My dear friend Thitinan,

​Re: ​Myanmar's moves against Rohingya a get-out campaign, not genocide

​

By Ro Mayyu Ali

Al Jazeera

October 14, 2017

Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh - I was born in the same year you were awarded your coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

It was one of the greatest honours to be bestowed upon someone from our country.

Everyone in Maungdaw, the area in Rakhine State where I am from, was filled with joy, and rejoiced your award as if it were their own.

For the first time since independence, we - the Rohingya - felt as though we were a part of this country. We were proud to call ourselves Myanmarese.

After suffering years of abuse at the hands of the military junta, your peace prize inspired us, a people who have suffered decades of oppression.

Growing up, my grandfather always spoke highly of you. He would choose the biggest goats and cows to slaughter when members of your party, the National League for Democracy, would visit. He would graciously welcome them.

My father and my beloved grandpa wanted me to follow the path you had chosen, and my mother was drawn to you by your powerful voice and activism.

In 2010, when you were finally released by the military from house arrest, we rejoiced. But seven years on, we, the Rohingya, remain victims of a brutal and genocidal state. This time, at your hands.

Since your general election victory in 2015, you pushed out Muslim representatives from your party. It was the first sign of your political cowardice.

A few months later, your administration launched "clearance operations" in northern Rakhine State. During those months, countless civilians were killed and women were gang-raped.

Despite widespread international condemnation, you denied the crimes.

You even refused to refer to us as "Rohingya", an accurate term that represents the ethnicity of my people - a people who have been living in Rakhine for centuries.

Since the start of the violence on August 25, more than 500,000 Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh.

Over 1,000 Rohingya villagers have been killed, 15,000 homes have been burned down, and those that have remained are trapped in fear and desperation.

On September 1, my parents and I were forced to leave our home.

After three days and two nights, we reached Bangladesh after crossing the Naf river on a small rowing boat. We later found shelter at the Kutupalong refugee camp.

I just received information that my home was burned to the ground. While many will say it was the army or vigilantes that burned it down, I feel as if it is you - Aung San Suu Kyi - that is to blame.

Not only did you burn down my home, you also burned my books.

I had always dreamed of becoming an author, studying English at Sittwe University, but as you know, the Rohingya are banned from enrolling or studying there, so I sought inspiration from books and articles.

You burned Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom. You burned Mahatma Gandhi's Autobiography. You burned Leymah Gbowee's Mighty Be Our Power. And you burned your own book, Freedom from Fear.

You are the one who is responsible for setting my hopes and dreams on fire.

And now, as we stand here in Bangladesh as refugees, my father has a question for you: "Why have you never visited the Rohingya, whether in Rakhine State or those forced to Cox's Bazar after everything that has happened?"

Do you even care about our situation?

What hurts most is not that we, the Rohingya, are the world's most persecuted community. What breaks my heart is knowing that we're the most persecuted community in your - Aung San Suu Kyi's - Myanmar.

You've chosen your path, that's clear for everyone to see. Now your name will be synonymous for the millions of Rohingya displaced around the world with the countless tyrants and dictators that have come before you.

Ro Mayyu Ali spoke to Al Jazeera's Faisal Edroos who can be followed on Twitter at @FaisalEdroos

H.E. Emmanuel Macron 

The honourable President of the French Republic 

55, Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré 

75008 Paris, France 

Date: 10 October 2017 

Dear Mr. President, 

We, the undersigned representatives of Rohingya worldwide first like to let you know how grateful we are to the French Republic for rightly termed the attacks on Rohingya minority, who are considered by the UN the most persecuted in the world, as “genocide’. 

In the purpose of the meeting you will hold with Kofi Annan we are bringing to your kind attention the following concerns: 

1. Thousands of Rohingya ethnic minority are fleeing daily (vast majority of them women and children) to join more than 500,000 Rohingyas already at the Bangladesh border because of the constant intimidation, harassment, threatening and otherwise progressive denial of access to food and livelihoods. 

2. Myanmar's criminal deeds are beyond the purview of Mr. Kofi Annan's Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, which, by its own official admission, did not investigate the allegations of Myanmar's egregious and systematic violations of human rights and other international treaties, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) that Myanmar ratified in 1991. 

3. Rohingya worldwide commend Mr. Kofi Annan and his commission's recommendations which include normalizing and re-integrating Rohingyas as a self-identifiable and distinct ethnic community, who have been stripped of its ethnicity, full citizenship and basic rights and freedoms in Myanmar for nearly 4 decades. 

4. However, the Annan Commission’s recommendation that Rohingyas allow themselves to be subjected to the verification process as required by Myanmar's perpetrating hybrid government of NLD-military as a pathway to citizenship is deeply troubling -- in light of the fact that the process imposes forcibly a false group identity, Bengali -- in blatant violation of the UN-recognized group's right to self-identify. 

