Dr. Habib Siddiqui

RB Opinion

October 29, 2016

Myanmar’s government said that the October 9 raids were conducted by the Aqamul Mujahidin organization, which it described as being affiliated with an extremist group. On the other hand, a previously unknown group - Faith Movement - has released a press statement on October 15 in which it claimed itself as the sons of Arakan soil who were compelled by the dire situation that they faced to make their own destiny through uprising, self-determination in self-defense. “We stand as an independent body which is free from all elements of terror in any nature,” the press release stated “that seeks fundamental but legitimate rights and justice for all ARAKANESE including our innocent Rohingyas and OTHER civilians dying from the continuous military assaults.” 

An outcome like this was only waiting to happen given that history has repeatedly shown that such prolonged encampment in IDP concentration camps create a sense of ultimate abandonment by the state, pushing even the most moderates to take violent means to redress their plight. The initial attacks, in which three border police outposts were overrun by hundreds of people, most only lightly armed, showed a degree of sophistication not seen before in violence involving the Rohingya, but did not suggest the group was especially well-funded or armed, diplomats said. 

Myanmar’s military (Tatmadaw) has since been deployed in the Rohingya populated northern part of Arakan (Rakhine) state. And what we are witnessing there is simply shocking. War crimes are perpetrated. Under the pretext of finding the Rohingya perpetrators, the Tatmadaw has been doing what it has always done – using its criminal scorched-earth tactics. As a result, since the October 9 attacks (as of October 26), at least 138 unarmed Rohingyas (mostly children and women) have been killed, or have died in custody. At least 144 Rohingyas have been detained, several villages and more than a thousand homes and several mosques have been burned by the security forces forcing an internal displacement of at least 15,000 people, who are even denied humanitarian aid. At least 20 women have also been raped by Myanmar security forces. Many of the local elders and Imams have also been killed extra-judicially after they were asked to report to the local military camp. 

Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project, a monitoring group, said the army was using "typical counter-insurgency measures against civilians", including "shooting civilians on sight, burning homes, looting property and arbitrary arrests".

Foreign reporters have not been allowed into the area the military has declared an "operation zone", but Reuters was able to contact some residents and community leaders by telephone. The people, who did not want to be identified, contradicted several of the reports in state media, saying that the death toll in the area was higher than reported and that a number of those killed were unarmed. In one of the disputed accounts, the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper said 30 Muslims attacked government forces on Oct. 11 near Kyetyoepyin village, and that 10 Rohingyas were killed in the subsequent fighting. After the clash, the insurgents fled, setting fire to homes, the report said. But several Rohingya residents from the area said they believed at least 19 people, including eight women, were killed by security forces that day. They also say it was the soldiers who set a large part of the village on fire.

The United Nations has said the violence is preventing aid agencies from delivering food and medicines to the region. 

The UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a report on Tuesday (October 25) documenting the systemic discrimination of minorities in Myanmar and calling for concrete steps end these human rights violations. The report focused on particular concern of the treatment of Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine region.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned in a statement Friday (October 21) that as troops poured into the region and authorities blocked off the delivery of humanitarian aid to Maungdaw, aid agencies have not been able to conduct a needs assessment. The statement quoted a World Food Program (WFP) partnerships officer as saying they had requested access “from township level to Union level”. WFP told HRW that 50,000 people remain without food aid in Maungdaw. 

Brad Adams, the group’s Asia director, said the recent violence “has led the army to deny access to aid agencies that provide essential health care and food to people at grave risk”. “The Rohingya and others have been especially vulnerable since the ethnic cleansing campaign in 2012, and many rely on humanitarian aid to survive,” he added.

Rohingya advocacy groups have expressed concerns over what they claim is a continued crackdown in the area, with global groups releasing a statement on October 23 claiming security forces have been indiscriminately killing Rohingya and torching and plundering their homes and villages, under the pretext of looking for the attackers. 

Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) has also criticized the government of Myanmar. Its latest press release read, “Burmese army is in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1820, regarding the protection of women and girls in conflict zones. Reports indicate that the Burmese army is giving impunity to soldiers who are committing sexual assault and raping women. The use of rape in war is considered a Crime Against Humanity and in clear violation of Rome Statute Article 7(1), The Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) Article 3, and The Law on the Establishment of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), Article 5. As these reports emerge it is imperative that the international community take them seriously and seek to investigate them as such.” The advocacy group called upon the Myanmar Government to investigate all claims of sexual assault, torture, and rape by Burmese soldiers and hold all responsible parties accountable.

The latest ethnic cleansing drives against the Rohingya are simply sickening in a country that is led by someone like Suu Kyi who was honored with a Nobel Prize for peace. What a joke this award is becoming! Apparently, she has failed to learn lessons from history, esp. why her wise father Aung San had organized the Panglong Conference in the pre-independence days.

Suu Kyi should have known better than most Burmese that such military excesses only weaken the very foundation of an artificial geographic entity like Burma (and today’s Myanmar) that comprises peoples of many nationalities, races, ethnicities and religions. Since the time of Pagan King Anawrahta (11th century, CE), her country has been kept together by strong arms tactics of feudal kings, the British Raj and the military governments that ruled. ‘Divide and rule’ and fear-mongering against a perceived foe became prudent methods to administer this diverse country. But such tactics failed to create nationhood. There was never a sense of belonging except for the dominant group. 

