By Stephanie Nebehay 

Reuters

March 16, 2017

GENEVA -- The European Union called on Thursday for the United Nations to send an international fact-finding mission urgently to Myanmar to investigate allegations of torture, rapes and executions by the military against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

A U.N. report last month, based on interviews with survivors in Bangladesh, said the Myanmar army and police had committed mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya in a campaign that may amount to crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

The EU draft resolution, submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council, strengthens language in an earlier draft circulating that stopped short of demanding an international probe into alleged atrocities.

The 47-member forum, currently holding a four-week session, is to vote on resolutions from March 23-24.

If adopted, the Council would "dispatch urgently an independent international fact-finding mission" to Myanmar to investigate violations "with a view to ensure full accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims".

Some 75,000 people have fled Rakhine state to Bangladesh since Myanmar's military began a security operation last October in response to what it says was an attack by Rohingya insurgents on border posts in which nine police officers were killed.

The U.N. Security Council will be briefed behind closed doors on Friday on the situation in Rakhine state, at the request of Britain, diplomats said in New York. 

The EU resolution calls on the government of Aung San Suu Kyi to "fully cooperate with the fact-finding mission, including by making available the findings of the domestic investigations".

Activists say that national efforts have not been credible and have called for an international inquiry.

Myanmar has denied almost all allegations of human rights abuses in northern Rakhine and says a lawful counterinsurgency campaign is under way.

Yanghee Lee, U.N. special rapporteur on Myanmar, told the rights council on Monday that the government may be using bureaucratic means to get rid of the Rohingya. She cited dismantling of homes and use of a household survey whereby those absent may be struck off the list that could be the only legal proof of their status.

A panel led by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan said earlier on Thursday that Myanmar should immediately start allowing Rohingya to return home and ultimately close rundown camps for the displaced.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Alison Williams and Pritha Sardar)

By Joseph Kaos Jr

The Star Online

March 15, 2017

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will not stop in its efforts to address issues affecting the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman (pic) said humanitarian assistance as well as continuous pressure from the international community have produced results, and as such, needs to be continued.

“I believe that the international community’s efforts to urge and encourage the Myanmar Government to alleviate the plight and suffering of the Rohingyas have borne fruit.

“On Feb 15, it was reported that the Myanmar army has halted its security operations in Rakhine and ended a four-month crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim community.

“Malaysia, as a responsible member of the international community will continue to play its part in addressing this issue,” said Anifah, in his address at a special dinner at the International Conference on Rohingya 2017 here Wednesday night.

As a show of Malaysia's commitment towards the Rohingya, Anifah said the country had already announced a contribution of RM10mil to assist in humanitarian efforts and social rehabilitation projects in Rakhine state.

He said Malaysia has also played its role in encouraging other countries to join in its efforts to help the Rohingyas.

“During Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s official visit to Qatar recently, the Government of Qatar through the Qatar Development Fund pledged a total of US$50mil (RM222.4mil) to be channelled in stages to the National Security Council of Malaysia.

“The fund will be used to provide semi-skilled and skilled training, as well as education, health and medical facilities to improve the wellbeing of Rohingya communities in Malaysia,” said Anifah.

As of February, there are 149,496 Persons of Concern registered with UNHCR in Malaysia.

Out of this figure, some 133,263 are from Myanmar, and from that total 56,458 are Rohingyas.

The three-day conference is organised by the Institute of Public Security of Malaysia, Amal Foundation of Malaysia, International Union for Muslim Scholars and International Federation for Relief and Development, Malaysia Chapter.

Anifah said the conference is “very timely and opportune”, as it “provides a platform for experts from all around the world to sit together and formulate proposals to resolve the tragedy that has befallen the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar."

By Frenalyn Untalan

International Business Times AU

March 15, 2017

Human rights groups condemn Australia for not backing an international investigation into atrocities against Rohingya Muslims. The administration of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull supposedly refused to support the enquiry despite a motion passed in the Senate that urges the country to call for a United Nations commission of inquiry.

In its statement to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Australian government is calling Myanmar to perform its own investigation with international assistance. "We encourage Myanmar to continue its cooperation with relevant international human rights mechanisms," it said.

