Rilek1Corner

Tag: Rakhine

  • 3 Myanmar Police Officers Found Guilty Of Abusing Rohingya Civilians, Sentenced To 2 Months Detention

    3 Myanmar Police Officers Found Guilty Of Abusing Rohingya Civilians, Sentenced To 2 Months Detention

    YANGON —  Three police officers have been sentenced to two months detention over a video showing them abusing Rohingya civilians, security sources told AFP on Wednesday (Feb 8), saying those involved had “no intention” to cause harm.

    Authorities detained several officers last month for beating Rohingya villagers during operations in the north of Rakhine state, where security forces are hunting militants behind raids on border posts.

    Nearly 70,000 Rohingya have fled to camps in southern Bangladesh since the lockdown started four months ago, bringing horrific stories of mass rape, murder, torture and arson.

    A UN report released on Friday based on interviews with escapees said hundreds of people have likely been killed in a “calculated policy of terror” that may amount to ethnic cleansing.

    Despite the mounting evidence, Myanmar’s government has largely dismissed allegations of widespread abuses against the Muslim minority, who most in the country consider a group of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

    The beating video, which appeared online in Dec, was a rare exception where authorities have taken action.

    The footage showed police hitting a young boy around the head as he walked to where dozens of villagers were lined up in rows seated on the ground, hands behind their heads.

    Several officers in uniform then start attacking one of the sitting men, beating him with a stick and kicking him repeatedly in the face.

    Three junior police were handed down two month sentences over the video, police sources told AFP, including the officer who filmed it previously named as Zaw Myo Htike by state media.

    However the officers are not serving their time in a civilian prison, but instead in a jail for police.

    Three senior police including a major were also demoted and their service terms were reduced for failing to enforce discipline.

    “They didn’t have any intention to hurt them,” a senior police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the treatment of the Rohingya villagers.

    “During the operation, villagers said abusive words to security forces… such action was taken because they failed to follow police procedure.”

    A local police officer in Maungdaw also confirmed the officers were sentenced last month, blaming the events on the stress of working in northern Rakhine.

    “Police are dealing with many pressures on the ground and we have to risk our lives dealing with terrorists,” he said.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Human Rights Watch: Myanmar Commanders Must Be Punished For Rape Of Rohingya

    Human Rights Watch: Myanmar Commanders Must Be Punished For Rape Of Rohingya

    YANGON: Human Rights Watch on Monday called for Myanmar to punish army and police commanders if they allowed troops to rape and sexually assault women and girls of the Rohingya Muslim minority.

    The New York-based campaign group said it had documented rape, gang rape and other sexual violence against girls as young as 13 in interviews with some of the 69,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Bangladesh since Myanmar security forces responded to attacks on border posts four months ago.

    “The sexual violence did not appear to be random or opportunistic, but part of a coordinated and systematic attack against Rohingya, in part because of their ethnicity and religion,” a Human Rights Watch (HRW) news release said.

    Reuters was unable to contact a Myanmar government spokesman to respond to the allegations.

    An estimated 1.1 million Rohingya live in the western state of Rakhine, but have their movements and access to services restricted. Rohingyas are barred from citizenship in Myanmar, where many call them “Bengalis” to suggest they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

    Independent journalists and observers have been barred from visiting the army’s operation zone in northern Rakhine since the Oct. 9 attacks that killed nine border police.

    The government has so far dismissed most claims that soldiers raped, beat, killed and arbitrarily detained civilians while burning down villages, insisting instead that a lawful operation is underway against a group of armed Rohingya insurgents.

    The HRW report comes just days after United Nations investigators said Myanmar’s security forces had “very likely” committed crimes against humanity, posing a dilemma for de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

    The Nobel Peace Prize winner took charge of most civilian affairs in April after a historic transition from full military rule, but soldiers retain a quarter of seats in parliament and control ministries related to security.

    U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said on Friday that Suu Kyi had promised to investigate the U.N.’s allegations.

    HRW said it had gathered evidence on 28 separate sexual assaults, including interviews with nine women who said they were raped or gang raped at gunpoint by security forces during the army’s so-called “clearance operations” in northern Rakhine.

    The women and other witnesses said the perpetrators were Myanmar army troops or border police, who they identified by their uniforms, kerchiefs, arm bands and patches, HRW said.

    “These horrific attacks on Rohingya women and girls by security forces add a new and brutal chapter to the Burmese military’s long and sickening history of sexual violence against women,” said HRW senior emergencies researcher Priyanka Motaparthy.

    “Military and police commanders should be held responsible for these crimes if they did not do everything in their power to stop them or punish those involved.”

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Myanmar Minta Diberi ‘Masa Dan Ruang’ Untuk Huraikan Krisis Rohingya

    Myanmar Minta Diberi ‘Masa Dan Ruang’ Untuk Huraikan Krisis Rohingya

    Timbalan ketua pertahanan Myanmar pada Isnin (23 Jan) menggesa dunia supaya memberi “masa dan ruang” kepada pemerintah negara itu untuk menghuraikan krisis yang melibatkan Muslim Rohingya di tengah-tengah kebimbangan bahawa kumpulan militan mungkin akan mengeksploitasi keadaan yang bergolak itu.