This much-needed task for forging national unity was taken up by visionaries like Aung San (who represented the Interim Burmese government), Sao Shwe Thaik (Shan leader) and others (including U Razak of AFPFL, a Muslim) in the late 1940s. That was the background for the Panglong Conference, which was held in Southern Shan state on February 1947. However, the spirit of Panglong Agreement that was reached between Aung San and other ethnic and community leaders in an attempt to unite everyone - irrespective of race, ethnicity and religion, Buddhists and non-Buddhists - for a common goal of independence was dead following Aung San's assassination (along with U Razak who was Education and National Planning Minister in Aung San's cabinet, and six other cabinet ministers) on July 19, 1947, less than six months before Union of Burma was to emerge as an independent state in the global arena. It should be noted that the Agreement, amongst other provisions, accepted full autonomy in internal administration for the “Frontier Areas" (bordering British India, Thailand, Laos, China) in principle and envisioned the creation of a Kachin State by the Constituent Assembly.

The founding fathers of Burma were very serious to foster unity in their future state. Thus, in 1946 General Aung San assured full rights and privileges to Rohingya/Arakanese Muslims as an indigenous people, saying: “I give (offer) you a blank cheque. We will live together and die together. Demand what you want. I will do my best to fulfill them. If native people are divided, it will be difficult to achieve independence for Burma.”

The First President, Sao Shwe Thaik, who was the last Saopha of Yawnghwe, famously said, “If the Rohingyas are not indigenous, nor am I.” 

After Myanmar gained independence on January 4, 1948, communists and ethnic/national/religious minorities in the country began a series of insurgencies displaying their grave discontent towards the newly formed post-independence government as they believed that the Panglong Agreement was not honored and that they were being unfairly excluded from governing the country. Their overwhelming perception was that the new government was a state for, by and of the majority Bamar and Buddhists only, and not for other minorities. 

Sao Shwe Thaik who had led and organized the Panglong conference became the first president of the Union of Burma. His public speech on 4 January 1949 at a mass rally held outside City Hall to mark the first anniversary of Independence Day captures the troubled mood of the state: “Cooperation and understanding cannot come about so long as the element of violence or threat of violence exists, for violence has no counterpart in freedom, and liberty ends where violence begins.”

There were also widespread practice of discrimination against anyone who was not a Buddhist. For example, it was noted that many Christian Karen and Muslim and Sikh military officials, who were originally appointed by the British, were replaced with Buddhist Bamars by the new parliament. The situation was much worse for Muslims everywhere - from Arakan to Rangoon. As a result of serious discrimination, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs lost their jobs in every government sector – civilian, police and military. Many lost their businesses, too, and were looked down upon as either British-era migrants or their children thereof. Loss for them was craved as a net gain for the majority Buddhist. Steadily, intolerance of the minority became the law of the land. 

The occupation of Burma by Japan during the early years of the World War II, when Rakhine Buddhists had allied themselves with the occupying fascist Japanese forces while the Arakanese Muslims collaborated with the British Raj to defeat Japan, had already poisoned the relationship between these two dominant groups in Arakan. After Burma earned its independence, many Rakhine Buddhists took advantage of the emerging situation to ethnically cleanse Muslims from many parts of Arakan, esp. the southern part of the state. This led to the ghettoization of Muslims in towns and villages bordering today’s Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan). 

It is not difficult to understand why almost every racial/religious entity, including the Mujahedeen (made up of Arakanese/Rohingya Muslims), outside the majority Bamar/Buddhist race/religion rebelled in the early years. Being betrayed by the British Raj, in spite of their valuable services rendered during and after the WWII, it was no brainer that some Arakanese Muslims had felt that they had to protect themselves against marauding Buddhist incursions into their northern Mayu Frontier Territories. Muslim rebellion against the central government ultimately stopped when promises for their wider acceptance were made by government officials. Even then the persecution of the Rohingya and other Muslims continued.

According to the Pakistan Times (August 26, 1959), some 10,000 refugees had by then taken shelter in East Pakistan. In 1959, Burma agreed with East Pakistan governor Zakir Hossain to take back Rohingya refugees who had taken shelter in Chittagong in 1958. When questioned ‘why refugees were pouring into Pakistan from Burma, the governor replied that the government of Burma had nothing to do with it. Actually the Moghs [ie, Buddhist Rakhines] of Arakan were creating the trouble.’ (Pakistan Times, August 27, 1959) Governor Zakir Hossain’s reply once again underscored the deep hostility of the racist Rakhines against the minority Rohingyas. On October 27, 1960, the Daily Guardian, Rangoon, reported that Burmese ‘Supreme Court quashes expulsion orders against Arakanese Muslims,’ which once again shows that the Arakanese [Rohingya] Muslims faced much problems in their reintegration. 

Armed resistance by various ethnic and religious minorities and communists became the new norms and not the exceptions, which continued for more than a decade until the military was able to crush such through its savage scorched-earth tactics. Even then armed struggle is a reality in many parts of Myanmar to this very day.

The two largest insurgent factions in Myanmar were the communists, led by the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), and ethnic Karen insurgents, led by the Karen National Union (KNU). The KNU favored an independent state, forged out of Karen State (Kayin State) and Karenni State (Kayah State), in Outer Myanmar (Lower Burma), administered solely by the Karen people.

Even the Rakhine Buddhist separatists were not behind in such insurgency movements, nor were the Chins. Rakhine insurgent groups, such as the Arakan Army (AA) and Arakan Liberation Army (ALA) continue to have hostilities towards the government, though major violence has been rare since political reforms and peace talks. The AA, founded in 2009, is currently the largest insurgent group in Rakhine State, with an estimated 1,500–2,500 fighters active in the region. Its goal is an independent Rakhine state. 