Emily Howie, director of advocacy and research at Australia's Human Rights Law Centre, called the wording of Australia's statement "hopelessly weak.” She added that its position is a "real shame and sits uneasily with the serious concern showed by the Senate across all parties, including the government.”

Howie believes that if the country continues to act in such way by the time it sits on the council, its decisions would result to real human consequences. Thousands of victims would continue to suffer crimes against humanity without an attempt to save them.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, commented that Australia was demoted to a corner as United States, European Union and even Bangladesh pushed for international investigation. "Australia's human rights policy has literally been at sea for so long with refugee boats that Canberra seems to now instinctively adopt the preferred policy of rights violating Asian nations," he said.

Last month, Australian senators passed a Greens motion to declare the religious and ethnic equality of its people, including Rohingya. The motion, proposed by Scott Ludlam, argues that the government has to consider backing a UN commission of inquiry into abuses in the Buddhist-majority country. Ludlam described what is currently happening in Rohingya as "devastating".

Sydney Morning Herald notes that since October, nearly 80,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine for refugee camps at the Bangladesh border. Myanmar's military then launched a crackdown after a police post that took the lives of nine policemen. Rohingya is being denied basic rights, such as citizenship. In 2001, Rohingya was attacked by Arakanese mobs and destroyed their mosques and schools.

The UN Human Rights Council is expected to cast their votes later his month on the human rights situation in Myanmar. Establishing a UN inquiry into "gross human rights violations by the military and security forces" in Rakhine is one of the draft resolutions being negotiated.

THE plight of the Rohingya was brutally summed up by UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee when she told of horrific allegations from the community of children being thrown into fires, people tied up indoors while their homes were set ablaze and last but not least, the violent raping of local women.

At the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, Lee also accused Burma of using bureaucratic means to “expel” the Rohingya minority from the country altogether.

The accusation of such unabashed brutality is the latest in a long line of accusations that reflect badly on Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has led Burma since her party’s resounding election victory back in 2015.

Suu Kyi’s government rejected Lee’s bid to set up a Commission of Inquiry into the abuses and insisted its own national probe could uncover the facts in Rakhine, leading critics to believe not enough is being done to combat the problem.

As allegations of abuse in Rakhine state and ethnic clashes in Burma’s northern states mount, Suu Kyi is coming under growing international pressure to take action. But these calls have been for naught, as they are often met with silence and denial.

Regarded for years as a beacon of hope in a country torn apart by the struggle against oppression, could Suu Kyi, the once golden child of democracy, be losing her shine?

Early “golden” years

As the darling of the West, Suu Kyi courted almost unanimously positive press from the western media at the beginning of her political career.

Her powerful, unrelenting resolve along with her undeniable allure and storybook-like post-colonial upbringing made her revered around the globe. Hundreds of thousands attended her rallies at home and her collections of writing became bestsellers abroad, drawing mass global attention to her message.

Amnesty International made her a prisoner of conscience and Vanity Fair dubbed her ‘Burma’s Saint Joan’, labels repeated countless times in news reports and speeches across the world.

In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in honour of her “unflagging efforts” and her resolve to strive for “ethnic conciliation by peaceful means”.

Then India’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru award for international understanding was given the following year.

Politicians lauded her with praise and she was often mentioned in the same context as fellow freedom fighters such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King.

While under military-enforced house arrest in Rangoon, reporters took great risks to speak to her, to hear her courageous story of resistance.

Portraits of her were seen all over the world, and celebrities clambered to jump on the Suu Kyi bandwagon.

It seemed there was no limit to her global popularity.

But there has been a notable shift in opinion of late amid mounting reports of rights abuses coming out of Burma, putting her status as exemplar of democratic values under threat.

Turning tides

Since the military launched a crackdown back in October following the death of nine policemen in Rakhine state, it is believed that 75,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled across the border to neighbouring Bangladesh with another 20,000 being displaced within Rakhine state, the UN reported. Claims of rape and murder, and accusations of ethnic cleansing, at the hands of the armed forces have been rife.

