimes against humanity."

 

Cardinal Bo on U.N. report

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon said that the U.N. report portrayed such "inhumanity and barbarity" that it was hard to read and hard to believe.

He called on the government to bring an end to the military offensive against civilians in Rakhine State and to work with the international community to investigate the crimes reported by the U.N. in "a truly independent" way that results in "justice and accountability."

"Peace with justice is possible and it is the only way," Cardinal Bo said in a statement on Feb. 6.

The Myanmar government said it would investigate rights abuses immediately and take all necessary action if they find any evidence.

"As a democratically government, we stand firm on our commitment to human rights and will never accept human rights violations. We will take all necessary action if evidence is found," Aye Aye Soe, spokesperson of Aung San Suu Kyi's Foreign Affairs Office told ucanews.com.

She added that the government requires more information and the U.N. and rights groups need to share it.

Father Thomas Htang Shan Mong, director of the Justice and Peace Commission at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Myanmar, said "It would be better if the investigation worked independently and showed their findings to the international community."

The Catholic priest added that "we need to wait for the findings" of the government-appointed commission investigating these allegations as Aung San Suu Kyi's government is trying to handle the complex and delicate Rakhine situation.

 

'One-sided accusations'

Pe Than, a member of parliament for the hardline Arakan National Party, said that the U.N. report and others reflected a one-sided view by focusing on human rights.

"The failure of the Myanmar government to release information on the Rakhine situation on a day-to-day basis and preventing access for journalists has prompted misunderstanding among the international community," Pe Than told ucanews.com.

However, Win Naing, a regional lawmaker for the ruling National League for Democracy party in Thandwe constituency, Rakhine state, said that he doubted the U.N. and rights groups are spreading fabricated news.

The killing of nine police officers at three border posts in northern Rakhine on Oct. 9 resulted in a surge of violence by Myanmar's military, which operates separately from the civilian government led by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.

More than 69,000 Rohingya have since fled to neighboring Bangladesh, according to the U.N.

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