5. Rohingyas are rightly and completely distrustful of Myanmar government's official narrative concerning the Rohingya refugees that have fled Myanmar since October 2016, and specifically: 

-(i) Minister of the Myanmar State Counsellor Office Kyaw Tint Swe repeatedly emphasized what State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said last month that Myanmar would take back “verified” 

-(ii) Myanmar Vice Senior General Soe Win, the number two leader of the country's military, told the Swiss Ambassador on 3rd October that the "Bengalis" are not entitled to direct full citizenship and hence they have to be subjected to a verification process Two main reasons make us worried about the verification process that could become a persecution instrument depriving the Rohingyas from the fundamental right to citizenship and from any protection: 

Myanmar seized and destroyed, for many years, any proof of documentation and for a large number of Rohingyas did not issue any form of documentation. The Rohingyas lack documents for the verification and the resettlement as their houses and villages, at the same time, were burned down. The Rakhine State government and Rakhine politicians are trying to establish Buddhist villages on those Rohingyas’ villages and lands. Myanmar central government has already claimed state ownership of the Rohingyas’ land within the affected region of Northern Rakhine State and has planned to confine the repatriated refugees in displacement camps like that in Rakhine’s capital Sittwe, which were recently described by New York Times as 21st century concentration camps. 

The Rohingyas, natural born citizens but also an ethnic group recognized by the only parliamentary government of Burma/Myanmar that ruled the country from independence in 1948 to 1962 until military took over will lose their original ethnicity as Rohingya to become Bengali. 

We are sure that you will continue to denounce the blatant violations of international law by a member state in the false pretext of “national defence”, “anti-terrorism”, and that you will not be of those who, by shutting their eyes on the atrocities taking place in Myanmar, erode the trust of 

We the People around the world, in the capacity of the Nations to stop what you have rightly and responsibly qualified as a genocide. 

We thank the French State to consider seriously the long-term concerns of the, terrified and traumatized Rohingyas and their safety, so that any repatriation would be totally accepted to by themselves on a voluntary basis, and not under duress, and with international safeguards that guarantee physical well-being and access to life-sustaining essentials such as food, access to their land on which they earn their living. 

Accept, Excellency, the consideration of our highest esteem. 

Respectfully, 

• The European Rohingya Council 
• Arakan Rohingya National Organization 
• Arakan Rohingya Union 
• Burmese Rohingya Organization UK 
• Burmese Rohingya Community in Denmark 
• Burmese Rohingya Community Ireland 
• Burmese Rohingya Community Netherlands 
• Burmese Rohingya Community Norway 
• Burmese Rohingya Association Japan 
• Burmese Rohingya Community Australia 
• Burmese Rohingya Association in Queensland - Australia (BRAQA) 
• Rohingya Community in Germany 
• Rohingya Community in Switzerland 
• Rohingya Organisation Norway 
• Rohingya Community in Finland 
• Rohingya Community in Italy 
• Rohingya Community in Sweden 
• Rohingya Society Malaysia 
• Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee 
• Rohingya Advocacy Network 
• Japan Rohingya American Society 

Contact:

Dr. Hla Kyaw; chairman@theerc.eu; +31652358202

The letter to French President (in French)

By Habib Siddiqui

Dear Ambassador,

We are witnessing the genocide of Rohingyas of the Rakhine state of Burma and yet doing nothing to stop this crime unfolding in front of us. It is a painful reminder that some 70 years after the UN had issued the universal declaration of human rights, still such lofty goals seem so out of reach to so many of our humanity!

The published news reports from the UN Refugee Agency suggest that some 123,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh from Burma. A much larger number, estimated to be close to half a million have seen their homes and everything burned down by government forces there, aided by local fascist elements within the general Buddhist public and laity. The victims of the latest pogrom, which I continue to say genocidal crimes, are hiding in the forest or living in no-man's land between the two countries. News reports also show the consistency of the allegations made by the fleeing refugees against the Myanmar government forces of having committed serious crimes against humanity. 

Like most concerned human beings of our planet, I wanted to believe that with Ms. Suu Kyi in power things would turn for better inside Burma. Alas, I was so wrong to now see how things have simply become worse for this persecuted and repressed minority with no rights in the land of their birth. It is a sad story. Shame on our generation to let such gruesome crimes go unpunished! I am very saddened to see inaction from the world leaders (minus a few) who seemingly are unconcerned about the genocidal crimes of the Myanmar government and its military.

As the US ambassador to the UN, I am sure you are better informed than most of us about the gravity of the deteriorating situation there and how the heavy handed criminal responses of the Government forces of Burma since 2012 have contributed to the climax we face now. You are also aware that such measures pursued to this day by the Myanmar government can create permanent instability affecting the entire ASEAN and South Asian region and beyond. The government of Burma must be stopped from carrying out evil policies that are harmful to the entire region by threatening peace and security.

The right to live in one's homeland is a fundamental right, which continues to be denied to the persecuted Rohingyas in the Rakhine state, and needs to be addressed by the Burmese government - something that has been reiterated by Mr. Kofi Annan. If Suu Kyi's government fails in this urgent task the international community needs to take the matter to the UN Security Council and find ways to sober the government of Burma. That is the choice that civilized world has in dealing with a rogue government that defies commonly respected international laws. The sooner the better! 