In the early 1960s, the Burmese government refused to adopt a federal system, to the dismay of insurgent groups such as the CPB, who proposed adopting the system during peace talks. By the early 1980s, politically motivated armed insurgencies (like the communist) had largely disappeared, while ethnic-based insurgencies continued.

The Panglong Agreement of 1947 offered the Shan the option to split from Myanmar a decade after independence if they were unsatisfied with the central government. This was, however, not honored following Aung San's assassination. Instead, what they got are – severe mistreatment, torture, robbery, rape, unlawful arrest, and massacre. As a result, an armed resistance movement, led by Sao Noi and Saw Yanna, was launched in May of 1958 in the Shan State. One of the largest Shan insurgent groups in Myanmar is the Shan State Army - South (SSA-S), which has some 6,000 to 8,000 soldiers, with its bases along the Myanmar-Thailand border.

In October 2012, the ongoing conflicts in Myanmar included the Kachin conflict, between the Christian Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the government; a series of genocidal pogroms directed against the Rohingya Muslims that were participated by Rakhine Buddhists, and aided by the government and non-government groups in Rakhine State, including the Buddhist clergy; and a conflict between the Shan, Lahu, and Karen minority groups, and the government in the eastern half of the country. Armed conflict between ethnic Chinese rebels and the Myanmar Armed Forces have resulted in the Kokang offensive in February 2015. The conflict had forced 40,000 to 50,000 civilians to flee their homes and seek shelter on the Chinese side of the border.

In 2012 alone, fighting between the KIA and the government resulted in around 2,500 casualties (both civilian and military); 211 of whom were government soldiers. The violence resulted in the displacement of nearly 100,000 civilians, and the complete or partial abandonment of 364 villages.

Several insurgent groups have negotiated ceasefires and peace agreements with successive governments, which until political reforms that begun in 2011 and ended in 2015, had largely fallen apart. That reality marshaled in the Second Panglong-type conference held in Naypyidaw this August to end the decades-long insurgencies in many of the ethnic areas. 

As can be seen from the brief review above, civil/genocidal wars have been a constant feature of Myanmar's socio-political landscape since her independence as Union of Burma in 1948. These wars are predominantly struggles for ethnic and sub-national autonomy, with the areas surrounding the ethnically Bamar central districts of the country serving as the primary geographical setting of conflict. 

The Rohingya and other Muslims inside Myanmar had been in the receiving end of annihilation. They have faced dozens of extermination campaigns since 1942. Denied each of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, truly, the Rohingyas of Myanmar remain the most persecuted people in our planet. And yet, until this latest episode of attacks by some disgruntled Rohingya youths for daily dehumanization that their family members face, they have been the most unarmed, passive and peaceful of all the communities that make up the fractured mosaic of Myanmar. This, in spite of the fact, more than 1 in 2 Rohingyas now live a life of a refugee outside Myanmar. 

In the last few years alone, they have seen only death and destruction of their folks; desperation has set in, and many have fled the country, while some 150,000 remain internally displaced with no shelters except concentration camps within the Arakan state. Their ID cards were confiscated and they were denied the right to vote; their political parties banned; and not a single Muslim candidate was allowed to contest in the election. Suu Kyi has come to power and refuses to identify them as ‘Rohingya’. She even did not invite them into the peace/unity conference in Naypyidaw. In spite of mounting international pressure, the Rohingya continue to be denied the basic rights and means of livelihood; their women continue to be raped by Tatmadaw as weapons of war to bring collective shame upon them and force them out of their ancestral homeland. 

Many Rohingya women continue to be gang raped by the Tatmadaw in its latest ethnic cleansing drives. As we have seen with the previous military regimes, Myanmar’s civilian government officials continue to deny such accusations. But recently, Reuters has been able to confirm that Myanmar soldiers raped or sexually assaulted dozens of women in a remote village in the northwest of the country during the biggest upsurge in violence against the persecuted minority in four years. Eight Rohingya women, all from U Shey Kya village in Rakhine State, described in detail how soldiers last week raided their homes, looted property and raped them at gun point.

Reuters interviewed three of the women in person and five by telephone, and spoke to human rights groups and community leaders. One 40-year-old woman told the news agency that she was held down by a group of soldiers in her home, and then raped. Her 15-year-old daughter was also allegedly sexually assaulted by them before they made away with the family's jewelry and money. "They took me inside the house. They tore my clothes and they took my head scarf off," the woman said. "Two men held me, one holding each arm, and another one held me by my hair from the back and they raped me." 

Reuters reporters traveled to U Shey Kya village on Thursday (October 27), passing nearby villages where dozens of houses were recently burned down, and interviewed three women who said they were raped by soldiers. Five other women from U Shey Kya have also detailed in a series of telephone interviews how Myanmar soldiers raped them. The accounts are backed up by at least three male residents of the village and a Rohingya community leader in Maungdaw who has gathered reports about the incident.

The residents said some 150 soldiers arrived near U Shey Kya on October 19.

A 30-year-old woman described being knocked off her feet by soldiers and repeatedly raped. "They told me, 'We will kill you. We will not allow you to live in this country,'" she said. The women said soldiers took gold, money and other property, and spoiled rice stores with sand. 

"We can't move to another village to find medical care," said a 32-year-old survivor. "I don't have clothes now or food to eat. It was all destroyed. I'm feeling ashamed and scared."

As usual, the military did not respond to Reuters inquiry. 

