Rohingya Blogger: HRW

June 15, 2017

Item 4 Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Myanmar

The challenges the government of Myanmar faces in ensuring that the human rights of everyone in the country are respected and protected means overcoming a long history of oppressive military rule. Yet the authorities continue to arrest and prosecute those who criticize the government and the military under the now-infamous section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Act. The army and to a lesser extent ethnic armed groups still commit abuses during the fighting in Shan and Kachin States. And nearly 100,000 people remain in displaced persons camps spread across both states where the government restricts access to humanitarian aid.

In Rakhine State, nearly 120,000 primarily Rohingya Muslims remain trapped in abysmal conditions in camps in violation of their human rights. Rohingya in the northern part of the state endured widespread brutality from security forces after militant attacks on police outposts in October. Over 90,000 were displaced by the violence of whom over 70,000 fled to Bangladesh. Human Rights Watch and others documented numerous abuses that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded likely amounted to crimes against humanity.

Local officials’ capitulation to mob demands to shutter two Muslim schools in Yangon is the latest government failure to protect Myanmar’s religious minorities. Muslim communities that have had to resort to praying in the streets during the holy month of Ramadan face arrest and prosecution by local authorities.

In March, this Council took a strong stand against the violations in Rakhine State and elsewhere in Myanmar by adopting a resolution that established an international fact-finding mission into human rights violations by military and security forces and other abuses in the country.

We welcome the recent appointment of the fact-finding mission members, but the Burmese government has shown no willingness to cooperate. If they refuse to grant access to the mission, they will join the ranks of Burundi, Syria, and North Korea, all of which have rejected similar international investigations.

This fact-finding mission represents a crucial opportunity to address the systemic challenges that stand between the Myanmar of today and an open democratic society that so many have long sought to achieve. This opportunity should not be squandered. We urge Myanmar not to isolate itself by refusing access to the mission, and would ask the Special Rapporteur what Council members and observers can do to ensure the mission is granted unfettered access to all areas of concern and allowed to carry out its work freely.

By Human Rights Watch

May 25, 2017

Grant UN Fact-Finding Mission Full Access to Rakhine State

Rangoon – The Burmese army announced on May 23, 2017, that its investigation into alleged military abuses in Rakhine State uncovered no wrongdoing except in two minor incidents, Human Rights Watch said today. The army’s failure to find its troops responsible for any serious abuses against ethnic Rohingya since October 2016 in northern Rakhine State demonstrates the urgent need for Burma’s government to allow unfettered access to the United Nations international fact-finding mission.

“The Burmese army’s denials of well-documented abuses shows unvarnished contempt for truth, accountability, and respect for human rights,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “The army’s approach highlights the need for Aung San Suu Kyi’s government to allow the UN fact-finding mission into Burma, and to call on the army to provide full access to conflict areas.”

The army investigation team, led by Lt. Gen. Aye Win of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief, reportedly interviewed approximately 2,875 villagers in 29 villages in Rakhine State’s Maungdaw Township from February 10 to March 4. The team said it recorded the testimonies of 408 villagers, and interviewed more than 200 soldiers and members of the border guard police. However, to have interviewed the number of villagers it claims to have spoken to, the team would have had to interview at least 125 people each day while in Rakhine State.

The army investigation reported finding two cases of abuse. One involved the theft of a motorbike, for which a soldier was sentenced to one year in jail and received a fine. The other involved military personnel who beat villagers for allegedly not helping to extinguish a fire, for which one officer was “penalized and warned” and two soldiers were sentenced to a year in jail. The investigation team also concluded that the allegations against the army in a report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights were either “totally wrong” or “found to be untrue due to false accusations and exaggerations.”

The UN, Human Rights Watch, and others have documented numerous serious human rights violations committed by Burmese security forces against the Rohingya in Rakhine State following the October 9, 2016, attacks on three police outposts. Human Rights Watch documented extrajudicial killings, the rape of women and girls, and the burning of at least 1,500 structures. The violence caused massive displacement, with more than 70,000 fleeing to Bangladesh and more than 20,000 temporarily internally displaced. A report issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on February 3, concluded that the attacks against the Rohingya “very likely” amounted to the commission of crimes against humanity.

The Burmese government established four separate commissions to investigate the violence, none of which have been credible or impartial. In March, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution establishing an independent international fact-finding mission with a mandate to investigate allegations of recent human rights abuses in Burma, especially in Rakhine State. The Burmese government has not said whether it will grant access to the mission.

Past Burmese government investigations have exposed deep methodological flaws and lack of care for victims and the collection of accurate testimonies. The Union-level investigation commission, led by Vice President Myint Swe, has used methods that produced incomplete, inaccurate, or false information. According to reports, testimony, and publicly released footage, the Burmese investigators badgered villagers, argued with them, told them not to say things, accused them of lying, and interviewed victims – including rape survivors – in large groups where confidentiality was not provided.

The Union-level commission released an interim report on January 3 that summarily dismissed allegations of genocide, religious persecution, and states that it was unable to find sufficient evidence of other abuses. The commission has yet to issue its final report and there is no set date for its release.

“Despite overwhelming evidence of mass atrocities, the Burmese army has again failed to credibly investigate itself,” Robertson said. “For there to be any hope of uncovering the truth, the Burmese army can no longer be standing in the way of a serious international fact-finding mission.”

By Human Rights Watch

May 8, 2017

Protect Religious Freedom, End Restrictions Targeting Minorities

Rangoon – The Burmese government should immediately reopen two madrasas, or Islamic religious schools, that local authorities sealed off in Rangoon on April 28, 2017, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should publicly commit to protecting the right to freedom of religion for all religious communities in Burma, including in worship, observance, practice, and teaching.

In late April, a mob of about 50 to 100 Buddhist ultranationalists put pressure on local officials and police in Rangoon’s Thaketa Township to close the two madrasas. The ultranationalists alleged Muslim community members were using the schools to conduct prayers, which they claimed violated an agreement signed by the schools’ leaders last year. The authorities carried out the mob’s demand and have not reopened the schools, denying a reported several hundred students their education.

“Burmese local officials’ craven capitulation to mob demands to shutter two Muslim schools is the latest government failure to protect Burma’s religious minorities,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “The government should immediately reverse these closures, end restrictions on the practice of minority religions, and prosecute Buddhist ultranationalists who break the law in the name of religion.”

Community members observe through locked doors as authorities, joined by leaders of the madrasa and Buddhist ultranationalists, inspect one of the closed madrasas in Thaketa Township, Rangoon, April 29, 2017. © 2017 Richard Weir/Human Rights Watch

Claims by Buddhist ultranationalist groups that the shutdowns were lawful because madrasa leaders had signed a document in October 2015 agreeing not use the schools for prayer provide no justification for their closure. Even if the agreement was not signed under duress, as evidence suggests, it would be an infringement on the Muslim community’s basic rights to religious freedom. The media reported that Buddhist ultranationalists had previously pressured local officials about whether prayers were being said at the two madrasas.

Tin Myo Aung, 45, a security officer at one of the schools, told Human Rights Watch that a crowd of Buddhist ultranationalists appeared at about 4 p.m. outside the school he was guarding. As they grew more agitated he became worried, before the police arrived. At about 6 p.m. the police padlocked the schools to prevent anyone from entering. An altercation between some Buddhist ultranationalists and a reporter from the Associated Press did not escalate. A school committee member told Human Rights Watch that the authorities said the closure was temporary but gave no timeline for the schools’ reopening.

Human Rights Watch visited Thaketa Township on April 29 and observed dozens of police outside both schools. Just after 11 a.m., local authorities and school representatives, along with individuals identified by local residents as Buddhist ultranationalists, entered the schools to examine them. After they emerged, the officials replaced the locks and put yellow tape and barricades around the entrances. Police outside the schools have since refused to allow Muslim community members, including those whose children attend the schools, to enter.