Rather than end this cycle of persecution and violence, Suu Kyi is being accused of pandering to Burma’s Buddhist majority in an attempt to court votes rather than assert her principles. She is also yet to visit the area, which has been sealed off under a military directive designed to keep out foreign aid workers and journalists.

While Suu Kyi has taken steps to set up several commissions to review the situation in the Rakhine state, their impartiality have been questioned.

UN rapporteur Lee has stated that she does not believe that they have discharged their investigative obligations and questioned to what extent the investigations will be prompt, thorough, independent and impartial. She has also accused them of not having a “robust methodology or policies in place to address key issues such as witness protection or documentation of evidence.”

Progress in northern Kachin and Shan states, which have seen rebel fighting for decades, has also been almost non-existent despite promises from the National League for Democracy (NLD) to make it a priority following their election victory, with the aim of achieving a nationwide ceasefire by February 2017.

Following the NLD’s peace conference in late August, the military ramped up attacks in Kachin, intensified operations in neighbouring Shan state and began a hunt for a rebel splinter group in southern Karen state, an area that had seen little fighting for years.

Thousands of civilians were displaced and reports emerged of torture, extrajudicial killings and indiscriminate shelling of villages, for which the army has long been notorious.

Suu Kyi’s muted responses to the allegations of killings and abuse have largely consisted of defending or denying the actions of the military.

“Show me a country without human rights issues,” she said in October, as reported by New York Times.

“Every country has human rights abuses.”

A few weeks later during a visit to Tokyo, she said, “We have been very careful not to blame anyone until we have complete evidence about who has been responsible.”

In response to the Kachin problem, Suu Kyi’s office issued a statement claiming that the “information is absolutely not true.”

Suu Kyi has repeatedly tried to downplay the accusations and the scale of the military operations in both regions, drawing condemnation from rights groups and leaders alike.

Amid the escalating human rights abuses, she is also cultivating a reputation for being above public scrutiny and highly anti-media.

And gone are the days of courting international journalists; Suu Kyi now rarely gives interviews to the Burmese press and carefully handpicks her encounters with international media. There is no regular questioning from MPs in Parliament and there has not been a proper press conference since just before the election 14 months ago.

Her government has also taken full advantage of the controversial Telecommunications Law that polices online defamation of the regime, jailing 38 people since her election victory in 2015.

Toeing the line?

Suu Kyi’s almost steadfast refusal to criticise the military now that she is in power, after being a vocal critic whilst in opposition, has raised the question – is she toeing the line or does she believe what she says?

As the civilian leader of the government, Suu Kyi shares power with the military. The army controls the vital cabinets of defence, home affairs and border affairs. Notably, these are the ministries that are running the anti-insurgency operation in Rakhine State.

Suu Kyi has in the past vowed to change this but so far no clear intent towards that has been displayed.

Given the military’s pervasive power, Suu Kyi is forced to work with the men in uniform, rather than against them. The relationship remains tenuous and there continues to be a substantial sources of friction, however, it is a relationship born out of necessity, said Larry Jagan, a former BBC World Service journalist.

“They are working closely together on the peace process, and understand they need each other for this,” he said.

This has led many to believe that Suu Kyi may be biding her time until she is able to curtail the military’s power and shift the balance of power in her direction.

Some believe, however, that Suu Kyi may believe what she says due to the source of her information.

Most of the information she receives on the Rohingya and northern states come from military leaders, leading to some analysts in Burma to believe the army may have convinced her that Rohingya in Rakhine are terrorists.

Her government advisers are also mostly former military officers, or veteran civil servants with firm beliefs about the superiority of Buddhist values over all others, they say.

This theory is supported by comments from U Zaw Htay, spokesman for Suu Kyi, saying she was “standing” with the military.

“She knows everything,” he said, “The military has been briefing her on every important issue.”

What now?

Once the lionised freedom fighter, Suu Kyi now finds herself leader of a country responsible for the most persecuted minority in the world.

“Aung San Suu Kyi was held as this Joan of Arc figure and was such a beacon of hope for the Myanmar people that, in any other country, she was almost bound to fail,” argued Andrew Jaggard of consulting firm Mekong Economics.