Dear Ambassador, as a fellow US naturalized citizen of South Asian heritage, I would like you to champion the cause of the Rohingya people within the UN to save them from extinction. Without your prompt engagement in the UNSC, I am afraid we may see the end of this most persecuted people in our time. We shall then never be able to excuse ourselves from the guilt and shame of not doing the right thing to stop this 'slow genocide' (to coin Prof. Amartya Sen). Already more than half the Rohingyas of Burma have been forced to live as unwanted refugees outside their motherland. We can't let a rogue state to take advantage of your preoccupation with the North Korean nuclear crisis while it commits crimes against humanity to ethnically cleanse the territory of the last vestiges of a marginalized and persecuted people that trace their origin to the time of the Chandra Dynasty more than a millennium ago.

Please, help the Rohingyas of Burma to survive and live as equals in the 21st century, and surely not as a forgotten people - ignored by the world leaders who had other priorities than to saving the Rohingya people. 

Kind regards,

Habib Siddiqui

Philadelphia, USA

An Open Letter to Mr. Kofi Annan

By Habib Siddiqui

Dear Mr. Annan,

I am very disappointed with your statement, dated August 25, 2017, concerning the latest violence in the Rakhine state of Myanmar. You stated, “I am saddened to hear of the loss of life of members of the security forces. The alleged scale and gravity of these attacks mark a worrying escalation of violence. No cause can justify such brutality and senseless killing. Perpetrators should be held to account.”

From the first sentence of that paragraph, it is not difficult to understand where your sympathy lies. It is, sadly, with the Myanmar government that sponsored your Commission and its criminal perpetrators – the Myanmar security forces and surely not with the Rohingya victims who should have deserved such. You equivocated when it was necessary to take the moral high ground and to call a spade a spade. I am very worried that such mixed messaging will only justify the on-going genocidal crimes against the Rohingyas, much like what happened in Rwanda that you continue to regret for happening under your watch as the UN Chief. 

Has not history taught us all that violence is the last resort of an oppressed community when all pleas and other non-violent means for stopping violence directed against it have been ignored or shut down by the oppressor? And even then, the so-called violence of the oppressed against the much better armed, equipped and financed oppressor is motivated by the single factor: defending or protecting its own community. It would be gross misjudgment to equate their struggle for self-defense with the extermination campaign of the more powerful oppressor. 

I am sorry to observe that you have been misinformed. 

It is an irony that the victims of the genocide - the Rohingyas - are now framed as the ones in the wrong side because of their alleged attacks on Myanmar security forces this past week or back in October of last year. Forgotten in that calculus are decades of genocidal crimes of the successive military regimes since the days of General Ne Win that were to continue full-blown to this very date under Suu Kyi’s government. Overlooked in that context is the mere fact that being denied citizenship simply because of its racial and religious identity more than half the Rohingya population has been forced out of its ancestral land in Arakan (Rakhine state). Ignored also are the facts that Myanmar epitomizes apartheid policy in our time and flouts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by denying such rights to the Rohingya people. As a matter of fact, when it comes to the Rohingya – rightly recognized by the United Nations (that you once led) as the ‘most persecuted people’ in our planet – not even one of the thirty rights (Articles) enshrined in the UDHR is honored by the Apartheid Myanmar. 

I would like to believe that as the Chairperson of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, you know that the Burmese military (a.k.a. Tatmadaw - long known as the Rapist Burmese Army) has been building its troops in Rohingya areas of northern Arakan since August 10, effectively blockading those areas and terrorizing the already marginalized community. Under the name of interrogation, hundreds of Rohingya men and boys were taken away by military from the IDP camps. They were tortured and many were killed while Rohingya women left behind were raped as a weapon of war to ethnically cleanse them. Their homes were torched, too. The UN and Human Rights Watch, amongst many human rights groups, all were asking the Myanmar military to back off but to no avail. 

The latest episodes of atrocities perpetrated by the military resulted in fresh influx of thousands of Rohingyas into Bangladesh. That is despite stepped-up patrols by Bangladeshi border and coast guards, who last week had pushed back a boat carrying 31 Rohingya, including children. The Balukhali camp (in Cox’s Bazar of Bangladesh) alone saw new arrivals of some 3,000 Rohingya refugees in the last few days. And all these happened days before the alleged attack by the Rohingya ‘insurgents’ against Rakhine police. 

As I write this letter, per credible reports, on August 25, in the early AM hours 25 Rohingya villages were bombed by Burmese military reportedly using six gunship helicopters, navy ships and tanks as Rohingyas were sleeping in the middle of the night. It is feared that hundreds of Rohingyas have been slaughtered and more than a thousand homes set on fire on Friday making tens of thousands of Rohingyas homeless because of the latest military action. 

