Rupert Colville,Spokesman for the UN Human Rights Commissioner (Exclusive Interview)
UN rights body calls for investigation into Burma's Rakhine state
31 July 2012
In Burma, United Nations human rights envoy Tomás Ojea Quintana is heading to the troubled western state of Rahkine where scores have died and thousands of people made homeless by communal violence.
UN rights body calls for investigation into Burma's Rakhine state (Credit: ABC)
The UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay says she has received reports that the security forces sent to deal with the violence are targeting Muslims. She also suspects the death toll from the unrest has been under-reported.
But the Burmese government continues to reject accusations of human rights abuses by its troops against the Rohingya community, saying the authorities had exercised "maximum restraint" in bringing an end to the violence.
Reporter: Hélène Hofman
Speaker: Rupert Colville, Spokesman for the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Navi Pillay
COLVILLE: The main violence was last month in June but the sort of undercurrents and tensions of what happened in Rakhine state are continuing and it's also not entirely clear what exactly went on so we're calling for an investigation, I think to get some clarity for everyone and hopefully diffuse the tensions.
HOFMAN: Is there some concern that the issue is being swept under the carpet?
COLVILLE: Well, not necessarily but we do believe there needs to be a very clear, independent investigation. The tensions between the two groups that live together in Rakhine state are very high; its a very long-standing conflict as well and, you know, it's not just a once off event so I think just clamping down security-wise is not a sufficient response. We need to find out what the root causes were and whether there was use of excessive force by the authorities as they tried to calm things down.
HOFMAN: You believe that some of the forces sent in to deal with the violence may have actually been specifically targeting Muslims?
COLVILLE: Well that is a fear and that is an allegation we've heard, but as I said, that's the kind of thing you would want an independent investigation to look into, because obviously that doesn't help matters if one group feels that it was targeted unfairly and the bottom line is a lot of people died. We don't know how many and we believe that at least 78 people died in all, though some estimates are quite a bit higher.
HOFMAN: So what kind of details have you been receiving from your sources on the ground about what's actually happening there that we might not be hearing?
COLVILLE: Well, our information isn't that great either and that's one reason we are calling for more openness. You know, you hear a lot of reports. One particular element, which I think isn't disputed at all, is that a large number of people were detained throughout the violence. Maybe some of them correctly, maybe some of them not, but again (we need) a bit of transparency on who has been detained, why, have they been charged, proper legal processes as well for anyone that's been detained. That's important.
HOFMAN: So how do you think this investigation will help towards that aim?
COLVILLE: Well of course a lot has changed in Myanmar in the past nine, 10 months and I think the mere fact of an independent investigation taking place would itself be a terrific signal of the new Myanmar, that they are prepared to do this. We've been talking to them. In fact, we had a team from our office here in Geneva and also from our regional office in Bangkok who were in Myanmar a few weeks ago, but obviously we'll hopefully continue to talk to them and get some solid responses.
HOFMAN: And the Opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has appealed to parliament to discuss an act to protect the rights of ethnic minorities. Do you see that as a positive move?
COLVILLE: Yes, I think that's very important. I mean obviously its not just Rakhine state where there has been problems in Myanmar. There are other groups, especially in the north, where there have been in some cases conflicts going on for a very long time, so in fact the High Commissioner Navi Pillay, she also called for that.
Source : ABC Australia