The new pogrom inside the Rohingya populated territories of northern Arakan state once again underlines the power the army retains in Myanmar, which is guilty of committing war crimes against an unarmed civilian population. Such brutality against the Rohingya Muslims also unmasks the Buddhist government’s double-standards when dealing with non-Buddhists. Army generals continue to run the home ministry, which inflicts the worst form of collective punishment against the Muslims (but not against the Buddhist rebels). This is quite evident when the Rakhine Buddhist extremists of the Arakan Army attacked the military, which it has done 15 times since 28 December, 2015, in which several soldiers got killed, interestingly no such scorched-earth and combing operation to flush them out was undertaken by the military. 

I wish the persecution of the Rohingya and other Muslims did not extend to other parts of Myanmar. Seemingly, however, no place is secure for these unfortunate victims in Suu Kyi’s den of intolerance.

Border guards went to Kyee Kan Pyin village Sunday (October 23, 2016), which is in the central region of Mandalay, and ordered about 2,000 villagers to evacuate it. Residents only had enough time to collect basic household necessities and valuables. They were then forced for a second night to stay and hide in rice fields without shelter. 

“I was kicked out of my house yesterday afternoon, now I live in a paddy field outside of a my village with some 200 people including my family—I became homeless,” an unidentified Rohingya man told Reuters.

Suu Kyi can start the process of reintegration of the Rohingya, by following the footsteps of her wise father. She can immediately withdraw the military from Rohingya towns and villages where they are committing war crimes. She can restore the citizenship rights of the Rohingya on the basis of the First Schedule to the Burma Independence Act 1947. That Act clearly stated that the Rohingya and all other Muslims who were British subjects - who were born in Burma or whose father or paternal grandfather was born in Burma - were considered citizens of the Union of Burma. Under Annex A of the Aung San-Attlee Agreement, 27 January, 1947, Rohingyas were citizens of the Union of Burma: “A Burma National is defined for the purposes of eligibility to vote and to stand as a candidate of the forthcoming elections as a British subject or the subject of an Indian State who was born in Burma and resided there for a total period of not less than eight years in the ten years immediately preceding either 1st January, 1942 or 1st January, 1947.” 

The Nu-Attlee Agreement (1947), signed between Prime Minister U Nu (Burma) and Prime Minister Clement Attlee (Great Britain) on Oct. 17, 1947 on transferring power to Burma was very important as to the determination of the citizenship status of the peoples and races in Burma. Article 3 of the Agreement states: “Any person who at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty is, by virtue of the Constitution of the Union of Burma, a citizen thereof and who is, or by virtue of a subsequent election is deemed to be, also a British subject, may make a declaration of alienage in the manner prescribed by the law of the Union, and thereupon shall cease to be a citizen of the Union.” 

Human rights group, including the Faith Movement, have called for: restoration of human rights including citizenship rights for their Rohingya people; immediate relocation of the Rohingyas from the IDP camps back to their places of origin (before the genocidal campaigns ensued in 2012), return of their confiscated assets, repeal of the 1982 Citizenship Law so that they can be treated as equals in Myanmar, compensation to IDP detainees towards rebuilding their burnt/destroyed homes and places of worship, a cessation of military offensives against all ethnic groups of Myanmar, and prevention of all kinds of religious persecution including hate speeches by Buddhist extremists. They have also demanded international investigation and intervention to stop Rohingya Genocide, and have sought their protection.

So, if Suu Kyi’s government is serious about bringing peace in Arakan, it should seriously fulfil such legitimate demands for the greater good of all. After all, in all fairness, none of these demands is irrational and within the capacity of the Myanmar government to implement. If she continues to overlook such demands and follows the dictates of her savage Tatmadaw that has been committing war crimes in its conflicts against the ethnic minorities, I am afraid, it won’t be too long that Myanmar would divide into many states, and that many of the top generals and ministers could be charged with committing crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court. The international community may also find it necessary to demand that the Mayu Frontier Territories (in northern Arakan) be declared a ‘safe’ territory for the persecuted Rohingyas of Myanmar so that they could live there with honor, dignity, safety and security. 

Behaving like an ostrich with its head buried in the sand is no solution for Suu Kyi. Such a behavior can actually be perceived that Rohingya lives don’t matter to her government, which may actually be the reason behind the border raids. 

Wake up Suu Kyi! Do the math and figure out what is better for your fractured and artificial country. The sooner the better!

Press Release

October 28, 2016

Myanmar: Authorities must investigate security forces as reports of Rakhine abuses mount

Amnesty International is calling for an prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into the conduct of Myanmar’s security forces in the restive Rakhine state for human rights violations committed during ongoing security operations in the region.

The organization has received numerous reports that Myanmar’s security forces operating in the state – home to most of the country’s oppressed Rohingya minority – are alleged to be involved in extra-judicial executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, destroying people’s homes and crimes involving sexual violence amongst other violations. Ongoing restrictions on access to northern Rakhine State has made it extremely difficult to independently verify such claims.

“We have received a series of alarming reports concerning Myanmar’s security forces and their conduct against the backdrop of security operations in Rakhine state. Rather than issuing blanket denials without looking into the matter, the Myanmar authorities should implement an independent and impartial investigation that establishes a credible verdict on their human rights record and bring all those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts without recourse to death penalty,” said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s Director for South East Asia and the Pacific.

The call comes as the authorities continue to heavily restrict access to northern Rakhine state, preventing journalists and independent observers from verifying reports.

Local journalists who travelled to the affected Maungdaw area following the eruption of violence in Rakhine state on October 9 have told Amnesty International that the Myanmar military severely impeded their movements, including by sealing off many of the areas affected by “clearance operations”.

Foreign journalists also told the organization that their requests for access to northern Rakhine state have been denied on the grounds that security operations are ongoing and authorities cannot guarantee their safety.