When life on earth has become unbearable and worse than death for the oppressed Rohingya is it difficult to fathom why some would ‘radicalize’ and choose to fight back – and justifiably so – with whatever means available? Now the criminal Burmese military claims that 59 "insurgents" and 12 soldiers were killed after Thursday midnight. They say that "insurgents" were armed with machetes. As you know too well, farmers use machetes, "insurgents" don’t. 

No one would disagree with you that violence is not the solution and that exercising restraint is important to avoid further escalation. However, the ball is in the military’s court and it is they who need to be restrained from harming the Rohingya people. Truly, if our world leaders had the moral fortitude these war criminals would have been tried long time ago in the International Criminal Court for their decades of crimes against humanity - which by no means were limited to the Rohingyas alone but also to other ethnic minorities that have been fighting for their survival. It would be sensible to reflect that for the last 40 plus years Rohingyas have been peacefully asking for the restoration of their citizenship and other rights whereas the other ethnic groups, non-Bamar Buddhists and Christian, in Myanmar are fighting the government with guns.

Suu Kyi and her brutal military have been too cunning for too long to deflect international pressure. Bluntly put, the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State that you chaired was one such window-dressing attempt by the Myanmar government to ease pressures from the international community and humanize the hideous face of Myanmarism that has contributed to so much human suffering: the destruction of tens of thousands of homes, businesses, schools and mosques, the encampment of some 140,000 Rohingyas in the concentration-like IDP camps, widespread rape of women, let alone the forced exodus of nearly 87,000 to neighboring Bangladesh, since 2012 alone. [According to the UN, 52% of the women they surveyed in refugee camps in Bangladesh were raped by the Tadmadaw. Seventy percent of these 87,000 refugees are women and children since men are either killed or imprisoned.]

Suu Kyi’s government won’t even allow any international investigation team to visit the troubled Rakhine state and inquire about serious charges of war crimes perpetrated by the government security forces - all committed in cahoots with ever growing fascist elements within the broader Buddhist society that see no place for religious minorities to live inside Myanmar. 

Mr. Annan, you have admitted in your own report the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State that she formed "is a national entity and the majority of its members are from Myanmar". Its mandate did not allow the use of the term 'Rohingya' in accordance with the wishes of Ms. Suu Kyi. In spite of such obstacles you faced, I am glad that the report you submitted is a milestone for the Rohingya by calling for lifting restrictions on movement and citizenship for its persecuted Rohingya minority if Myanmar wants to avoid fueling "extremism" and bring peace to the Rakhine state. 

Suu Kyi, sadly, has never been sincere to resolving the Rohingya problem. She has denied their very existence and has been widely condemned by all quarters, including fellow Nobel Laureates. 

Did you ever ponder about why the so-called insurgency of the Rohingya who had hitherto, by all accounts, been the most non-violent minority happened just shortly after your appointment as the chair to the commission and also within hours of submission of your final report this week? Who benefits from such violence, and who loses? 

It is the Rohingya that loses the game played in such an uneven playing field. It is the Myanmar government and its Tatmadaw that win. They never wanted a peaceful solution to the decades-long problem, which they had initiated. And they don’t want to implement the recommendations you have put forth in your commission report either. So, they planned, moved to the Rohingya areas, cordoned off and committed war crimes to trigger off the latest episode blaming once again their victims to justify their on-going atrocities under the pretext of being attacked by the insurgents. The violence that they unleashed this week and before is all part of a very sinister long-term strategy to ethnically cleanse minority Rohingyas. It was no accident and did not happen in vacuum!

Your commission report rightly noted that if human rights were not respected and "the population remain politically and economically marginalised - northern Rakhine State may provide fertile ground for radicalisation, as local communities may become increasingly vulnerable to recruitment by extremists". "While Myanmar has every right to defend its own territory, a highly militarised response is unlikely to bring peace to the area," the report also said.

The perpetrators of violence are the Myanmar security forces who should be held to account. They have failed to heed to your recommendations, and won’t be sobered by mixed messaging coming from international dignitaries like you. It is high time to try these brutes and savages in the International Criminal Court to save humanity, failing which I am afraid, Mr. Annan, we may see the end of Rohingya community in the den of intolerance called Myanmar. She remains the last vestige of an apartheid state in our time.

On March 26, 2004, you stated with respect to Rwanda genocide, “If the United Nations, government officials, the international media and other observers had paid more attention to the gathering signs of disaster, and taken timely action, it might have been averted. Warnings were missed.” 

Sir, there is no excuse this time. There is no ‘guilt of sin of omission’ within us. Ms. Yanghee Lee, the United Nations special rapporteur, has warned us; the international media, Human Rights Watch, Fortify Rights, Amnesty International and other observers have all warned us repeatedly about the Rohingya catastrophe. It needs a leader like you to stop their extinction. In this regard, remember that genocide is a process and not an outcome. Stop it when it is not late.