The school committee member told Human Rights Watch that the schools immediately sent a letter to the Rangoon Region chief minister’s office requesting to have the schools reopened. However, so far they have not received a response. Tin Myo Aung said that several hundred children between the ages of 5 and 12 ordinarily attend the two schools. The closures deny children their right to an education.

Wunna Shwe, 54, joint secretary general of the Islamic Religious Affairs Council, said that closures like this are not uncommon in Burma, and that they also affect other minority religious groups, such as Christians.

“According to our experience, madrasas that are sealed or closed almost never open again,” Wunna Shwe said. He added that since violence in Taungoo, Bago Region, in 2001 caused the government to seal ten mosques, only four have since been reopened.

Human Rights Watch repeatedly telephoned the Rangoon police information committee, but no one was willing to comment on the incident.

“Burmese authorities and police have repeatedly shown they are unwilling to confront Buddhist ultranationalists inciting violence against Muslims and other religious minorities,” Robertson said. “In doing so the government has failed to protect the rights to freedom of religion and education and provide basic security to all of its people. Burma’s leaders can’t sit back and wait for the next round of violence against a minority group; they need to take proactive steps to address religious tensions and disputes so that all can practice their religion peacefully and safely.”

Muslims in Burma

During the British colonial period and early years after independence in 1948, Muslims held high positions in Burma’s government and civil society. They were in the forefront of the fight for independence from the British. After independence, Muslims continued to play a prominent role in the country’s business, industrial, and cultural activities. Many were public servants, soldiers, and officers. After General Ne Win seized power in 1962, he initiated the systematic expulsion of Muslims from the government and army. No written directive bars Muslims from entry or promotion in the government, but that has long been the practice. In 2001, Human Rights Watch documented anti-Muslim violence in various parts of the country that left dozens of mosques and madrasas destroyed.

According to government census data collected in 2014, Muslims make up just over 2 percent of the population of Burma, which is about 90 percent Buddhist. However, that figure does not include more than one million Muslims who are Rohingya, a largely stateless ethnic group living primarily in Rakhine State. Christians make up just over 6 percent of the country’s population.

Burma is obligated under international human rights law to protect the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the right to express religious belief in worship, observance, practice, and teaching. Protection of this right must be done in a nondiscriminatory way. The right is subject to limitations for the protection of public safety, order, health, or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. However, those restrictions must be prescribed by law, narrowly tailored to prevent a specific threat, and proportionate to the threat. Burmese officials have provided no information or evidence to suggest that the two Islamic schools posed any imminent threat.

Successive Burmese governments have repeatedly allowed Buddhist ultranationalist groups to prevent minority religious communities from choosing the places they worship, practice, or receive religious education. In its 2017 annual report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom again found pervasive discrimination against both Muslims and Christians in Burma.

Government regulations on venues for prayer and constructing religious buildings are opaque, often only explained orally by local officials, and have onerous requirements. Wunna Shwe told Human Rights Watch that there are no official written rules or regulations proscribing prayer at religious schools or restricting the construction of religious buildings, though some religious schools have been required to ask for permission to conduct prayers over limited periods of time. Burmese government authorities also prohibit construction of new mosques, and make it extremely difficult to get authorization to make repairs to existing religious buildings. Such restrictions have been in place since the early 1960s, and as a result there are many mosques in Burma that have fallen into severe disrepair, while others struggle to support growing Muslim communities.

For example, a leader at a mosque said that local authorities recently forced the mosque to tear up a concrete floor built to keep out rats. Officials had said the construction was illegal because the mosque did not receive permission before undertaking the project. Mosque leaders said this approval process involves no less than six approvals from nearly every level of local and regional governmental office – from the ward-level up to the Rangoon regional administrative office.

The forced closure of the two madrasas in Rangoon is part of a broader trend of pressure, intimidation, and violence perpetrated by Buddhist ultranationalist groups against Muslim communities. The most prominent such group, Ma Ba Tha, or the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion, has been actively promoting discriminatory policies and fueling anti-Muslim sentiments. These have included a successful campaign to have enacted four rights-abusing “race and religion laws,” signed into law in May and August 2015, which inordinately target Muslims and other religious minorities, violate women’s rights, and encourage Buddhist ultranationalist groups to pressure local officials to enforce the laws.

Successive waves of violence against Muslim populations in various parts of the country, but particularly against Rohinyga Muslims in Burma’s western Rakhine State, have left many mosques razed and communities without places to worship. Violence in June 2012 between Buddhist and Muslims in Rakhine State was followed in October 2012 by coordinated attacks against the Rohingya by Rakhine Buddhist mobs backed by the police and military. Human Rights Watch found that the assaults on Rohingya communities in October amounted to “ethnic cleansing” and crimes against humanity. Thousands of buildings were burned, displacing over 140,000 people, most of whom were Rohingya and Kaman Muslims.

In 2013, clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in Meiktila, Mandalay Region, resulted in dozens killed and over 800 buildings destroyed. Further attacks against Muslim communities over the course of the year occurred in April in Okkan village, Sagaing Region; in May in Lashio, Shan State; in August in Htan Gone village, Sagaing Region; and in October in Thandwe Township, Rakhine State. In July 2014, a Buddhist mob attacked a Muslim house in the city of Mandalay.

In late June and early July 2016, mobs destroyed two mosques in the same week, one in Bago Region, the other in Kachin State.

In October 2016, after a Rohingya militant group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked three border posts in northern Rakhine State, Burmese security forces engaged in a campaign of arson, torture, extrajudicial killings, and rape. In March 2017, the United Nations passed a resolution to dispatch a fact-finding mission to investigate these attacks and other abuses, which a report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said very likely amounted to crimes against humanity.

Published by HRW on April 27, 2017

Donald Tusk
President of the European Council
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 175
1048 Brussels

Federica Mogherini
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy /
Vice-President of the European Commission
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200
1049 Brussels

Brussels, 27 April 2017

Re: Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit and human rights in Burma

Dear President Tusk and High Representative / Vice-President Mogherini

We write to you to express our deep concern about ongoing and serious human rights abuses in Burma and to urge you to address these issues during the upcoming visit by State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Our core concerns include: ensuring the Burmese government’s full cooperation with the Human Rights Council-mandated independent international fact-finding mission into recent human rights violations in the country; the serious human rights crisis faced by ethnic Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State; international human rights and humanitarian law violations in Kachin and Shan States; and increasing numbers of political prisoners and continued restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, including as a result of the prosecution of peaceful protesters and critics of the government.

UN Mandated Fact-Finding Mission

The successful operation of the Fact-Finding Mission established, through a European Union (EU)-sponsored resolution, adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council in March 2017 is critical to documenting abuses committed by Burmese security forces, creating accountability for these abuses, and preventing future abuses, particularly against the Rohingya. We urge you to press Aung San Suu Kyi, her government, and the Burmese military to fully cooperate with that mission.

The Fact-Finding Mission will be crucial to establishing the facts in Rakhine State following the October 9, 2016 attacks on three border guard posts in northern Rakhine State by militants from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). The United Nations, Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations, and the media have reported that government security forces inflicted widespread and serious abuses against Rohingya civilians throughout northern Rakhine State in the wake of those attacks. Human Rights Watch has documented burnings of numerous Rohingya villages, extrajudicial killings, and systematic rape and other sexual violence. Untold numbers were killed in the several months-long “clearance operations” and, at its peak, more than 90,000 were displaced, over 70,000 of whom fled to Bangladesh. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a report in February 2017 that concluded it was very likely that Burmese security forces committed crimes against humanity during those operations. Investigations by the Burmese government’s various domestic commissions have not been credible or impartial.