Many who admired her resolve throughout the years of house arrest, and those Burmese that believed she was the symbol of hope, remain disillusioned in her failure to act in the face of wrongdoing.

Perhaps Suu Kyi is laying the groundwork and biding her time until an opportunity shows itself to make real change. Or perhaps she is a cynical politician who is willing to put votes ahead of principles.

But as Harvard Law Professor Tyler Gianni told the New York Times:

“She says she is a politician [but] you can have politics and you can have protection of the civilian population at the same time.”

By Ron Corben

Voice of America

March 14, 2017

BANGKOK — A close associate of murdered Myanmar lawyer Ko Ni says the constitutional expert was working on a plan to weaken the military's political power when he was gunned down at Yangon's airport soon after his return from a conference in Indonesia on January 29.

The revelation is likely to feed persistent suspicions – which have been denied – that the military had a role in the assassination.

Military still holds power

Despite handing over power to a civilian government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) party of activist Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar armed forces retain wide powers under a constitution it promulgated in 2008.

That constitution guarantees the military 25 percent of the seats in parliament and gives it a veto over any constitutional amendment. It also controls the Ministry of Home Affairs, giving it authority over much of the nation's permanent bureaucracy.

Murdered lawyer Ko Ni may have found a loophole around the military

But commentator Bertil Lintner, a close associate of Ko Ni who also worked with him on journalism training, told VOA in an interview that the prominent NLD adviser believed he had uncovered a "loophole" that could be used to circumvent the military veto.

"[Ko Ni] said that there is nothing in the 2008 constitution which says that the constitution cannot be abolished by a single vote in parliament," Lintner said. 

He said a simple majority vote was all that is needed "to abolish the constitution and adopt a new one. He was working on it."

Lintner said Aung San Suu Kyi considered the idea "too provocative" and preferred efforts at gradual reform. But he said Ko Ni remained insistent.

Police investigating the killing have said the plot to kill Ko Ni was hatched in a tea shop last year by men who had a grudge against the lawyer. Several arrests have been made in the case.

Commentator thinks Ko Ni's murder was a warning

But Lintner said he believes Ko Ni's killing was intended as a warning.

"His murder was meant to send a very strong signal to anyone else who would even dream or think of changing the constitution. And therefore it was carried out in broad daylight outside the airport," he said.

He added the killing had created a "climate of fear" within the NLD party.

National League for Democracy denies the murder created fear within the party

NLD spokesman Win Thein denied that, while acknowledging that Ko Ni's loss was a blow for the party.

"It was definitely ... not fear. (Ko Ni's death) was a great loss, it was a great loss," Win Thein said.

He said the party's relationship with the military is "just the same" as before, and the NLD is "definitely" not nervous over the political climate. He added that the NLD would "never lose hope of amending the constitution."

Ko Ni called an "expert" on the 2008 Constitution

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for the New York-based rights organization Human Rights Watch, said Ko Ni was one of only a few people within the NLD who fully understood the nation's 2008 military-backed charter.

"Let's be clear, U Ko Ni was the technician," Robertson told a briefing at the foreign correspondent club (FCCT). "The NLD has no one to replace him in terms of dealing with the constitution. And if you look at the current configuration of Burmese politics, the 2008 constitution is about central to everything."

Tony Davis, an analyst with HIS Janes, agreed that Ko Ni was widely seen as a danger to the military's influence.

"This man posed an existential threat not just to the [military's] bank accounts, their future, but to the future of the country as they and their fallen comrades and their fathers have seen it since independence [in 1948]," Davis said at the FCCT. 

He said Ko Ni's killing points to a "bleak outlook" for Myanmar's political landscape.

The next general elections are in 2020.

By Associated Press 

March 13, 2017

GENEVA — A U.N. expert on Myanmar says she’s “disappointed” at the lack of “appetite” at the Human Rights Council to back her call for the creation of Commission of Inquiry into alleged crimes against the Rohingya minority.

Special rapporteur Yanghee Lee, speaking to The Associated Press after addressing the 47-member council in Geneva on Monday, said she’s hearing of a difference of opinion “within even the European Union” about the best path forward in dealing with rights abuses in Myanmar.