Please, be forceful in condemning Myanmarism and its viciousness that have caused so much human suffering in our time. If it is not you, who will? The lessons from Rwanda should make you better prepared to stop this slow-burning genocide that the minority Rohingyas are facing today. Help them to survive and live as equal citizens in Myanmar. Please, take the lead in this noble cause. 

Thanking you for reading my letter.

Kind regards,

(Dr.) Habib Siddiqui

Philadelphia, USA

saeva@aol.com

To, 

International Organizations 

Subject : To protect the innocent Rohingya villagers immediately from inhumane killing of Myanmar's Military and Border Guard Police forces

Respectfully,

(1) We are MYARF (Myanmar Youth Activists for Rohingya Freedom), a non-profit ground-based organization. Our organization was formed after the 2012's Rakhine Crisis. We have been sharing the accurate information to International Human Rights Organizations about the inhumane killings and Human Rights abuses of Myanmar's Armed Forces on Rohingya people. By digging up the truth, we on time have covered the real event of 2016's October 9th violence. Moreover, we have been keeping on the update information of daily abuses on Rohingyas in Northern Rakhine State. 

(2) Since decades, we the Rohingyas living in Northern Rakhine State have been suffering the plight of persecution. Since 2012's violence, we have been suffering the intensive brutalities on each day. On the other hand, we almost Rohingyas were announced as stateless by Myanmar's government. Being the stateless and suffered unbearable persecution, Rohingyas has formed ARSA aiming to defense for themselves. Later on, there was attack between ARSA and Myanmar's Armed Forces in last 9th October, 2016. And the persecution on Rohingyas have counted as the most unbearable. 

(3) On 24th of August, 2017, there was clash between ARSA and Myanmar's Armed Forces at night again. Then Myanmar's Armed Forces have been raiding across the Rohingya villages and shooting to the villagers whom they see. Yesterday within 24-hours, at least 100 innocent Rohingya villagers including children were shot to dead and 300 Rohingya houses were burnt down firing the launchers by Myanmar's Armed Forces. The account of home-leaving Rohingyas to nearby mountain could be thousands now. There in mountain, children are without food to eat and water to drink since yesterday. All are frantic now there in rain.

(4) It is known that Myanmar government releases the news viral as terrorists by killing innocent Rohingya old men, women and children. Thus, Rohingya villagers become so helpless now. Despite seeing no way to move anywhere, now Rohingyas are facing starving. Helplessly, we all Rohingya in Northern Rakhine State worry now for when we be killed. 

(5) If the international organizations fail to protect us today, tomorrow the numbers of dead would be thousands. We therefore wholeheartedly appeal the international organizations to protect us immediately before the mass killing going on us.

It is the heartfelt appeal of those Rohingya minority whom you, the international organizations defined as the world's most persecuted.

Let's us hope for your saving hands immediately!

7 July 2017

To,

Dr Gianni Tognoni

General Secretary

Secretariat of the Permanent People's Tribunal

Rome, Italy

Subject: ​Myanmar Muslim victims’ request for PPT to investigate the charges of Myanmar international crimes

Dear Sir,

Our group of Myanmar Muslim Human Rights Activists and our fellow Myanmar Muslim activists around the world together with Myanmar Muslim Refugees hereby request that the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) take up the urgent case of Myanmar Muslim minority. We hereby make this appeal based on well known Anti-Muslim Atrocities: Hate Speech, Racial-Religious Discrimination, Hate Crimes, Anti-Myanmar Muslim riots, looting, burning of Muslim houses and places of worships and mass murders by successive Myanmar Military Governments in the whole of Mainland Myanmar since 1962.

These Crimes Against Humanity and mass murders are well documented and reported in the International Media, Human Rights Watch, Genocide Watch, Amnesty International, USCIRF's Annual Reports, Fortify Rights but UN, UNSC, ICC, ASEAN, OIC, UNHCR etc failed to prominently highlight our plight and failed to take any action.

After careful consultations among ourselves, activists and concerned citizens from Myanmar, we have opted not to involve the Muslim organisations inside Myanmar in our justice-seeking efforts abroad. For we know that Myanmar authorities would target them should they dare to come on board with our efforts internationally to seek justice and accountability for Myanmar's faith-based persecution and discrimination in a vital forum such as the Permanent People's Tribunal. In a country where anti-Muslim hate speech and organized mass violence enjoys blanket impunity Muslim communities, with their rich associations, are a sitting duck. But please do know that even the Muslims of Myanmar who live in deep fear of government retaliation and popular mass violence naturally long for justice, accountability and the right to life free of fear, uncertainties and anxieties for safety.