Full cooperation with the Fact-Finding Mission will indicate the Burmese government’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and to identifying and holding to account those responsible for abuses. It will also send a clear message to potential perpetrators of rights abuses in the future.

While the EU-sponsored resolution was adopted by consensus by the members of the Human Rights Council, the Burmese government has publicly disassociated itself from the resolution. However, it has not said it will not cooperate or allow access.

In addition to encouraging full cooperation with the Fact-Finding Mission, we urge you to call upon the Burmese authorities to immediately remove all restrictions on the provision of humanitarian aid in Rakhine State, including allowing for organizations to complete comprehensive humanitarian assessments. We also urge you to press the authorities to allow unfettered access to all parts of Rakhine State to independent human rights monitors and journalists.

Discriminatory Treatment of the Rohingya Population

Beyond the recent violence in northern Rakhine State, the Rohingya population has long faced systematic discrimination and denial of their human rights. We urge you to press the government to: (1) amend the discriminatory provisions of the 1982 Citizenship Law that effectively deny Rohingya citizenship and bring the law into line with international human rights standards; (2) end restrictions on freedom of movement that severely impact the Rohingya’s rights to health and livelihood in Rakhine State; (3) provide universal, non-discriminatory access to education; and (4) facilitate the safe and voluntary return of the 120,000 Rohingya who have been internally displaced since the June and October 2012 violence that Human Rights Watch research showed amounted to “ethnic cleansing” and crimes against humanity. Furthermore, while the government recently indicated its intention to close three camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Rakhine State, it has not yet indicated when or how it will do this. We urge you to encourage the government to ensure that all IDP camp closures are done with a view of protecting the human rights of the displaced and allowing the residents to freely decide whether to return to their original homes, with appropriate compensation and protection.

Abuses in Kachin and Shan States

Renewed fighting between the military and ethnic armed groups in Kachin and Shan States has imperiled civilians through human rights abuses allegedly committed by government forces and ethnic armed groups, successive instances of displacement, and the blockage of humanitarian assistance by the government. We urge you to press the government and military to adhere to international human rights and humanitarian law in Kachin and Shan States.

Violations of Freedom of Expression and Peaceful Assembly

Despite the significant improvements since 2011 in respect for freedom of expression in Burma, many repressive laws remain in effect. Large numbers of individuals continue to be jailed and prosecuted for peaceful speech and assembly. We urge you to press the government to: release all political prisoners; end the use of criminal laws, such as section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Act and sections 141-147 and 505 of the Penal Code, to penalize peaceful speech and assembly; and to repeal or amend other laws, as identified in Human Rights Watch’s 2016 report, to bring them into full compliance with international standards for the protection of the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and other fundamental rights.

We believe it is important to communicate to Aung San Suu Kyi that embracing the recommendations in the recent Human Rights Council resolution, including the Fact-Finding Mission. and taking steps to hold the military accountable for its actions would further her stated goals of amending the constitution to bring the military under civilian control, end the military’s right to dissolve the government, and remove the military’s power to appoint the ministers of defense, home affairs and border affairs. It is untenable for the elected civilian government to preside over key ministers who do not report to the civilian leadership. She should recognize that while the military is implicated in most of the abuses outlined above, unless the civilian government takes all possible steps to address and prevent them it will still bear considerable responsibility. It is very worrying that the Office of the State Counsellor and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have repeatedly denied well-documented reports of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and destruction of Rohingya villages, giving the impression of indifference or antipathy to a persecuted minority.

While Burma has made significant progress toward becoming a rights-respecting state, it is now at a critical juncture. Aung San Suu Kyi, as the de facto leader of the government, should urgently act to ensure that the human rights of all its people are respected and protected. Key donors like the EU, which are working to assist Burma’s political and economic development, should make it clear to Aung San Suu Kyi during her visit that the political transition away from military dictatorship and the country’s continued economic development will only succeed when human rights are respected. This should include offering the EU’s firm support if she takes the necessary and overdue steps to confront the behavior and role of the military.

Thank you for your consideration. Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further information you may wish.

Sincerely,

Lotte Leicht

EU Director

Human Rights Watch

Brad Adams

Executive Director, Asia Division

Human Rights Watch

By Human Rights Watch

March 24, 2017

Human Rights Council Orders International Fact-Finding Mission

Geneva – The United Nations Human Rights Council on March 24, 2017, took a key step toward preventing future abuses and bringing justice for victims in Burma by adopting a strong resolution condemning violations and making significant recommendations, Human Rights Watch said today.

The resolution authorizes the council president to urgently dispatch an independent, international fact-finding mission to Burma. The mission would establish the facts and circumstances of alleged recent human rights violations, particularly against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, to ensure “full accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims.”

“The Human Rights Council’s authorization of an international fact-finding mission is crucial for ensuring that allegations of serious human rights abuses in Burma are thoroughly examined by experts, and to ensure that those responsible will ultimately be held accountable,” said John Fisher, Geneva director. “Burma’s government should cooperate fully with the mission, including by providing unfettered access to all affected areas.”

The fact-finding mission will examine allegations of arbitrary detention, torture, rape and other sexual violence, and destruction of property by Burmese security forces during “clearance operations” against ethnic Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine State. The “clearance operations” followed an October 9, 2016 attack by Rohingya militants on border guard posts that reportedly killed nine police officers. The mission will include expertise in forensics as well as on sexual and gender-based violence.

Human Rights Watch, along with other groups, has documented widespread and serious abuses against Rohingya by Burmese military and police in Rakhine State, including extrajudicial killings, systematic rape, and the burning of numerous Rohingya villages. The UN estimates that more than 1,000 people died in the crackdown, from October through December.

The resolution also says that Burma should continue to address systemic and institutionalized discrimination against the Rohingya and other ethnic and religious minorities, amend or repeal all discriminatory legislation and policies, and take measures for the safe return of all internally displaced people and refugees. Approximately 120,000 Rohingya remain displaced in Rakhine State as a result of violence in 2012. About 100,000 of them are in closed camps near Sittwe, the state capital, where they are living in squalid conditions, many of them in rice fields prone to seasonal flooding. The violence since October has created an additional 25,000 internally displaced people in Burma and led to the flight of 74,000 more to neighboring Bangladesh.

The resolution also addresses other important human rights concerns in Burma. These include the use of criminal defamation laws against journalists, politicians, students, and social media users in violation of their right to free expression; restrictions on peaceful assembly; and the continued use of child soldiers by both state and non-state actors. The Human Rights Council also cited the recent killings of constitutional expert and National League for Democracy advisor U Ko Ni, environmental activist Naw Chit Pan Daing, and journalist Soe Moe Tun. It called on Burma to reform all laws restricting the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association; release all remaining political prisoners; and ensure thorough, impartial, and independent investigations into the recent killings.

“The violations occurring in Rakhine State threaten to undo Burma’s hard-won progress toward a more rights-respecting and democratic future,” Fisher said. “Burma’s government should make full use of the Human Rights Council resolution to address the major human rights challenges ahead.”

A Rohingya refugee girl wipes her eyes as she cries at Leda Unregistered Refugee Camp in Teknaf, Bangladesh, February 15, 2017. © Reuters/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

By Human Rights Watch

March 19, 2017

Statement to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing

Co-Chairmen Representatives McGovern and Hultgren and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to submit a written statement for today’s hearing on the Human Rights of the Rohingya People.

Human Rights Watch has conducted research on the human rights situation in Burma for more than 25 years, focusing on abuses against political dissidents and media, laws-of-war violations in the armed conflicts in ethnic minority areas, and longstanding violenceagainst Burma’s Muslim population, including rampant and systemic violations against the ethnic Rohingya.

