A report by Human Rights Watch released earlier on Wednesday found that Myanmar troops shot at Muslims, committed rape and failed to protect Muslims from mobs during deadly ethnic clashes in June.
Labelling the figure of around 80 dead from the violence as “grossly underestimated”, the New York-based human rights organisation also concluded that the forces "unleashed a campaign of violence and mass roundups against the Rohingya".
The report, entitled “The Government Could Have Stopped This”, is based on 57 interviews with Rakhine Buddhists, Rohingya Muslims and others in both Myanmar and Bangladesh where some Muslims have fled to.
Commenting on the report, Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said,
“The government claims it is committed to ending ethnic strife and abuse, but recent events in Arakan State demonstrate that state-sponsored persecution and discrimination persist.”
“If the atrocities in Arakan had happened before the government’s reform process started, the international reaction would have been swift and strong,”The report also stated that,
“But the international community appears to be blinded by a romantic narrative of sweeping change in Burma, signing new trade deals and lifting sanctions even while the abuses continue”.
"To demonstrate its seriousness in addressing abuses, the government should grant the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomas Quintana, full access to investigate abuses on all sides and take action to hold perpetrators accountable''.
See our earlier post: Myanmar rejects abuse claims as UN envoy investigates violence (31 July 2012)