We make this request to your good-self, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on the basis of compelling evidence of ongoing: widespread institutional discrimination; state sponsored hate crimes; mass killings; wholesale destruction of communities and neighbourhoods; massive forced displacement; apartheid structures of segregation; targeted population control; state denial of Myanmar Muslim identity; forced labour; denial of access to livelihood, healthcare, freedom of movement, and food. Evidence of these genocidal violations, with blanket impunity, is to be found in the extensive and systematic research conducted by a range of academic and human rights organizations. (Ref: United States Commission on Tier 1 CPC Countries Designated by State Department & Recommended by USCIRF 2016 ANNUAL REPORT OVERVIEW)

While working as Human Rights activists, we came to know that former chief of military intelligence ex-general Khin Nyunt, the late ex-brigadier Aung Thaung, Former Chief Minister of Mandalay Division and former chief of military intelligence ex-lt. general Ye Myint, Former President & ex-general U Thein Sein, the present Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar Armed Forces Sr General Min Aung Hlaing, and Former Sr-General Than Shwe are using the Wirathu/Thidagu led 969,Ma Ba Tha and their “Patriots” Swarn Arr Shins and other proxy groups as instruments to commission numerous atrocities against our community of Muslims in Myanmar.

We can prove these allegations based on our close interactions with and previously close relations with the notorious U Wirathu, TIME's "The Face of Buddhist Terror", and our first-hand eye-witness observations of Meiktila and Mandalay Riots.

We hereby wish to request the PPT in Rome to allow us to present to you for the Myanmar Muslims’ suffering for hate crimes against Muslims in Meiktila, Lashio, Mandalay, Pegu, Prome, Yangon etc as I have evidence, material and human witnesses which I could present.

Signed

U Maung Maung (Shwe Karaweik)

On behalf of the following organizational initiators:

Initiators

1. Myanmar Muslim Human Rights Association (Malaysia)

2. Majalis Pertubuhan Kebajikan Al-Islam Malaysia (Ulama dari Myanmar) [ Translation into English = Council of Myanmar Muslim Maulavis’ Welfare Organization in Malaysia]

3. Bama Muslim Council (of Maulavis in Malaysia)

4. Selayang Myanmar Muslim Association (Malaysia)

5. Penang Myanmar Muslim Association (Malaysia)

6. Myanmar Muslim Citizen Journalists (Malaysia-Singapore)

7. Johore Myanmar Muslim Welfare Group (Malaysia)

Published by HRW on April 27, 2017

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

Dear Your Excellency,

We, the undersigned, call on States, including the United States, United Kingdom and the member states of the European Union, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to strongly encourage the Myanmar government to fully cooperate with the forthcoming Fact-Finding Mission into the human rights situation in Rakhine State, as well as active conflict areas in Kachin State and northern Shan State, as recently mandated by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Following deadly attacks by a group later identified as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) against three police outposts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships on October 9, 2016, military and police commenced a so-called “clearance operation” in selected areas of northern Rakhine State. Numerous observers and monitors, including signatories to this letter as well as the UN and news media, documented how state security forces targeted the civilian population and committed extrajudicial killings, torture including rapes and other sexual violence, systematic destruction of homes and looting of property, destruction of food, and obstructing humanitarian assistance, causing serious deprivation including among persons in the displaced civilian population. A report issued in early February 2017 by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights found that these human rights violations “seem to have been widespread as well as systematic, indicating the very likely commission of crimes against humanity.”

The Fact-Finding Mission is in the interests of the government of Myanmar as well as the people of the country because it would demonstrate the government’s willingness to uphold the rule of law, work collaboratively with the international community to help establish the facts, identify perpetrators, and deter future crimes by all parties to the conflict.

It is important to stress that the authorities in Myanmar commonly restrict access to certain parts of the country for monitors and others. High-level and sustained international engagement will be needed to ensure the authorities provide the Fact- Finding Mission with free and unfettered access to all the areas to which they are seeking access.

We believe the Fact-Finding Mission must be led by experts, including on international human rights and humanitarian law, who should receive free and unfettered access to ensure the process is thorough, equitable and capable of achieving its stated goals. The authorities must also ensure the safety of survivors and witnesses to speak freely without reprisals from state or non-state actors. The Fact-Finding Mission should also do its part to ensure the security of survivors, eyewitnesses, their families and others. The Fact-Finding Mission must be able to operate without government or military escort or interference that could limit access to witnesses and possibly endanger those who do come forward. The Fact-Finding Mission must be able to choose their own guides, fixers and interpreters to further ensure the independence, credibility and safety of their work. We also recommend the Fact-Finding Mission visit Bangladesh to interview victims and survivors who fled Rakhine State.

We are deeply concerned that if the government of Myanmar fails to fully cooperate with the Fact-Finding Mission, the situation in Rakhine State may further deteriorate. Failure to provide accountability may further fuel frustrations among the Rohingya population. Emboldened by the lack of consequences for abuses during its military operations in response to the October 9 attacks, the Myanmar military may continue to punish the civilian population and carry out further atrocities under the pretext of maintaining national security.

On the other hand, we believe the government of Myanmar’s full cooperation with the Fact-Finding Mission would send a positive and important message to all stakeholders in Rakhine State and Myanmar, including to extremist-nationalists who have been reluctant to cooperate with such initiatives.