About 120,000 Rohingya are currently displaced in camps in Rakhine State as a result of violence in 2012, and nearly 100,000 displaced persons live in squalid, prison-like conditions in camps within Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State. The humanitarian situation for both remaining internally displaced persons (IDPs) and newly resettled persons remain dire due to restrictions on movement and lack of access to livelihoods and basic services. The Burmese government refuses to use the term Rohingya, which the group self-identifies as but is rejected by ultra-nationalist Buddhists in favor of the term “Bengali,” implying illegal migrant status in Burma. Burma’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi refers to the group as the “Muslim Community in Rakhine State.”

Renewed violence broke out after an October 9, 2016 attack by Rohingya militants on border guard posts in northern Rakhine State. In the wake of the attack, the Burmese military initiated a series of “clearance operations,” locking down the area and denying access to humanitarian aid groups, independent media, and rights monitors. The United Nations estimates that more than one thousand people died in the crackdown. More than 450 Rohingya are being held in Buthidaung prison on charges linked to the attacks on the border posts.

Human Rights Watch documented numerous abuses associated with the military operations, including widespread arson, extrajudicial killings, and systematic rape and other sexual violence.

Satellite imagery analyzed by Human Rights Watch identified at least 1,500 buildings that were destroyed in Maungdaw township in October and November. The burn scars were consistent with arson attacks, while the pattern of destruction strongly suggested that the buildings were destroyed as part of a military operation. Eyewitness accounts placed accountability for the burnings squarely with the military.

In late 2016 and early 2017, Human Rights Watch researchers in Bangladesh interviewed 40 Rohingya refugees who had fled Rakhine State. The villagers described to Human Rights Watch seeing Burmese military personnel burn their homes, drag family members outside and shoot them, and rape women and girls. Human Rights Watch documented 28 incidents of rape and other sexual assault, some of which involved several victims. Burmese army and Border Guard Police personnel took part in rape, gang rape, invasive body searches, and sexual assaults in at least nine villages in Maungdaw district between October 9 and mid-December. Survivors and witnesses, who identified army and border police units by their uniforms, kerchiefs, armbands, and patches, described security forces carrying out attacks in groups, some holding women down or threatening them at gunpoint while others raped them. Many survivors reported being insulted and threatened on an ethnic or religious basis during the assaults. 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 report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also provided detailed accounts of atrocities and concluded that the abuses “seem to have been widespread as well as systematic, indicating the very likely commission of crimes against humanity.”

Massive displacement has been an enduring product of the recent violence and deteriorating conditions. As of January 31, the UN estimates that at least 92,000 have fled their homes—69,000 to neighboring Bangladesh, while 23,000 remain displaced within Maungdaw township.

The humanitarian crisis in northern Rakhine State is worsening each day that access to highly vulnerable and food insecure populations is not fully restored. It is crucial that international stakeholders such as the US government publicly press for the resumption of regular and uninterrupted aid deliveries. The Burmese government has failed to fulfill its promise to allow for the full resumption of aid to impacted areas, deepening the crisis for an already vulnerable population. The World Food Programme (WFP) reported on December 29 that “severe food insecurity appears highly widespread.” On January 13, the delivery of emergency food assistance was permitted to 158 affected villages in Maungdaw township, with some 35,000 reportedly reached by January 30. International staff has not been allowed to conduct distributions. Neither the WFP nor the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has been able to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment across the impacted areas in Maungdaw, and thus can only estimate the number of people currently in need of humanitarian assistance.

The Burmese government has failed to adequately or effectively investigate abuses against the Rohingya, and has not acted on recommendations to seek UN assistance for an investigation into the violence. It established various committees to investigate the situation in Rakhine State, but the investigations have consistently lacked independence and credibility. The government’s national investigation commission has announced that the military clearance operations were conducted “lawfully,” denied all rape allegations, and rejected evidence of serious abuses and religious persecution.

Burma’s government should immediately allow unfettered humanitarian access to all parts of northern Rakhine State as the United Nations and others have urged, in order to reach people without adequate access to food, shelter, health care, and other necessities. The US government and others with influence in Burma should press the military and civilian authorities to urgently end abuses and grant access to the area.

In light of the Burmese government’s failure to carry out credible investigations of its own, it is clear that the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is currently in session, should create an independent, international investigation body to look into recent abuses. Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, has called for the establishment of a commission of inquiry at the session.

The US government should work with the European Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and others to support a Human Rights Council resolution creating an independent, international fact-finding mission to investigate abuses in Rakhine State, and press the Burmese authorities to cooperate with the probe and provide investigators access to key areas. The US government, which has contributed significant development aid to Burma throughout its democratic transition, should signal that unchecked abuses of the Rohingya will impair the growing US-Burma relationship.

Beyond addressing immediate human rights and humanitarian concerns, the US government should also call on Burma’s union and state governments to cease persecution of the Rohingya population. The 1.2 million Rohingya in Burma have long been targets of government discrimination, facilitated by their effective denial of citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law, which should be amended to meet international standards or repealed. The Rohingya have faced enduring rights abuses, including restrictions on movement; limitations on access to health care, livelihood, shelter, and education; arbitrary arrests and detention; and forced labor. Travel is severely constrained by authorization requirements, security checkpoints, curfews, and strict control of IDP camp access. Such barriers compound the health crisis caused by poor living conditions, severe overcrowding, and limited health facilities. The extension and long-term maintenance of curfew orders in northern townships such as Maungdaw and Buthidaung are also a matter of significant concern, and should be rescinded.

Written Testimony of John Sifton, Asia Advocacy Director

To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the UN Human Rights Council

Excellency,

We write on behalf of Human Rights Watch to urge you to support a strong item 4 resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar at the upcoming 34th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, renewing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, engaging with the reform benchmarks requested of the Special Rapporteur by HRC resolution 31/24, and establishing an independent, international investigation into alleged violations and abuses in Rakhine State.

This resolution is necessary in light of the serious human rights crisis faced by ethnic Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine State; international human rights and humanitarian law violations in Kachin and Shan States; increasing numbers of political prisoners as the result of the prosecution of critics of the government and peaceful protesters; and other serious rights violations.

We urge the Human Rights Council to establish an independent, international investigation into alleged abuses perpetrated in Rakhine State following the October 9, 2016 attacks by militants on state security forces. Human Rights Watch has documented widespread and serious abuses against Rohingya civilians by the security forces, including extrajudicial killings, systematic rape and other sexual violence, and the burning of numerous Rohingya villages.

The need for an international investigation is clear in light of the government’s continued failure to carry out credible investigations of its own. On December 1, the government announced the creation of a committee to investigate the situation in Rakhine State and to report by January 31, 2017. However, the committee’s composition and mandate raised serious doubts that it would conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into alleged abuses. The committee’s interim report, released on January 3, dismissed allegations of rape, rejected evidence of serious abuses and religious persecution, and said there were no cases of malnutrition—contrary to the findings of the UN, Human Rights Watch, and others. On January 31, a statement issued by the Myanmar President’s Office said the committee had requested more time before submitting its final report. No new deadline has been set. On February 6, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide said that the scale of violence against the Rohingya community reflected “a level of dehumanization and cruelty that is revolting and unacceptable,” and underlined that the government-appointed committee is “not a credible option” to carry out investigations.

