Myanmar’s govt. disregards obligation to account for military atrocities: HRW

Myanmar’s government has so far failed to abide by its international obligations to account for the army’s atrocities against minorities, particularly the Rohingya Muslims living in the state of Rakhine, Human Rights Watch says.

“Despite making commitments during the last UPR cycle, in 2015, to establish democratic institutions, adopt justice sector reforms, and promote and protect women’s rights, Myanmar has achieved little progress. Human rights violations by Myanmar’s security forces against ethnic minority groups, including Rohingya, Rakhine, Kachin, Shan, Karen, and others, have significantly worsened since 2015.”

That is a section of a submission by the rights organization to the United Nations Human Rights Council for Myanmar’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR), due in January.

Under the UPR, all UN member states undergo a review of their rights records under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva every five years.

The Myanmar government, the submission read, has “refused to cooperate with the Human Rights Council-established Fact-Finding Mission to investigate atrocity crimes, and barred the previous UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar from entering the country.”

"Despite Myanmar’s commitments in the 2015 review cycle to adopt democratic reforms and respect civil and political rights, the government has made little progress. The government has disregarded its international legal obligations to provide accountability for Myanmar military atrocities," it said.

Myanmar’s authorities have repeatedly failed to adequately probe crimes against humanity and prosecute grave abuses against the Rohingya in Rakhine, according to Human Rights Watch.

Over 2,600 homes burned in Rohingya-majority Rakhine: Myanmar

Myanmar says over 2,600 houses have been burned down in the Rohingya-majority areas as tens of thousands of persecuted Muslims flee.

Myanmar’s court-martial conviction of three military personnel for crimes against the ethnic Rohingya apparently reflects a trend of accountability evasion.

On June 30, the military announced that two officers and a soldier had been convicted for “weakness in following the instructions” during the Gu Dar Pyin incident.

Rakhine’s Gu Dar Pyin village was the site of a massacre by the military on August 27-28, 2017, as part of a campaign of mass atrocities that forced more than 740,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh in the subsequent months. 

The armed forces, however, did not provide any other information, such as the names and ranks of those convicted, their role in the massacre, or their sentences. 

“Myanmar’s unwillingness to provide accountability for rampant rights abuses seems to know no bounds,” said Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director with Human Rights Watch, adding, “UN member countries should use Myanmar’s UN review to demand the government make progress through deeds, not more flowery talk, to achieve genuine human rights improvements.” 

UN envoy says Myanmararmy still committing ‘crimes against humanity’

The UN’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has accused the country’s military of committing “ongoing” crimes against humanity.

In Rakhine and the state of Chin, the government has for the second year enforced internet shutdowns amid escalating fighting between the ethnic Arakan Army, a Buddhist rebel group calling for greater autonomy for Rakhine,  and Myanmar’s military. 

In addition to that, the government has failed to revoke or amend rights-abusing laws that undermine the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.

As a result, hundreds of human rights defenders, community leaders, trade union members and leaders, and other civil society activists have faced prosecution and imprisonment for exercising their basic rights.

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