Similarly, a positive message can be sent, and the effects of the violence under investigation mitigated, by allowing unfettered and sustained humanitarian access to affected populations in Rakhine State and elsewhere in Myanmar. We encourage the government of Myanmar to allow this much needed access and for international actors to continue to urge it to do so.

Please urgently use your good offices to help ensure unfettered humanitarian access, the success of the Fact-Finding Mission and the full support and cooperation of the Myanmar authorities.

Sincerely,

Angkatan Belua Islam Malaysia (ABIM)

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

ALTSEAN-Burma

Amnesty International

Burma Campaign UK (BCUK)

Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN)

Burmese Muslim Association (BMA)

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)

Civil Rights Defenders

FIDH – International Federation for Human Rights

Fortify Rights

Geutanyoe Foundation

Global Peace Mission Malaysia

Gusdurain Network Indonesia

Human Rights Now

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

International State Crime Initiative

Majlis Persundingan Pertubuhan Islam Malaysia (MAPIM) Malaysian Humanitarian Aid and Relief (MAHAR) Refugees International

Restless Beings

The Arakan Project

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)

To:

Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human Rights Council

Geneva, 3 March 2017

Re: UN-mandated international Commission of Inquiry or similar international mechanism to investigate serious human rights violations in Rakhine State, Myanmar.

Excellencies,

We, the undersigned organizations, write to urge your delegations to support calls by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, for the establishment by the UN Human Rights Council during its 34th session of a Commission of Inquiry or similar international mechanism to investigate, at a minimum, alleged and apparent serious human rights violations and abuses in Rakhine State, Myanmar.

Since 9 October 2016, Myanmar’s security forces have carried out large-scale attacks against the Rohingya population in Rakhine State’s Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Rathedaung Townships as part of ‘clearance operations’ in response to attacks on three police border posts by armed assailants. These ‘clearance operations’ violate numerous provisions of international human rights law.

The ‘clearance operations’ involved human rights violations against women, men, and children, including: extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearances; torture and other ill-treatment, notably rape and other crimes of sexual violence; arbitrary arrests and detention; forced displacement; and destruction and looting of homes, food, and other property.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented many such serious human rights violations in a ‘flash report’ released on 3 February 2017.[1] The report concluded that the attacks against the Rohingya population in Rakhine State during the prolonged crackdown could “very likely” amount to crimes against humanity. UN officials estimated that more than 1,000 Rohingya might have been killed in the crackdown.[2] Military and police operations resulted in the displacement of at least 97,000 Rohingya, including approximately 73,000 who fled to neighbouring Bangladesh.[3]

In June 2016, four months before the most recent attacks, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein submitted a report to the UN Human Rights Council highlighting the “possible commission of crimes against humanity” against Rohingya in Myanmar.[4]

A large number and overall patterns of human rights violations and abuses have already been well documented, while many more allegations require further investigation.

The Myanmar government’s response to these documented violations has ranged from blanket denials of any wrongdoing by security forces to numerous attempts to discredit reports of abuses by Rohingya eyewitnesses and survivors.[5] Myanmar’s security forces have direct control over operations in Rakhine State (as in other conflict areas) and are granted effective independence from the country’s civilian government and immunity from justice under the 2008 constitution. To date, no one is known to have been criminally investigated, charged, or tried for these offences. In February, three junior police officers were sentenced by an internal police tribunal to two months in police detention after a video surfaced in December showing officers kicking and beating Rohingya men in a village in Rathedaung Township. At least three senior police officers were also demoted.[6]

Since October 2016, four official commissions have been set up to investigate the situation in Rakhine State. Regrettably, all of them lack the independence, impartiality, human rights and technical expertise, and mandate necessary to conduct a credible and effective investigation:

• On 1 December 2016, Myanmar’s President Htin Kyaw established a 13-member investigation commission led by Vice-President Myint Swe, a former army general, to probe “the truth” in relation to violent attacks that occurred on 9 October and 12-13 November 2016 in Maungdaw Township.[7] Its members include the current Chief of Police and a number of former government officials. The commission’s preliminary findings, published on 3 January 2017, dismissed claims of misconduct by Myanmar security forces, having found insufficient evidence to take legal action in response to alleged violations, religious persecution, and allegations of genocide.[8] As the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng noted on 6 February, this commission “is not a credible option” to investigate abuses against Rohingya.[9]

• Two commissions, formed by the army and the Ministry of Home Affairs (also controlled by the military) on 9 February and 11 February 2017 respectively, have been tasked with investigating human rights violations committed by military and police personnel during the ‘clearance operations’.[10] These commissions, made up of military and police officers, lack the independence and impartiality necessary to investigate violations committed by security forces.