At a minimum, the HRC resolution should:

1. Renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar under item 4 for a further period of one year;

2. Establish an independent, international investigation into allegations of human rights violations in Rakhine State, including reports of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, rape and other sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, burning and destruction of houses, forced displacement, and other serious violations;

3. Call on Myanmar authorities to:

Cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur and members of the international investigation, authorize them to conduct visits to the country, and provide them with unfettered access to all areas of the country necessary to carry out their mandate;
Cooperate fully with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, including by keeping its 2012 commitment “to extend an invitation to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish an office in Myanmar.” The office should have a full protection, promotion, and technical assistance mandate;
Immediately cease abusive tactics by the security forces, especially in northern Rakhine State during “clearance operations” and in Shan and Kachin States;
Immediately allow unfettered access by humanitarian organizations to provide assistance to all areas in need in Myanmar, in particular northern Rakhine State, and to all areas of Shan and Kachin states;
End restrictions on access to humanitarian assessment teams, journalists, and independent human rights observers in all areas of Myanmar, in particular Rakhine, Shan and Kachin States;
End the persecution of the Rohingya, including by amending the discriminatory provisions of the 1982 Citizenship Law;
End restrictions on freedom of movement that severely impact the rights to health care and livelihood of Rohingya in Rakhine State and facilitate the return of the 120,000 still-displaced persons from the 2012 violence that amounted to ethnic cleansing;
Repeal the four discriminatory, anti-Muslim race and religion laws;
Release all political prisoners;
End the use of criminal law, such as section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Act and sections 141-147 and 505 of the Penal Code, to prosecute and imprison individuals for peaceful speech and assembly;
Repeal or amend other laws, as appropriate, to conform to international standards for the protection of the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and other fundamental rights;
Reform the prisons so that the treatment of detainees and prisoners conform with international standards; and
Continue to take credible steps to address the harmful human rights and development impacts of widespread land confiscations under the previous military governments.

4. Engage with the benchmarks report requested of the Special Rapporteur by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 31/24, and request that the Special Rapporteur work with the government to develop an implementation plan to meet the reform benchmarks.

The annex to this letter provides more information on Human Rights Watch’s research findings and our key human rights concerns.

Thank you for your consideration. We stand ready to answer any questions and look forward to your support at the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council in order to safeguard the rights of all people in Myanmar and support progress toward meaningful human rights reform.

Annex: Key Human Rights Concerns in Myanmar

The following is a short summary of key human rights concerns in Myanmar. It is not exhaustive and the omission of any issue does not mean that Human Rights Watch does not think it is important.

Abuses Against Rohingya

The United Nations, Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations, and the media have reported on widespread and serious abuses against Rohingya by government security forces throughout northern Rakhine State. Human Rights Watch has documented burnings of numerous Rohingya villages, extrajudicial killings, and systematic rape and other sexual violence. Because northern Rakhine State remains closed to independent journalists and human rights investigators, the full extent of the abuses is unknown.

Since the current spate of violence, which erupted after Rohingya militants attacked Border Guard Police posts in early October 2016, killing nine security personnel, satellite imagery analyzed by Human Rights Watch has identified at least 1,500 buildings that were destroyed in Maungdaw township between October and November last year. The burn scars were consistent with arson attacks, while the pattern of destruction strongly suggested that the buildings were destroyed as part of a military operation. Eyewitness accounts have placed accountability for the burnings squarely with the military.

Villagers described to Human Rights Watch seeing Myanmar military personnel burn their homes one by one, drag family members from their homes and shoot them, and rape women and girls. A number of women interviewed by Human Rights Watch described being the victim of gang rapes by members of the military.

The humanitarian crisis in northern Rakhine State deepens each day that access to highly vulnerable and food insecure populations is not fully restored. It is crucial that the Human Rights Council publicly press for the resumption of regular and uninterrupted aid deliveries. While the Myanmar government repeatedly gave its assurances that it would allow for the full resumption of aid to impacted areas, aid has only trickled in, deepening the crisis for an already vulnerable population. The World Food Programme (WFP) reported on December 29 that “severe food insecurity appears highly widespread.” On January 13, 2017, the delivery of emergency food assistance was permitted to 158 affected villages in northern Maungdaw, with some 35,000 reportedly reached by January 30. International staff has not been allowed to conduct distributions. Neither the WFP nor the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has been able to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment across the impacted areas in northern Maungdaw, and thus can only estimate the number of people currently in need of humanitarian assistance.

Massive displacement has been an enduring product of the recent violence and deteriorating conditions. As of January 31, the UN estimates that at least 92,000 have fled their homes. More than 23,000 (over 12,300 women and girls) remain displaced within northern Maungdaw township. Another 69,000 have fled to neighboring Bangladesh.

Beyond addressing immediate human rights and humanitarian concerns, it is important that the HRC resolution call on the union and state governments to cease persecution of the Rohingya population. The 1.2 million Rohingya in Myanmar have long been targets of government discrimination, which has been facilitated by their effective denial of citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law. This law should be amended to meet international standards or repealed. The extension and long-term maintenance of curfew orders in northern townships such as Maungdaw and Buthidaung are also a matter of significant concern, and should be rescinded. Restrictions on freedom of movement severely limits rights to livelihood and health, while access to formal education has historically been restricted.

Human rights and humanitarian concerns for the more than 120,000 persons still displaced and in camps after the ethnic cleansing that took place in 2012 should also be addressed. There are nearly 100,000 displaced persons living in squalid conditions within camps within Sittwe alone that have seen little improvement in their lives over the past four years. Continued restrictions on movement prevent people from gaining access to livelihood opportunities, making them dependent on humanitarian aid.

Without resolving these core issues, the rights of the Rohingya population will continue to be violated—it is not enough for the government to simply cease its current abusive tactics.

Situation in Shan and Kachin States

Fighting between the Myanmar military and various ethnic armed groups has intensified in Kachin and Shan States over the past several months, placing tens of thousands at risk and heightening the vulnerability of thousands of civilians. Nearly 100,000 people face continued and successive displacement and systematic blockages of humanitarian aid by the Myanmar government.

Heavy fighting between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has reached alarming levels, resulting in the new displacement of more than 7,000 people. Sustained military offensives by the Myanmar military have resulted in numerous casualties. On December 17, 2016, Myanmar army forces captured a key stronghold of the KIA on Gidon mountain in Kachin State. Government airstrikes and shelling were confirmed to have hit close to several camps for internally displaced people near the KIA headquarters of Laiza, causing damage to shelters and forcing the evacuation of more than 400 people. As military offensives continue, thousands more are at risk.

On November 20, armed groups comprising the Northern Alliance—the KIA, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and Arakan Army (AA)—carried out attacks against the police, firing unguided rockets into civilian areas near the Myanmar-China border town of Muse and other locations on the main highway. The Myanmar government said that 10 civilians died in the attacks, but it could not be confirmed. The alliance also seized the town of Mong Ko on the Chinese border for several days before being driven out in early December by airstrikes from helicopter gunships, jets, and heavy artillery.

Fighting in northern Shan State has steadily increased since 2009, particularly in Kyaukme, Hsipaw, and Namtu townships. It has involved various ethnic armed groups that have fought each other, the military, and pro-government militias. The forces have vied over territory as well as the drug trade and its various revenue-raising enterprises. As a result of the fighting, villagers have been displaced for weeks or months before returning to their homes; in some cases, families have been displaced several times over the past year. Police officials in Muse, Northern Shan State, estimated that there were 170 clashes between November 20 and December 20, 2016, alone.

For many years, Kachin and Shan civil society organizations have documented unlawful killings, torture, rape, forced labor, and other abuses committed by Myanmar military forces against civilians in Shan and Kachin States. In 2012, Human Rights Watch documented how army soldiers attacked Kachin villages, razed homes, pillaged properties, and forced the displacement of tens of thousands of people. In 2014, Fortify Rights documented the systematic use of torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of more than 60 civilians by government forces during fighting in northern Myanmar from June 2011 to April 2014.

On January 20, 2015, the bodies of two female teachers with the Kachin Baptist Convention—Maran Lu Ra, 19, and Tangbau Khawn Nan Tsin, 20—were discovered in a room they shared in Kaungkha village, northern Shan State. The Myanmar military subsequently threatened legal action against anyone alleging that the military was involved in the killings. A report issued by the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand and Legal Aid Network in January 2016 contended the women’s bodies showed signs of torture and sexual violence, implicating the army’s 503rd Light Infantry Regiment in the killings. No one is known to have been arrested or prosecuted for the killings.