“If Myanmar’s security forces are not involved in any human rights violations as the authorities claim, then they should have no trouble granting independent observers access so they can help establish the truth on the ground,” said Rafendi Djamin.

On October 25, the local media reported that Presidential spokesperson Zaw Htay had rejected allegations that security forces had committed human rights violations, insisting they were just “accusations” and that “we haven’t done anything lawless”.

Amnesty International also reaffirms its call for the Myanmar authorities to grant unfettered access to the UN and international humanitarian organizations who have been unable to provide assistance to communities in need. Both Rohingya and Rakhine communities have been displaced following October 9.

Background

On October 9 unknown assailants attacked three police outposts in the north of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, killing nine Border Guard Police and seizing weapons and ammunition. Eight attackers were also killed. The authorities immediately initiated security operations to apprehend the alleged perpetrators.

Amnesty International recognizes that the Myanmar authorities have the duty and the right to maintain law and order, and to investigate and bring to justice to those suspected of responsibility for the October 9 attacks. However, they must ensure that these investigations are conducted in a fair and transparent manner, in accordance with international law.

Rohingyas in northern Rakhine State have for decades faced severe restrictions on their movement, impacting severely on their ability to access healthcare, education and livelihood opportunities. This ongoing repression has sparked many thousands of Rohingya to flee and seek asylum abroad in recent years.

Original here.

By The Irrawaddy & Reuters

October 28, 2016

Yanghee Lee, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma has called for “complete access” to areas undergoing conflict in northern Arakan State.

Referring to the growing reports of human rights violations in the area by members of the security forces on Muslim communities who self-identify as Rohingya, the Special Rapporteur on Thursday called for “an impartial investigation” and said the UN was currently “in the dark.”

Lee said that they had heard reports of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, many cases of rape, and the killing of civilians.

“These are unverified as of yet but we do have some credible sources that [add] support to these ongoing human rights violations,” she said.

Access to the area for aid agencies and the media has been severely restricted since Oct. 9, after coordinated attacks on a series of border guard outposts were launched by groups the government believes has links to Islamists overseas.

The militants, who Reuters reported have identified themselves as the previously unknown Al-Yakin Mujahidin in videos posted online, are accused of killing nine police officers and five soldiers, and of stealing a cache of weapons.

In an interview with The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, President’s Office spokesman U Zaw Htay said that “false reports” on alleged human rights abuses were being circulated by individuals and organizations that “support terrorism.” The information could “confuse” the UN, he said.

“If they have strong evidence, they can submit it to the appropriate [branch of] the UN. We will take them seriously. One of our foreign policy principles is to cooperate with the UN,” he said.

On Friday, Reuters reported that eight Rohingya women from U Shey Kya village in Arakan State described in detail how soldiers last week raided their homes, looted property and raped them at gun point.

Reuters interviewed three of the women in person and five by telephone, and spoke to human rights groups and community leaders. Not all the claims could be independently verified, Reuters said, including the total number of women assaulted.

A forty-year-old woman from U Shey Kya told Reuters that four soldiers raped her and assaulted her 15-year-old daughter, while stealing jewelry and cash from the family.

“They took me inside the house. They tore my clothes and they took my head scarf off,” the mother of seven told Reuters in an interview outside her home, a cramped bamboo hut. “Two men held me, one holding each arm, and another one held me by my hair from the back and they raped me,” she said.

U Zaw Htay, the government spokesman, denied the allegations.

“There’s no logical way of committing rape in the middle of a big village of 800 homes, where insurgents are hiding,” U Zaw Htay said.

U Zaw Htay telephoned a military commander in Maungdaw, whose name he did not disclose, during an interview with Reuters earlier this week. The commander said troops conducted a sweep of U Shey Kya village on Oct. 19, but left without committing abuses.

The military did not respond to an emailed request from Reuters for comment about the accusations in the area it has declared an ‘operation zone.’

U Shey Kya village’s official administrator, Armah Harkim, said he was working to verify the latest accounts, adding most residents believed them to be true.

U Zaw Htay accused residents of fabricating the allegations as part of a disinformation campaign led by the insurgents, which he compared to the tactics of Islamist groups Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

Colonel Sein Lwin, the police chief for Arakan State, dismissed the claims as “propaganda for Muslim groups.”

Reuters’ reporters traveled to U Shey Kya village on Thursday—passing nearby villages where dozens of houses were recently burned down—and interviewed three women who said they were raped by soldiers.

Five other women from U Shey Kya also detailed in a series of telephone interviews with Reuters how Myanmar soldiers raped them. The accounts are backed up by at least three male residents of the village and a Rohingya community leader in Maungdaw who has gathered reports about the incident, according to the Reuters report.

The residents said some 150 soldiers arrived near U Shey Kya on Oct. 19.

Most male residents left the village as they believed they would be suspected as insurgents. The women said they stayed behind in the belief the military would burn down empty homes. Soldiers dismantled the fences around homes, residents said, removing possible hiding places as part of what authorities called a “clearance operation.”

A 30-year-old woman described being knocked off her feet by soldiers and repeatedly raped. The women said soldiers took gold, money and other property, and spoiled rice stores with sand.

“We can’t move to another village to find medical care,” said a 32-year-old survivor. “I don’t have clothes now or food to eat. It was all destroyed. I’m feeling ashamed and scared.”

Meanwhile, according to local sources, the situation in Maungdaw Township has stabilized. Local government reported that 50 out of 402 schools had now reopened and government workers have returned to offices.

There were a total of 3,000 internally displaced Buddhist Arakanese in Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Sittwe townships but many have now returned to their villages, according to the Arakan National Party.