• An 11-member commission appointed by the Rakhine State Parliament on 24 October 2016, composed predominantly of ethnic Rakhine members from the Arakan National Party (ANP), was tasked with investigating the 9 October attacks on the three police border post but excluded any probe into human rights violations against the Rohingya population.[11] The commission’s chairman, ANP MP Aung Win, claimed in an interview with the BBC that rape of Rohingya women could not have occurred because they are “very dirty” and “they are not attractive so neither the local Buddhist men or the soldiers are interested in them.”[12]

An advisory commission was also established by Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on 24 August 2016. The commission consists of nine members, including three international experts with former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as its chair. However, its mandate is limited to making general recommendations to the government to “resolve protracted issues” in Rakhine State and both Annan and the Myanmar government have affirmed the commission will not investigate reports of human rights violations.[13]

Finally, another earlier commission, set up by then-President Thein Sein in August 2012 to investigate unrest in Rakhine State, failed to lead to accountability for human rights violations committed during successive waves of violence between June and October 2012. Approximately 140,000 people, predominantly Rohingya, were internally displaced and at least 200 were killed during the unrest.

Given the inability or unwillingness of these commissions to establish facts and hold perpetrators accountable, and the fact that national judicial and law enforcement authorities lack the both the independence and technical capacity to deal with such situations, we see no credible or effective alternative to a Commission of Inquiry, or similar international mechanism, to address and begin the process of effectively finding and verifying the truth of what has happened, and ensuring justice and accountability for human rights violations and abuses committed. At its March 2017 session, the Human Rights Council should adopt a resolution establishing such an international independent investigation tasked with determining facts, identifying causes and alleged perpetrators, and making recommendations for next steps, including appropriate remedies for the victims.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee both recently recommended the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into the situation in Rakhine State.[14] The signatories to this letter support this recommendation.

We strongly believe that at such a critical juncture in Myanmar’s history, the establishment of a UN-mandated international Commission of Inquiry or similar international mechanism is a minimum requirement for ensuring justice and accountability, and can also significantly contribute to preventing further atrocities being committed against Rohingya and other minorities at risk in Myanmar. The commission’s findings will play a crucial role in assisting the Myanmar government in promoting accountability for grave crimes committed by its security forces.

Please accept, Excellencies, the assurance of our highest consideration.

• Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-Burma)
• Amnesty International
• ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
• Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
• Burma Campaign UK
• Christian Solidarity Worldwide
• FIDH – International Federation for Human Rights
• Fortify Rights
• Human Rights Watch
• International Campaign for the Rohingya
• International Commission of Jurists
• Odhikar
• Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

[1] UNOHCHR, Report of OHCHR mission to Bangladesh, Interviews with Rohingyas fleeing from Myanmar since 9 October 2016, 3 February 2017, http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/MM/FlashReport3Feb2017.pdf

[2] Reuters, More than 1,000 feared killed in Myanmar army crackdown on Rohingya - U.N. officials, 8 February 2017.

[3] UNOCHA, Asia and the Pacific: Weekly Regional Humanitarian Snapshot (14 - 20 February 2017), 20 February 2017, http://reliefweb.int/report/philippines/asia-and-pacific-weekly-regional...

[4] UN Human Rights Council, 32nd session, Situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 28 June 2016, UN Doc. A/HRC/32/18.

[5] State Counsellor Office, Information committee refutes rumours of rape, 26 December 2016; President’s Office, Fabricated stories, misleading pictures about Rakhine cause global criticism, 2 January 2017; Reuters, Aung San Suu Kyi criticised as Myanmar denies army killed Rohingya Muslims fleeing Rakhine, 19 November 2016; Reuters, Myanmar ‘in denial’ over Rohingya crimes, 7 February 2017.

[6] Agence France-Presse, Police in Rohingya abuse video get reprimand, ‘didn't intend to harm’, 8 February 2017.

[7] State Counsellor Office, Formation of Investigation Commission, 2 December 2016.

[8] Global New Light of Myanmar, Interim Report of the Investigation Commission on Maungtaw, 3 January 2017.

[9] UN News Centre, Violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state could amount to crimes against humanity – UN special adviser, 6 February 2017.

[10] Global New Light of Myanmar, Tatmadaw releases reaction to OHCHR Report, 10 February 2017; Global New Light of Myanmar, Ministry of Home Affairs issues press release, 12 February 2017.

[11] Irrawaddy, Arakan State Parliament Forms Commission to Investigate Maungdaw Attacks, 26 October 2016

[12] BBC, Muslim civilians ‘killed by Burmese army’, 7 November 2016, available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37892512

[13] Irrawaddy, Kofi Annan: Commission Will Not Do ‘Human Rights Investigation’ in Arakan State, 8 September 2016; President’s Office, Kofi Annan calls for cooperation among neighbouring countries to address Rakhine issue, 8 September 2016.

[14] IRIN, UN rights envoy urges inquiry into abuses of Rohingya in Myanmar, 9 February 2017; UNOHCHR, Myanmar: UN #HumanRights Chief says there must be commission of inquiry on violations in northern #Rakhine, possibly referral to #ICC, 7 February 2017, https://twitter.com/OHCHRAsia/status/829178607616421888

Originally published on Human Rights Watch website.