OCHA has reported that nearly 11,000 people have been internally displaced by the recent fighting in northern Shan State. About 100,000 people remain displaced by the conflicts in Kachin and northern Shan States since heavy fighting began in 2011. Many small settlements for internally displaced people are in areas of active conflict, increasing their vulnerability. Since May 2016, aid organizations have reported increased restrictions by military authorities on movement and access to displaced populations in Kachin and northern Shan States. OCHA recently said that aid access is worse now that it has been in the last several years. On January 25, 2017, twenty-two local and international aid and development agencies issued a statement urging the “removal of all impediments and restrictions, formal or informal, to the movement of humanitarian aid including personnel, goods, and services to ensure timely response to humanitarian needs.”

Continued Criminalization of Peaceful Expression

The authorities in Myanmar continue to use broad and vaguely worded laws to prosecute and imprison individuals for peaceful expression. Prosecutions for “criminal defamation” against those who criticize or “insult” the military or the government have soared since the current government took office. More than 40 such cases have been filed during the past year under section 66(d) of the 2013 Telecommunications Act, which criminalizes defamation on the Internet with a penalty of up to three years in prison. Those facing charges under the law are not entitled to bail, and many are detained for months pending trial.

In recent months, one man was sentenced to nine months in prison for calling President Htin Kyaw an “idiot” and “crazy,” while another was sentenced to two years in prison for posting digitally altered images of the military’s commander-in-chief on social media. Other pending cases include prosecutions for criticizing the military’s actions against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, criticizing Aung San Suu Kyi, and “slandering” a municipal official. On January 25, 2017, nine high school and university students were charged with criminally defaming the military in a play that satirically criticized those who support the ongoing conflict between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups.

Myanmar’s colonial-era Penal Code also continues to be used to prosecute peaceful expression. Authorities have charged activist Khine Nyo Htun with making statements that could “alarm” the public and “incitement,” in violation of sections 505(b) and 505(c) of the Penal Code, for statements he allegedly made accusing the military of committing war crimes in Rakhine State. Khine Nyo Htun, who has been denied bail since his arrest in July 2016, faces up to two years in prison on each charge. Veteran activist Htin Kyaw has been charged with making a statement “that may impede a member of the Tatmadaw [army] in the execution of their duty,” in violation of section 505(a) of the Penal Code for statements criticizing the military.

Those exercising their right to peaceful assembly also continue to be arrested and prosecuted. In May 2016, the police arrested more than 70 factory workers who were marching from Sagaing to Naypyidaw to protest working conditions. Fifty-one were charged with unlawful assembly, riot, and making statements that could alarm the public under sections 143, 147, and 505(b) of the Penal Code. While some were later released, fifteen workers were sentenced to prison, and others are still awaiting trial.

Race and Religion Laws

In 2015, the Buddhist-monk-led Association for the Protection of Race and Religion, known as Ma Ba Tha, successfully urged the government to draft four so-called race and religion protection laws: the Population Control Law, the Buddhist Women’s Special Marriage Law, the Religious Conversion Law, and the Monogamy Law, all of which were subsequently enacted.

The four laws are discriminatory and violate religious freedom by, for example, creating special rules for Buddhist women who marry—or seek to marry—non-Buddhist men; introducing vaguely defined acts against Buddhism as grounds for divorce, forfeiture of child custody and matrimonial property, and potential criminal penalties; and empowering authorities to limit the number of children that members of designated groups can have. The religious conversion law enables the state to regulate religious profession and conversion, a wholly unjustified state interference in the right to freedom of conscience and religion. These laws imperil religious freedom of all religious minorities in the country and need to be repealed.

Original here.

Rohingya refugees look on inside their house at Balukhali Makeshift Refugee Camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, February 8, 2017. © Reuters/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

By Human Rights Watch

February 9, 2017

Provide Protection, Not Isolation on Flooded Island

New York – The Bangladeshi government should immediately drop its plan to transfer Rohingya refugees to an uninhabited, undeveloped coastal island, Human Rights Watch said today. Relocating the refugees from the Cox’s Bazar area to Thengar Char island would deprive them of their rights to freedom of movement, livelihood, food and education, in violation of Bangladesh’s obligations under international human rights law.

Between 300,000 and 500,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees, most of them unregistered by the authorities, are in Bangladesh after fleeing persecution in Burma dating back to the 1990s. Since October 2016, nearly 69,000 Rohingya from Rakhine State in Burma have entered Bangladesh to escape attacks by Burmese security forces, including unlawful killings, sexual violence and wholesale destruction of villages.

“The Bangladesh government is making the ridiculous claim that relocating Rohingya refugees to an island with absolutely no facilities that is deluged at high tide and submerged during the monsoon season will improve their living conditions,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “This proposal is both cruel and unworkable and should be abandoned.”

The plan to move long-term refugees to Thengar Char was first suggested in 2015, but was shelved after widespread condemnation.

A 2015 letter from the Bangladeshi government on the appropriate location to relocate the refugees stated that it must “minimize conflicts between Bangladeshis and Rohingya.” Thengar Chor was apparently chosen because of its distance from inhabited areas – it is 30 kilometers from the populated Hatiya island and a long journey from existing Rohingya camps.

The government revived the plan in late January 2017 following the new influx of Rohingya refugees. Officials contended that the new arrivals pose a law and order and a public health problem, but have produced no evidence to support this claim. In addition, the government has issued warnings against new arrivals mixing with the general population and established committees to increase security around the camps to prevent refugees from exiting the camps or “intermingling” with Bangladeshi citizens.

A cabinet order, passed on January 26, 2017, is unclear as to whether all Rohingya in Bangladesh would be transferred or only new arrivals. However, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohammad Shahriar Alom has said that, “The Rohingya will live [in Thengar Char] temporarily and our desire is that the Myanmar [Burma] government will take them back as soon as possible.”

Journalists who have visited Thengar Char island, which emerged from river silt deposited in the Bay of Bengal just a decade ago, describe it as empty and featureless, subject to cyclones and flooding. During monsoon season, the island is submerged; anyone living on the island will have to be evacuated, and any infrastructure would be damaged. The government announced that it will build embankments around the island to stave off the constant flooding, but similar islands along the coast have long faced flooding and frequent evacuations despite government interventions. One government official from the area, speaking anonymously to the BBC, said that sending people to live there was “a terrible idea,” noting that the island is "only accessible during winter and is a haven for pirates."

Aid agencies, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which administers the refugee camps, expressed alarm over the revival of this plan, and said that any relocation of the refugees to Thengar Char must be voluntary, and be done through a consultative process after a feasibility study has been completed.

Human Rights Watch regards Rohingya people who flee from Burma to Bangladesh to be prima facie refugees for four reasons. First, the Burmese government has effectively denied its Rohingya minority citizenship, failing to protect them and itself perpetrating rampant and systemic violation of their human rights, including restrictions on movement; limitations on access to health care, livelihood, shelter, and education; arbitrary arrests and detention; and forced labor. Second, because of Burma’s discriminatory citizenship policies, it also refuses to cooperate in the repatriation of Rohingya, itself a denial of the human right of any person to return to their country, and the basis for a sur place claim to refugee status. Third, Bangladesh is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and has neither registered Rohingya as refugees since the early 1990s, nor allowed them to lodge asylum claims, thereby abdicating its responsibility to determine their status. Finally, a person does not become a refugee because of recognition, but is recognized because they meet the refugee definition, so refugees in Bangladesh do not forfeit their rights as refugees simply because the authorities have not recognized their status.

“The Bangladeshi government needs to treat the persecuted Rohingya humanely, but they shouldn’t have to go it alone,” Adams said. “Instead of dumping Rohingya on a flooded island, the government should be seeking immediate donor support to improve existing conditions for the refugees.”