Ultra-nationalist Buddhist monk group Ma Ba Tha visited the region this week to donate a total of 1,000 bags of rice to displaced persons. Senior monk Ashin Thaw Parka told The Irrawaddy, “we encourage people to go back to their villages, if not, other people will take it [the villages].”

The European Commission reported last week that an estimated 10,000 Rohingya remain displaced and that they are in “desperate need of protection, food, shelter, and sanitation.”

On Friday Human Rights Watch echoed the growing calls to the government to allow humanitarian agencies and international agencies into the area, and to launch an independent investigation into alleged abuses.

By Reuters

October 28, 2016

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. State Department said on Friday it had voiced concern to Myanmar's foreign minister about the reported rape of Rohingya Muslim women by soldiers during a recent upsurge in violence against the persecuted minority.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States wanted Myanmar to investigate the reported rapes and hold those responsible accountable.

By Fiona Macgregor

The Myanmar Times

October 28, 2016
 

Minister for Home Affairs Lieutenant General Kyaw Swe speaks to journalists in Maungdaw on October 17. Photo: Kaung Htet / The Myanmar Times

A Tatmadaw soldier stands guard at an outpost in Maungdaw township, northern Rakhine State, after the area was declared an “operation zone” following a deadly attack on Border Guard Police on October 9. Photo: Kaung Htet / The Myanmar Times

By Simon Lewis 

Reuters

October 28, 2016

YANGON -- Myanmar is investigating the death in custody of a 60-year-old Rohingya Muslim, the office of President Htin Kyaw said, as a security sweep in the country's northwest is increasingly beset by allegations of human rights abuses.

Security forces moved into northern Rakhine State after coordinated attacks on three border guard posts on Oct. 9 killed nine police officers.

The sudden escalation of violence in Rakhine state poses a serious challenge to the six-month-old government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who was swept to power in an election last year but has faced criticism abroad for failing to tackle rights abuses against the Rohingya and other Muslims.

The government has said some 400 Rohingya militants with links to Islamists overseas were behind this month's attacks and later clashes in which five soldiers were killed. A group calling itself Al-Yakin Mujahidin claimed responsibility for the attacks in videos posted online.

UN officials are pressuring Myanmar to allow aid and observers into the area, where the majority of residents are stateless Rohingya Muslims.

Residents and human rights campaigners say security forces have killed civilians, arbitrarily detained residents, committed rape and burned houses.

Htin Kyaw's office said via its website that authorities had opened an investigation into the death of Khawrimular, who was detained on Oct. 14 on suspicion of involvement in the earlier attacks along with his three sons and two of his brothers.

Sources in the Maungdaw area of Rakhine told Reuters Khawrimular was a community leader and previously worked for international aid organizations in the area.

Soldiers interrogated Khawrimular and returned him to Kyeinchain police station, where the suspects were being held, on the morning of Oct. 17, said an official account published in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Thursday.

"On the way back, the suspect grabbed a firearm from a soldier. Responsible personnel managed to subdue Khawrimular, but he lost consciousness as a result," the report said, adding that he died on the way to hospital. 

Security forces have killed at least 33 alleged attackers since Oct. 9 and more than 50 people have been arrested. At least two other deaths in custody have been reported.

Eight Rohingya women told Reuters this week that they were raped by soldiers who entered the remote U Shey Kya village to conduct what authorities called a "clearance operation" on Oct. 19.

The 1.1 million Rohingya living in Rakhine face discrimination, severe restrictions on their movements and access to services, especially since inter-communal violence in 2012 that displaced 125,000 people.

The U.N.'s human rights envoy on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, told reporters in New York on Thursday that she had heard "horrific stories" of abuses in Maungdaw.

"I have urged that there has to be complete access to this area and an impartial investigation needs to be conducted to verify, to explore the scope and nature and the cause of this recent attack," she said.

By Wa Lone and Simon Lewis 

Reuters

October 28, 2016

U SHEY KYA/YANGON -- Rohingya Muslims say Myanmar soldiers raped or sexually assaulted dozens of women in a remote village in the northwest of the country during the biggest upsurge in violence against the persecuted minority in four years.

Eight Rohingya women, all from U Shey Kya village in Rakhine State, described in detail how soldiers last week raided their homes, looted property and raped them at gun point.

Reuters interviewed three of the women in person and five by telephone, and spoke to human rights groups and community leaders. Not all the claims could be independently verified, including the total number of women assaulted.

Soldiers have poured into the Maungdaw area since Oct. 9, after an insurgent group of Rohingyas that the government believes has links to Islamists overseas launched coordinated attacks on several border guard posts. 

Citing evidence garnered by interrogating suspected militants, the government blamed the attacks on an armed group it says is made up of some 400 Rohingya fighters. 

Graphic on conflicts along Myanmar's border: tmsnrt.rs/2eP8Wpj

The militants, who have identified themselves as the previously unknown Al-Yakin Mujahidin in videos posted online, are accused of killing nine police officers and five soldiers, and of stealing a cache of weapons.

The crisis in northern Rakhine marks the biggest challenge Myanmar's six-month-old civilian government has faced and raises questions over de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi's ability to maintain control of the country's military, observers and diplomats say.

Suu Kyi's relationship with the army remains strained because of the constitution, drafted by the military in 2008, which bars her from the presidency. It also guarantees the army key ministerial posts, including defense, border affairs and home affairs.

Diplomats and United Nations officials say privately that the Oct. 9 attacks and subsequent crackdown have shattered years of work rebuilding trust between the Muslim and Buddhist communities in Rakhine after ethnic and religious violence broke out there in 2012.