“I am afraid that I have been a little bit disappointed because I don’t think there is an appetite or a push for a Commission of Inquiry from the normal sponsors of the resolution” and by countries that are the “normal players” in calls for such investigative bodies, Lee said.

She said a domestic investigative panel focusing on Rakhine state was “flawed” and another led by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan didn’t have an all-encompassing mandate.

Lee has been denied access to parts of Myanmar that she hoped to visit, and expressed concern about violence affecting civilians in Kachin and Shan states.

Based in part on her 12-day trip to Myanmar in January, a 25-page report issued by her office this month cited “continued and escalating violence” in those and other states, and said Lee had been told ‘the situation is currently worse than at any point in the past few years.”

Myanmar’s military, under international pressure over alleged abuses against members of the country’s Muslim Rohingya minority, has said official investigations failed to substantiate most accusations.

Lee said she’s been “hearing of the discovery of mass graves and things of that nature,” and appealed to the Myanmar government to let investigators like her “leave no stones unturned”

“If these allegations are indeed exaggerated allegations, everyone needs to know,” she told the AP. “If these allegations are true, I think Myanmar needs to know because this will be the obstacle to them fully reforming and transforming into a fully democratic society.”

The estimated 1 million Rohingya in Buddhist-majority Myanmar face official and social discrimination, and are mostly seen as immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh living illegally in the country. Many fled their homes during communal violence in 2012, and over 100,000 live in refugee camps.

By AFP

March 13, 2017

Myanmar may be seeking to "expel" all ethnic Rohingya from its territory, a UN rights expert said Monday, pushing for a high-level inquiry into abuses against the Muslim minority community. 

The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, said a full purge could be the ultimate goal of the institutional persecution and horrific violence being perpetrated against the Rohingya.

The evidence "indicates the government may be trying to expel the Rohingya population from the country altogether," Lee told the UN rights council. 

The army launched a bloody crackdown against the Rohingya in October in the northern Rakhine state following attacks by militants on several border posts.

UN investigators say that during the military operation women were gang-raped by soldiers and Rohingya babies were slaughtered. 

Lee wants the rights council to establish the UN's highest-level probe, a Commission of Inquiry (COI), to investigate that crackdown as well as violent episodes in 2012 and 2014. 

The council could set up the commission before its session ends later this month, but key players including the European Union have not yet backed Lee's call because of concern that a damning UN investigation might threaten the country's fragile democracy drive. 

Speaking to reporters after her council appearance, Lee said she believed support for a Commission of Inquiry was tepid, including within the EU. 

Countries "won't say they are not going to support your call, but I do hear ... (countries) say that maybe Aung San Suu Kyi needs more time," Lee said, referring to the Nobel peace laureate who leads Myanmar's civilian government. 

Suu Kyi's government, which took charge last year after decades of oppressive military rule, has rejected Lee's bid to set up a Commission of Inquiry and insisted its own national probe can uncover the facts in Rakhine. 

Lee conceded to reporters that a full international probe "could have a destabilising affect" in that it may implicate the military in crimes against humanity, but she insisted it was in the government's interest to get the facts out. 

She also told the council that the government's internal probe had already been proved inadequate.

Representatives from the EU, The Netherlands and Britain all avoided the question of a Commission of Inquiry during Monday's discussion. 

Britain's envoy to the council, Julian Braithwaite, said the international community needed to "engage (Myanmar) without damaging the delicate civilian/military balance".

By Feliz Solomon 

TIME

March 13, 2017

Sittwe -- People live, love and die in Baw Du Pha, an encampment for Rohingya Muslims displaced by conflict in western Myanmar nearly five years ago. They used to think they would someday go home, but many have long since given up on that hope. Life in the camp, however, goes on, albeit much differently than before the unrest.