Rohingya Muslims are stopped at a check post in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on November 21, 2016.
© 2016 Reuters/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

By Human Rights Watch

February 6, 2017

New Eyewitness Accounts Show Systematic Attacks Based on Ethnicity, Religion

New York – Burmese government forces committed rape and other sexual violence against ethnic Rohingya women and girls as young as 13 during security operations in northern Rakhine State in late 2016, Human Rights Watch said today. The Burmese government should urgently endorse an independent, international investigation into alleged abuses in northern Rakhine State, including into possible systematic rape against Rohingya women and girls.

Burmese army and Border Guard Police personnel took part in rape, gang rape, invasive body searches, and sexual assaults in at least nine villages in Maungdaw district between October 9 and mid-December. Survivors and witnesses, who identified army and border police units by their uniforms, kerchiefs, armbands, and patches, described security forces carrying out attacks in groups, some holding women down or threatening them at gunpoint while others raped them. Many survivors reported being insulted and threatened on an ethnic or religious basis during the assaults.

“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 Priyanka Motaparthy, senior emergencies researcher. “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.”

Between December 2016 and January 2017, Human Rights Watch researchers in Bangladesh interviewed 18 women, of whom 11 had survived sexual assault, as well as 10 men. Seventeen men and women, including some women who survived assaults, witnessed sexual violence, including against their wives, sisters, or daughters. Altogether Human Rights Watch documented 28 incidents of rape and other sexual assault. Some incidents involved several victims. A report released by the United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (OHCHR) on February 3 found that more than half of the 101 women UN investigators interviewed said they were raped or suffered other forms of sexual violence. The report, based on a total of 204 interviews, concluded that attacks including rape and other sexual violence “seem[ed] to have been widespread as well as systematic, indicating the very likely commission of crimes against humanity.”

After attacks by Rohingya militants on border police posts on October 9, 2016, the Burmese military undertook a series of “clearance operations” in northern Rakhine State. Security forces summarily executed men, women, and children; looted property; and burned down at least 1,500 homes and other buildings. More than 69,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh, while another 23,000 have become internally displaced in Maungdaw district.

Several women described how soldiers surrounded their villages or homes, then gathered the villagers in an outdoor area, separating men from women, and detained them for up to several hours. Soldiers often shot villagers, and raped and gang raped women and girls. “Ayesha,” a Rohingya woman in her 20s, told Human Rights Watch: “They gathered all the women and started beating us with bamboo sticks and kicking us with their boots. After beating us, the military took [me and] 15 women about my age and separated us.… [The soldiers] raped me one by one, tearing my clothes.”

During raids on homes, security forces frequently beat or killed family members and raped the women. “Noor,” in her 40s, said that 20 soldiers stormed her home and grabbed her and her husband: “They took me in the yard of the home. Another two put a rifle to my head, tore off my clothes, and raped me.… They slaughtered [my husband] in front of me with a machete. Then three more men raped me.… After some time, I had severe bleeding. I had severe pain in my lower abdomen and pain in my whole body.”

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. Many women told Human Rights Watch that soldiers threatened or insulted them with language focused on their status as Rohingya Muslims, calling them “you Bengali bitch” or “you Muslim bitch” while beating or raping them. “We will kill you because you are Muslim,” one woman said soldiers threatened. Other women said that security forces asked if they were “harboring terrorists,” then proceeded to beat and rape them when they said no. A woman in her 20s who said soldiers attempted to rape her in her home, added that they told her, “You are just raising your kids to kill us, so we will kill your kids.”

Burmese authorities have taken no evident steps to seriously investigate allegations of sexual violence or other abuses reported by nongovernmental organizations, including Human Rights Watch. A national-level investigation commission on the situation in Maungdaw district headed by the first vice president and comprised of current and former government officials released an interim report on January 3, 2017. The commission claims to have addressed rape allegations and “interviewed local villagers and women using various methods … [but found] insufficient evidence to take legal action up to this date.” Also contrary to the findings of human rights groups, the commission rejected reports of serious abuses and religious persecution, and said there were no cases of malnutrition.

On December 26, 2016, the Information Committee of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi issued a press release addressing “the rumours that some women were raped during the area clearance operations of security forces following the violent attacks in Maungtaw Township.” Accompanied by an image stating “Fake Rape,” the release claimed that the investigation commission had interviewed two women who gave conflicting testimony as to whether they had been raped, and that village leaders later refuted their accounts. However, video footage of the commission’s visit shows an interviewer asking one of the women about violence against other women she witnessed, not her personal experience. Nothing in her video testimony suggests she lied in her interview. The interview appears confrontational, and out of keeping with accepted guidelines on how to conduct interviews with victims of sexual violence. The problematic circumstances under which authorities conducted these interviews, as well as the risks to the women, including when authorities exposed their names and identities to the media, raise serious doubts about the credibility of the Information Committee’s press release.

“The government should stop contesting these rape allegations and instead provide survivors with access to necessary support, health care, and other services,” Motaparthy said.

Rohingya victims of sexual assault face limited access to emergency health care including to prevent unwanted pregnancy from rape and infection with HIV, and to treat other sexually transmitted infections. Though the Burmese government has permitted some aid to go through to northern Rakhine State, it continues to obstruct international assistance from reaching the civilian population. It is unknown how many rape survivors remain in the area and whether they have received appropriate health care. None of the women Human Rights Watch interviewed had access to medical facilities until they reached Bangladesh. Many reported that in Bangladesh, they lacked information about services available, or could not arrange child care or pay transportation costs to clinics.

“The government’s failure to investigate rape and other crimes against the Rohingya should make it clear to Burma’s friends and donors that an independent, international inquiry is desperately needed to get to the bottom of these appalling abuses,” Motaparthy said.

Rape and Sexual Assault Against Rohingya Women and Girls in Northern Rakhine State

The following incidents took place between October 9 and mid-December 2016. Pseudonyms are used to protect those interviewed, as well as to protect their relatives who remain in Burma from possible government reprisals.

Cases of Rape and Gang Rape

Human Rights Watch interviewed nine Rohingya women who said that Burmese security force members had raped or gang raped them during attacks on their villages in Rakhine State. Several women described how security forces forcibly entered their homes, looted their belongings, and subjected women to invasive body searches before raping one or more women or girls in the family. Fatima, a Rohingya woman in her 20s, described an assault by soldiers against her and her young children in Kyet Yoe Pyin village in mid-November. She said:

Four soldiers attacked and suddenly entered the house. One grabbed the children, two of them grabbed each of my arms.… They were armed with rifles, pistols, small and long knives, and some were wearing ammunition belts.

My eldest [5-year-old] daughter screamed and said, “Please leave us.” … So they killed her … with a machete. They slaughtered her in front of me.

When they killed her, I became very upset. [The soldiers] said many things to me that I could not understand and put a gun to my head.… They kicked me in my hip and back, and beat me on the head with a wooden stick.

[Then] one of the soldiers tore off my clothes. Two soldiers raped me, one by one. They were about 30 to 35 years old. They touched too many places in a very painful way – they touched my chest, they touched my vaginal area. They did it quickly, they only opened their zippers – they didn’t take their pants off. When another soldier tried to rape me, I resisted. Then they burned my leg with plastic, they put it out on my leg.

Noor, in her 40s, said that about 20 soldiers stormed her home in the border town of Shein Kar Li in early December, and grabbed her and her husband:

Two of them held my arms tightly. I couldn’t move. They took me in the yard of the home. Another two put a rifle to my head, tore off my clothes, and raped me.… While they held me, my husband was also held. They slaughtered him in front of me with a machete. Then three more men raped me. I began bleeding severely. After some time, I didn’t know what was happening, I fell unconscious.… I regained consciousness the next morning. I took my gold jewelry, went to the nearby ghat [stairs leading to the river], and gave it to the boatman [so that I could cross to Bangladesh]. I walked there very slowly, as I was in pain. I had severe pain in my lower abdomen and pain in my whole body.