"THEY TORE MY CLOTHES"

A forty-year-old woman from U Shey Kya told Reuters that four soldiers raped her and assaulted her 15-year-old daughter, while stealing jewelry and cash from the family.

"They took me inside the house. They tore my clothes and they took my head scarf off," the mother of seven told Reuters in an interview outside her home, a cramped bamboo hut.

"Two men held me, one holding each arm, and another one held me by my hair from the back and they raped me."

Zaw Htay, the spokesman for Myanmar President Htin Kyaw, denied the allegations. 

"There's no logical way of committing rape in the middle of a big village of 800 homes, where insurgents are hiding," Zaw Htay said.

Zaw Htay telephoned a military commander in Maungdaw, whose name he did not disclose, during an interview with Reuters this week. The commander said troops conducted a sweep of U Shey Kya village on Oct. 19, but left without committing abuses. 

The military did not respond to an emailed request for comment about the accusations.

"SECURITY CRACKDOWN"

The escalation of violence threatens to derail Suu Kyi’s goal of ending years of ethnic war in Myanmar, undermining the nation's surprisingly smooth democratic transition that started a year ago with her historic election win, observers and diplomats say.

Though feted as a champion of democracy, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate has faced international criticism for not doing enough to ease the plight of around 1.1 million Rohingya living in Rakhine, most of whom are denied Myanmar citizenship. 

After the first attacks, Suu Kyi urged the army to act in accordance with the law.

The military - which oversaw decades of authoritarian rule and now presents itself as a responsible partner in Myanmar's transition - has declared an "operation zone" in northern Rakhine. 

Residents and activists say civilians are being caught up in the security crackdown, and say scores more have been killed than the 33 alleged attackers that official reports have acknowledged.

"MUSLIM PROPAGANDA"

U Shey Kya village's official administrator, Armah Harkim, said he was working to verify the latest accounts, adding most residents believed them to be true.

Zaw Htay, the president's spokesman, accused residents of fabricating the allegations as part of a disinformation campaign led by the insurgents, which he compared to the tactics of Islamist groups Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

Colonel Sein Lwin, the police chief for Rakhine State, dismissed the claims as "propaganda for Muslim groups."

Reuters reporters traveled to U Shey Kya village on Thursday - passing nearby villages where dozens of houses were recently burned down - and interviewed three women who said they were raped by soldiers.

Five other women from U Shey Kya have also detailed in a series of telephone interviews how Myanmar soldiers raped them. The accounts are backed up by at least three male residents of the village and a Rohingya community leader in Maungdaw who has gathered reports about the incident.

The residents said some 150 soldiers arrived near U Shey Kya on Oct. 19.

Most male residents left the village as they believed they would be suspected as insurgents. The women said they stayed behind in the belief the military would burn down empty homes.

Soldiers dismantled the fences around homes, residents said, removing possible hiding places as part of what authorities called a "clearance operation."

A 30-year-old woman described being knocked off her feet by soldiers and repeatedly raped.

"They told me, 'We will kill you. We will not allow you to live in this country,'" she said.

The women said soldiers took gold, money and other property, and spoiled rice stores with sand.

"We can't move to another village to find medical care," said a 32-year-old survivor. "I don't have clothes now or food to eat. It was all destroyed. I'm feeling ashamed and scared."

RB News 

October 28, 2016

Tokyo, Japan -- Myanmar’s State Counselor and Foreign Minister Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is visiting Japan at the grand invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the 1st of November. She will have several official and unofficial meetings with the Japanese government officials and business leaders. She will pay a homage visit to the Japanese Emperor and Empress as well during her visit. Ahead of her visit to Japan, Rohingya activists, together with Rohingya supporters in Japan had a meeting with high ranking Japanese Foreign Ministry officials at the Diet Building No. 1 on the 26th of October to raise the Rohingya issue by the Japanese Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in their official bilateral meeting next week.

The urgent meeting was organized by former Cabinet Minister and Social Democratic Party leader Mrs Mizuho Fukushima who has been supporting Rohingya cause since 1999. 

At the emergency meeting, Prof. Muranushi Michimi and Tanabe Hisao discussed about the Rohingyas’ long standing problem. Rohingya activists Zaw Min Htut and Abul Kalam discussed about the current Myanmar military and police force atrocities on Rohingya in Maungdaw since the 9th of October incident. The Rohingya presented several documents of extra-judicial killing, rape, torching houses, mosques, looting, mass arrest, mass graves and showed the video clips as well. 

The former Minister stressed the Japanese Prime Minister or Foreign Minister must raise the issue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at their bilateral meeting as the Rohingya situation has become worse than before under her NLD government. The foreign ministry officials’ Principal Director Mr Kensuke Nagase, Deputy Director Mr Yoko Takushima and South East Asia division Deputy Director Ms Tomohiro Kanata expressed their sympathies on the lost of innocent Rohingya lives and properties and promised to raise the issue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Before ending the meeting the Rohingya activists appeal to Japanese government to urge Daw Aung San Suu Kyi immediately to stop ongoing atrocities where hundreds of Rohingya lives and properties have been lost by presenting an appeal letter.

The appeal letter to the Japanese government is here.

----

The Honorable Fumio Kishida

The Foreign Minister

Ministry Of Foreign Affairs 

The Government Of Japan. 

Date:- 26th October 2016

Your Excellency, 

I would like Your Excellency to raise the grave situation of the Rohingya people in the Northern Arakan State with State Counselor and Foreign Minister Of Myanmar Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during her State visit to Japan next week. 