Maung Tha Zan and Minara Begum were married on a rainy Sunday afternoon within the barbed-wire confines of a sprawling cluster of displacement camps, home to more than 100,000 people who, for the most part, are barred from leaving. Theirs wasn't an arranged marriage, the 20-year-old groom, clean-shaven in his finest coat and aviator sunglasses, tells TIME, "it was love at first sight." He hopes they'll have children someday, Allah willing. "I'm very happy," Maung Tha Zan says, "but on the other hand I'm also sad because I can't have my wedding at home."

The bride waits for him in a vibrantly decorated bamboo hut in the neighboring encampment, wearing a sparkling crimson dress and veil. She's a very shy 18-year-old, but she speaks to TIME briefly through an interpreter. "I'm very happy because I'm going to marry the one I love," she says as a generator leased for the occasion sputters to a stop and the string of lights overhead flickers out.

Most days in the camps in western Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state are far less joyous. The one before, for instance. By 10 a.m. on Saturday, the site's main clinic was crowded with women holding sick, lethargic children, mostly seeking treatment for stomach problems like diarrhea. The frequency of illness is hardly surprising; medical care is scarce — as it is elsewhere in this underdeveloped country of about 51 million people — and sanitary conditions are abysmal. Unclothed kids play in a stream of dirty water close to the camp's latrines, human waste scattered on the ground nearby.

The encampment was established mid-2012, when riots between Buddhists and Muslims broke out in the city of Sittwe, about a 10-minute drive away. The city has since been strictly segregated; the downtown Muslim quarter, Aung Mingalar, is guarded by police armed with assault rifles, and residents cannot leave without permission from authorities. Even seeking treatment at a nearby hospital involves a complex and often extortionate bureaucratic process. Foreigners, when granted permission to enter, are followed and photographed. While it can be difficult to access and assess some areas, it's plain to see that this is a city sharply divided; Buddhists are free while Muslims are not.

"Sadly, those camps are becoming permanent, and the likelihood of many of the people there returning home has diminished to the impossible," David Mathieson, an independent analyst and human-rights expert based in Myanmar, tells TIME.

This week the U.N. Human Rights Council meets in Geneva to decide on a wide-ranging resolution on human rights in Myanmar, which until a few years ago was considered a pariah state ruled by a brutal and impenetrable military regime. March 31 will mark one year since a new civilian government assumed office, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who now serves as State Counselor. The U.N. rights envoy for Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, delivers her recommendations to the U.N. council on Monday; she will suggest that the body establish a commission of inquiry to investigate the "systematic, structural and institutional discrimination" and "long-standing persecution" of the Rohingya population. Her focus will be on conflicts that erupted in June 2012 — which caused the exodus of people still confined in this Sittwe complex — and on Oct. 9 of last year, when an attack on security forces by suspected Rohingya insurgents triggered a scorched-earth counterterrorism operation by the army that displaced approximately94,000 people and likely left hundreds dead.

A draft version of the resolution, penned by the European Union and viewed by a number of human-rights experts in advance, does not mandate a full U.N. commission of inquiry, against the guidance of several rights experts and the rapporteur herself. While there is still time to influence the language of the resolution, which will be handed down on Thursday, there is still some disagreement among the rights community about what an official inquiry would achieve. Given the extreme nature of the October violence and the Myanmar government's near blanket denial of any wrongdoing by state security forces, experts are advocating for some form of international accountability mechanisms and practical policy measures that would address urgent humanitarian needs. Some stakeholders also appear reluctant to bring criticism upon Suu Kyi's government, which is viewed as a source of stability and hope for the nation's transition from dictatorship to democracy.

In Rakhine, journalists and aid workers have been barred from Maungdaw, a township north of the state capital Sittwe, where the latest outbreak of violence took place. But it's apparent here in Sittwe that little has been done to aid the Rohingya, a stateless religious and ethnic minority sequestered in impoverished ghettos and surrounded by their Rakhine Buddhist neighbors, with whom they once shared social and commercial ties. The Rakhine are the majority in the eponymous state, now said to be the country's poorest, but are a minority in Myanmar, and as such they have their own long-standing and legitimate grievances with the central government. During military rule, which lasted nearly six grueling and isolated decades, the country's many minorities suffered under policies favoring the culture and well-being of the majority Bamar ethnic group.