Witnesses also described security forces gathering women together in public areas – in paddy fields or school courtyards – and detaining them before selecting some women to rape. Ayesha, a woman in her 20s from Pyaung Pyit village, said:

They gathered all the women and started beating us with bamboo sticks and kicking us with their boots. In total they beat about 100 to 150 women, young boys, and girls. After beating us, the military took me and 15 women about my age and separated us [from the group].

They took us to a nearby school, kept us in the burning sun, standing in the field in front. They made us turn to face the sun. Then three soldiers took me to a nearby pond.

When they prepared to rape me, they opened their pants. All I could notice was their underwear. When one finished raping me, I resisted with my leg, and one of them punched me in the eye.… One of them kicked my knee and I got hurt. They also bit my face and scratched me with their nails.

I started bleeding. When I started severely bleeding from my genital area and leg, they left me. I became senseless. When I came to, I found my clothes torn around me. I found my skirt and wrapped my body in that.

Ayesha said that her abdomen and vaginal area had become red and swollen, and that she remained in pain for at least a week after the attack.

One woman in her 30s from Kyet Yoe Pyin village said that four soldiers raped her, then one raped her again by inserting the barrel of his rifle into her vagina.

Rape of Girls

Five people told Human Rights Watch they saw security forces raping or sexually assaulting girls as young as 13, or saw girls taken away, heard their screams, and learned soon afterward that they had been raped. Some of these victims were their family members.

Sayeda, a woman in her 40s from Kyet Yoe Pyin village, said that in mid-November soldiers gang raped her 16-year-old daughter in front of her, then burned her house:

After evening prayer time, the military came and surrounded our house, then entered. Three soldiers grabbed me and my [seven] daughters, and took us to the paddy field. They beat us with their rifles.

On the spot in front of me, four military raped [my eldest daughter]. Then one soldier took her to another place. When the soldiers attacked her, I grabbed my other daughters and ran. We ran into the bushes. Other people later told me she died. I didn’t see her body.

Amina, a woman in her 20s from Hpar Wut Chaung village, said that soldiers raped and killed her 13-year-old sister during a raid on their home in early December, as well as killing five other siblings. She said:

When they entered [our house], our brothers were sleeping on the veranda, and we [five sisters] were in the bed. They shot and killed my [brothers] and held the girls so they couldn’t move.

They instantly shot my younger sister in the head. While [another sister was] running away, they shot [her too].

They took my other [13-year-old] sister to another room and raped her there. We heard [her screaming]. She screamed, “Someone save me! He’s trying to take my clothes off!” What I saw from outside is that 10 more people entered that room with my sister.

Amina and her father managed to escape and fled to a neighboring village. There, her next-door neighbor who also fled told her that she had found Amina’s sister dead, without any clothes on.

Sexual Assault

Several women told Human Rights Watch that security forces subjected them to invasive body searches during village raids, either in their homes or while villagers were gathered in open fields. Soldiers put their hands underneath women’s clothes and painfully pressed their breasts and genital areas – searches that constitute sexual assault. They beat or slapped some women, and threatened them with machetes and guns. They also snatched gold jewelry women wore, and took money they kept in their blouses. Some women said they were searched twice.

Taslima, a woman in her mid-20s from Dar Gyi Zar village, said that in early November, after she fled to the nearby village of Yae Twin Kyun, soldiers came to the house where she was staying and dragged her and other women from the village out into the yard:

When [the military] entered the house, one soldier searched my body for gold and jewelry, and asked for money. When I didn’t give it to them, soldiers grabbed me and searched my body. They searched under my clothes … they pressed my chest very badly. They found where I hid my money in my chest. They also touched my hips and sensitive area [genital area].

She said they then dragged her outside: “There were about 10 to 12 women standing in the yard, around the same age as me. They touched us all, very bad touches. They used [their rifles] and machetes to threaten us.”

Sara, from Sin Thae Pyin village, said that in late November about 15 soldiers entered her home where she was with her mother-in-law and her 15-year-old niece. She said that they first searched the cupboards but, finding no valuables, they then searched the women’s bodies:

When they searched our bodies, a soldier was searching my chest, he put his hands inside my clothes. So I started to cry. When I started to cry, they hit us. They slapped me and my mother-in-law, and my sister-in-law’s elder daughter. They took my clothes off and attempted to rape me, but I screamed very loudly, so they left.

Several women said that soldiers subjected them to intrusive body searches or other non-consensual touching. Several men and women described witnessing these searches.

Access to Care and Services

Survivors of sexual assault need access to emergency and long-term medical services, legal assistance, and social support to address injuries caused by the assault; to prevent pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections; and to collect evidence to support prosecution of perpetrators.

International organizations including the International Organization for Migration and Médecins Sans Frontières maintain or fund clinics in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh, where the women interviewed by Human Rights Watch have fled. These facilities can provide essential and life-saving care, other medical treatment, and psychological counseling to sexual assault survivors. Survivors may also be referred to Bangladeshi government hospitals for more serious or long-term care.

However, while several women interviewed said they had received care at these facilities in Bangladesh, including psychological support, only one had visited medical facilities within 24 hours of being assaulted. The boatman who transported her from Burma to Bangladesh referred her to a clinic after noting the severity of her injuries, and she went there directly after crossing the border. The remaining women sought care several days after they were assaulted, after they had moved within Burma seeking safety, or after they had found a place to stay and basic necessities in Bangladesh. This placed them beyond the window during which providers can effectively administer emergency contraception (120 hours) and post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV (72 hours), as recommended by the World Health Organization. One woman said villagers in Burma provided her with contraceptive medication, while others took only paracetamol, a mild painkiller, after they were assaulted.

A lack of knowledge about services and how to access them has stopped women from getting care, even in Bangladesh. Many other women said they did not seek medical care, including at government or humanitarian-supported facilities in Bangladesh where they could receive treatment for free, because they believed incorrectly that they would have to pay for services, or because they did not know they could access them. Some women also cited financial difficulties paying for transport to facilities, or said that they had no one to watch their children while they visited. None of the women Human Rights Watch interviewed had returned to medical facilities for follow-up visits, though some said they still experienced pain or they had not completed a course of medication and needed prescription refills.

Fatima said, “Now I have urine problems. When I was at [the clinic] they gave me medicine but I didn’t properly recover my [normal urine flow].… After that I didn’t go back … because I was worried about paying for medicine.” Mumtaz said, “I still feel pain in my shoulder and chest [where they beat me] … also in my lower abdomen and back. Now my medicine is finished but I have no money to consult with the doctor, and [I can’t] leave my child home alone.”

Those interviewed also said they did not return for follow-up psychological counseling, even when they continued to experience nightmares about violent incidents or other signs of trauma. Many of the women interviewed said they did not know what counseling was. One woman who received an initial counseling session said she would not return because she felt too overwhelmed by the hardships she faced, and did not feel up to returning. “I won’t visit again. I feel weak, too tired to go,” she said.

Most of the women interviewed said they had come to Bangladesh only with their children, or with other female family members, and struggled to provide for themselves and their children. Their husbands or other male family members had either been killed by the Burmese military or had been separated from them during the violence. Many women no longer knew their husbands’ whereabouts or if they were still alive. Several interviewees who fled with only their children struggled to meet their basic food and shelter needs. They said they survived through limited charity distributions, by begging, or by sending a young child to the local bazaar to beg.

Concerned governments and international agencies should continue to support medical and psychosocial care for survivors of sexual violence in Burma, including those who have fled to Bangladesh. More efforts are also needed to encourage and educate those who may need services about how they can access them.

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