    Laksamana Muda Myint Nwe memberitahu satu forum keselamatan di Singapura bahawa pemerintah Myanmar “cukup sedar akan keprihatinan yang kian meningkat mengenai laporan-laporan tentang keadaan di wilayah Rakhine”, yang didiami orang Rohingya dan komited untuk menangani isu tersebut dan menghukum mereka yang bertanggungjawab.

    Sejak Oktober tentera Myanmar sudah melancarkan “operasi pembersihan” di utara wilayah itu untuk menghapuskan para pemberontak yang dituduh menyerang pondok-pondok polis sempadan.

    Sekurang-kurangnya 66,000 orang Rohingya yang sudah melarikan diri ke negara jiran, Bangladesh, mendakwa bahawa pasukan keselamatan Myanmar merogol, membunuh dan mendera kaum itu.

    Myanmar sejak sekian lama berdepan dengan kritikan masyarakat antarabangsa berhubung layanannya terhadap kaum Rohingya. Kebanyakan rakyat Myanmar yang beragama Buddha menyifatkan orang Rohingya sebagai pendatang haram dari Bangladesh.

    Laksmana tersebut berkata demikian sebagai respons kepada ucap tama yang disampaikan oleh Menteri Pertahanan Malaysia Hishammuddin Hussein di Forum Fullerton yang dianjurkan oleh Institut Antarabangsa bagi Pengajian Strategik.

    Hishammuddin memberi amaran bahawa keadaan di Rakhine – jika tidak ditangani dengan betul boleh dieksploitasikan oleh kumpulan ISIS untuk mengukuhkan pangkalannya di Asia Tenggara.

    Myint Nwe berkata bahawa Yangon dan masyarakat antarabangsa harus menumpukan perhatian kepada usaha untuk mencari “huraian yang berkekalan” bagi masalah tersebut.

    Hishammuddin berkata bahawa ASEAN – sebuah perkumpulan serantau yang dianggotai Malaysia dan Myanmar – harus memainkan peranan penting dalam mencari huraian bersama para pemimpin Myanmar.

    Source: BeritaMediacorp

  • ‘Regrettable’ Malaysia Called For Extraordinary Session Of OIC On Rohingya: Myanmar

    ‘Regrettable’ Malaysia Called For Extraordinary Session Of OIC On Rohingya: Myanmar

    In a statement released to Channel NewsAsia on Friday (Jan 20), the Myanmar government said Malaysia’s decision to call for an Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday was “regrettable”.

    During the session, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called on Myanmar to stop all discrimination and attacks on Rohingya Muslims, and urged the world’s Islamic countries to act to end an unfolding “humanitarian tragedy”.

    “It is regrettable that Malaysia, a fellow ASEAN Member disregarding the basic norms of the Association, feels it fit to call and muster (an) Extraordinary Session of OIC to take on Myanmar’s Rakhine Issue,” said the Foreign Ministry statement.

    “Myanmar understands that Malaysia’s concerns sprang from salacious media news portraying dire human rights situations without any factual analysis. It is more regrettable that this complex and sensitive issue has been exploited to suit a certain political agenda.”

    It added that Malaysia’s action is also tantamount to total disregard of the genuine efforts being made by Myanmar government to resolve the issue.

    “No one is more concerned about peace, security and stability of Rakhine State than the government and the people of Myanmar.

    “Therefore, the Government is genuinely committed to resolving this issue. The government has put into place many mechanisms to comprehensively resolve the issues – such as the Central Committee on Implementation of Peace, Stability and Development of Rakhine State with four work committees focusing on all relevant areas, including the citizenship verification process.

    “This was followed by establishment of Rakhine Advisory Committee headed by Kofi Annan, to give balanced, credible and just international perspectives into the resolution of the Rakhine issue. The Investigation Commission was also formed to immediately look into the causes of recent incidents.”

    The statement concluded by saying that the interests of the two communities “will be best served by focusing on finding lasting solutions to the issue rather than asserting undue external pressure and interference that would add more complexity to the already” complicated issue.

     

    Source: CNA

  • OIC Meeting On Myanmar Rohingya Kicks Off

    OIC Meeting On Myanmar Rohingya Kicks Off

    The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers on The Situation of The Muslim Minority Rohingya in Myanmar kicked-off with the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) here this morning.

    The two-hour closed-door meeting attended by senior officials from member states of OIC, among others, aimed to discuss the draft resolution and the communique that will be delivered at the end of the Council of Foreign Ministers’ session this evening.

    The SOM meeting was jointly chaired by Foreign Ministry’s Secretary-General Datuk Ramlan Ibrahim and OIC Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Abdullah Alim (Alim).

    Today’s extraordinary session was convened at the request of the Malaysian Government to discuss the ongoing situation of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

    According to reports, the ongoing crisis in Rakhine state has caused thousands of Rohingya to flee Myanmar with reports of atrocities, including rape and murder, which has been denied by the Myanmar government.

    The Kuala Lumpur meeting is expected to issue two documents – resolutions and a joint communique to show their united stand regarding the matter.

     

    Source: TheMalayMailOnline