New political space, coupled with the government's reluctance to curtail provocateurs, have allowed extremist movements to take root and marginalize minority faiths, particularly Muslims. Myanmar's most notorious firebrand, the Buddhist monk Wirathu, was just last week disciplined by the national religious authority — which banned him from giving public sermons for a year — for delivering unabashedly anti-Muslim speeches arguably amounting to incitement to violence. Nonetheless, his hardline version of Buddhist nationalism has already gained popularity among the Rakhine population, where support has also galvanized for a local political party that campaigned on a virulently anti-Muslim platform.

The Rohingya are viewed by many as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh despite living in the country for generations. They are portrayed as dirty, dangerous interlopers, and their presence in western Myanmar has even used to drum up support for strict border security and discriminatory junta-era citizenship criteria linking political rights to racial and religious identity. Without those political rights — most Rohingya lack legal status, and consequently suffer severe restrictions on movement, livelihoods, education and health care — they are losing hope of ever being fully reintegrated into Myanmar society. “We used to be able to leave the village," says Fatima Katu, 45, as she waits at the clinic for a medic to treat her visibly unwell 3-month-old granddaughter who she says has been suffering from seizures. "Now we can’t.”

— With reporting by Aung Naing Soe / Sittwe

Statement by Ms. Yanghee LEE, Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council

Agenda item 4

Geneva, 13 March 2017

Mr. President, distinguished representatives, ladies and gentlemen,

I am honoured to present today my third report to this Council in my capacity as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. I am conscious that this Government is only now nearing its first anniversary in power and that not only has it inherited formidable human rights challenges from the previous Government, it also has to meet with exceedingly high expectations from its people as well as the international community. 

As I have conveyed to the Government of Myanmar, and to members of this Council, my approach to this mandate has always been as a friend to Myanmar. I have no agenda other than the realization of human rights in the country; the only bias and partiality is towards the promotion and protection of the rights of all people in Myanmar. 

Mr. President,

I have conducted two visits to Myanmar in the past year, in June 2016 and January 2017. I thank the Government of Myanmar for these invitations and its cooperation with my mandate, attempts at better engagement especially by the Permanent Mission here, and particularly in respecting my request to meet community members in Rakhine State without close monitoring of officials and security personnel during my most recent visit. Nevertheless, I regret that I was again unable to visit several areas I had requested in Kachin state and that these refusals were given at the last minute, preventing full optimization of the limited time I had available. I must confess that there were times that I had seriously questioned the nature of the cooperation. 

The government has also yet to agree on the proposed joint benchmarks, which were called for by the last Council resolution, and which were shared with them several times before and during my recent visit. 

Excellencies,

One of the key tasks facing Myanmar will be reform and modernization of all three branches of government. The judiciary – vital arbiters of justice – need continuing strengthening and improvements to the appointments system. In the executive branch, administrative reform including on local levels will be vital. On legislative side, I remain of the view that legislative process requires further streamlining and increased transparency, and suggest a law on law-making be enacted similar to those adopted by several countries in the region. I have also welcomed the repeal of several outdated laws but dozens of problematic laws remain on the books and continue to be used. 

The 1982 Citizenship Law in particular appears to have a similar standing as the Constitution as to the sensitivity surrounding its possible reform despite its clearly discriminatory provisions. Currently, a citizenship verification exercise under this discriminatory law is underway and despite understandings that the process should be voluntary, I receive continuing reports of Rohingya being coerced into undergoing the process as otherwise they are not allowed fishing licences, to carry out work as a national staff member of an international organization, sit for matriculation exams in schools or even receive food assistance. 

As mentioned, Constitutional reform seems a distant goal at this time. And made even more onerous with the brutal killing of one of Myanmar’s known Constitutional lawyers, U Ko Ni, as he was holding his grandchild. Despite this unexpected and seemingly insurmountable hurdle, I urge for progress towards Constitutional reform through potentially the establishment of a preparatory committee to study possible revision processes. Until the Constitution is reformed to provide for a truly civilian government, Myanmar cannot truly attain a full democracy.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The extent that human rights defenders as well as press members are monitored, surveilled, harassed, and intimidated is also a good barometer for measuring democratic space. Considering the number of former political prisoners in the ranks of Myanmar’s Cabinet and Parliament, it is disappointing to see the continued misuse of laws such as section 505 of the Penal Code and increasingly section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Act to suppress voices of dissent, including through arrest and imprisonment. Of particular concern are multiple cases of killings of civil society actors for their involvement in human rights work and activism, including several in recent months, as well as cases which remain unresolved even after years of relatives of victims demanding justice. Many of these cases relate to vested commercial interests or the military.