Some unidentified assailants launched early morning attacks on three security forces posts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships on 9th October, according to information released by the Myanmar Government. We, Rohingya people strongly condemn violence at all cost and oppose any violence on anyone whilst pursuing a peaceful solution for the plight of Rohingya. Rohingya community is not capable of targeting the security forces, given the extremely restrictive environment they live in Rakhine State. 

Since 9th October, under the pretext of looking for attackers, the Myanmar military and police forces have been indiscriminately killing the Rohingya, torching and plundering their homes and villages. Two mass graves were found and over 100 innocent Rohingya were extra­- judicially killed that included old men, women and children .One of my second Cousins was shot dead by military on 12th October. At least 15 Rohingya villages were set ablaze destroying many houses including my family house and Mosques. The Myanmar military forces together with the local Rakhines are looting Rohingya houses and shops. At the same time several local people are reporting that their women are sexually assaulted by the military forces. Several hundreds innocent Rohingya have been arrested and torturing to death. 

The grave situation has caused many Rohingya to flee their villages. Several Thousands of Rohingya have been internally displaced causing great humanitarian disaster. Due to curfew order and blockade imposed only on Rohingya, there is an acute shortage of Food, Medicine and other essentials. The situation is exponentially worsening. The Government security forces deny access to aid agencies that provide essentials Health care and Food to people at grave risk and denying access to INGOs as well as free media. 

The fear on the ground is that the violence may now escalate to at least the level of 2012, when hundreds were killed, several villages had been burnt down , over 1,40,000 were displaced to IDP Camps and many more Rohingya were driven out of the country altogether. This new upsurge of violence may ultimately prove to be the final trigger to outright genocide that the UN and many NGO observers as well as genocide scholars have been dreading. 

The only thing that can stop the spiraling levels of violence from escalating into a full blown latter-day Rwanda scenario would be the intervention of Japanese Government together the government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to pacify Rakhine and impose the rule of law effectively. But as of yet, the Myanmar Government is making no efforts to protect Rohingya civilians and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi does not seem to be moved by the gravity of the situation while military is taking the law in their hands. 

Your Excellency, 

You are in a uniquely privileged position to help build the international pressure needed to move Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her government to suppress the recent upsurge in violence before the situation get completely out of control. I solemnly urge you to take charge of this issue and help prevent yet another international humanitarian catastrophe. 

I humbly appeal to your Excellency to save Rohingya from total annihilation. Rohingya are peace-loving people believing peaceful co-existence with equal rights and dignity. I earnestly request your Excellency to stress the followings directly with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in your bilateral meeting. Rohingya men, women and children are looking at you for their salvation 

1. Immediately stop extra-judicial killing of innocent Rohingya in Maungdaw. 

2. Stop burning down Rohingya villages, Mosques and religious houses. 

3. Stop looting Rohingya houses of valuable jewelry, gold and money. 

4. Stop raping Rohingya women. 

5. Stop arbitrarily arrest of innocent Rohingya and torturing them in the custody. 

6. Stop vandalizing religious houses, desecrating Holy Quran and terrorizing Rohingya villagers. 

7. Give free access to INGOs, WFP, and other humanitarian agencies to provide Food, Medicine and other essentials to Rohingyas. 

8. Call Myanmar Government for proper and thorough investigations of summary executions, torture in the custody and rape of the Rohingya women immediately. 

Yours Sincerely, 

Zaw Min Htut

Rohingya Human Rights Activist in Japan

Media Release from Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)

For Immediate Release 

Thursday 27th October 2016

International action needed as Rohingya face executions, rape, mass arrests and starvation

As the Rohingya of Burma face the worst human rights and humanitarian crisis in decades, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK calls on governments, ASEAN and the United Nations to act now to prevent further violations of international law and mass starvation as a result of humanitarian aid being blocked.

We appreciate that the NLD led government has limited control over the military and security forces, but it cannot be said that they are trying to do their best to end violations despite this. Instead they are acting in a way similar to previous military regimes. They are not only failing to act to try to curtail violations of international law by security forces and the military, through its state media it is actively attempting to deny abuses are taking place and publishing false news. They have rejected United Nations calls for action in exactly the same way as during the Than Shwe military era.

If the widespread abuses currently taking place against the Rohingya were happening under the military era, there would be international condemnation and talk of international investigations, sanctions and discussions at the United Nations Security Council. Instead we are seeing silence or muted responses, and no action. 

There is no end in sight to the current abuses and it is clear that neither the military or the government in Burma are willing to admit to what is taking place and take action to prevent it.

It therefore falls upon the international community to step in and protect the vulnerable Rohingya population who are facing multiple violations of international law. International law was designed specifically for situations like this. The international community must now step up to its responsibilities.

"We are facing a major crisis but without a major crisis response from the international community," said Tun Khin, President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK. "The numbers already killed, raped and arrested could just be the beginning if action is not taken. Every diplomatic, political and legal option must be pursued."

We call for the following initial action:

ASEAN must publicly and privately pressure the military and the government to stop all human rights violations and lift restrictions on humanitarian aid.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon must lead UN efforts personally demanding an end to all human rights violations and lifting all humanitarian aid restrictions. He must be willing to travel to Burma to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the head of the military, Min Aung Hlaing.

The international community should impose targeted sanctions against all those involved in human rights violations and restrictions on aid including visa bans, asset freezes, and restrictions on doing business with these individuals.

The United Nations Security Council must hold urgent discussions and call for an end to abuses and lifting aid restrictions.

All training programmes with the military and with police and security forces under their control should be suspended.

A UN mandated international investigation such as a UN Commission of Inquiry should be established to investigate recent human rights violations and the situation in Rakhine State.

For more information, please contact: +44 (0) 7888714866