Myanmar has rich natural resources, but it is important that efforts to extract this bounty benefit all. I am concerned that individuals who have lived on land for generations continue to face evictions without proper safeguards and that communities continue to face severe health impacts and livelihood difficulties from environmental degradation associated with large scale mineral extraction. It is important that, the recent Environmental Impact Assessment Procedures, are systematically implemented and enforced, and that full advantage is taken of the welcome decision to suspend the issuance of jade mining licenses, to reform the legislative and policy framework governing the mining industry to ensure strong protections against environmental and human rights abuses. 

Mr. President,

I am extremely concerned by the escalation in conflict in Kachin and Shan States which is having a dramatic impact on civilians in these areas. Just a week ago, fighting broke out in Kokang self-administered zone, reportedly causing over ten thousand people to flee to cross the Chinese border in search of safety. I say “reportedly” as we do not know exact conditions. Since May 2016, the United Nations and other international organizations have been systematically denied authorization to deliver vital and in some cases lifesaving assistance to over 40,000 IDPs including those recently displaced. Even in areas controlled by the government access is becoming more difficult – additional layers of approvals have recently been required – including from the military. 

I also continue to receive reports of serious human rights violations committed by all parties to the conflict, including torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, sexual- and gender-based violence, arbitrary killings, and abductions, all of which frequently go uninvestigated. There has also been a worrying trend of reportedly indiscriminate attacks in or near civilian area. I condemn the apparent total disregard for civilian lives in the strongest terms and emphasize the need for all parties to take immediate steps to protect civilians, respect international human rights and humanitarian law and end the violence and for investigations into allegations to be conducted. 

Peace will be vital to the future development of Myanmar, and the peace process represents an opportunity to transform the country. To have this transformative effect, discussions need to be inclusive and to address complex issues related to underlying root causes. I welcome the increasing representation of women in the discussions, but hope the level of representation will reach a minimum of 30% across all groups, in the next conference. Civil society organizations must also be seen as vital partners to the process. Unfortunately the peace process at the moment appears to be at a stalemate – I call on all parties to increase efforts to advance the process. 

Distinguished Representatives,

You may be aware that one of my main concerns during my visit to Myanmar in January was reprisals. I raised concerns earlier of voices of dissent being suppressed including through arrest and imprisonment. And never have I felt more anxiety over potential acts of retaliation and reprisals than in Rakhine State during my visit. 

Myself and my predecessors have long raised concerns about Rakhine State, particularly the institutionalised discrimination faced by the Rohingya population and the inter-communal violence in 2012, as well as the general underdevelopment of the state and lack of opportunities for all communities. As you are all likely aware the situation in the state took on new dimensions on 9 October, when three Border Guard Police facilities were reportedly attacked, by groups of armed men in a coordinated manner, killing 9 members of the Myanmar Police Force. In response three townships were declared closed off with the launch of a security operation, with no access to independent media, and humanitarian programmes suspended. Following the launch of the security or clearance operations, reports began surfacing, increasingly and persistently regarding serious human rights violations, allegedly committed by the security forces. 

Reprisals was the main reason why I had asked to make a visit to Bangladesh where tens of thousands of the Rohingya population have fled from Rakhine State, and where they might feel less threatened to give me their accounts of what had happened during the clearance operations. In Cox’s Bazar, I met around 140 people from several villages in the north of Rakhine. I heard from them harrowing account after harrowing account. In my statement at the end of my mission to Bangladesh, I spoke about having been especially affected by a mother who repeatedly expressed regret for mistakenly thinking that her son had been brought out from their burning house. She heard him screaming for her and managed to save his life but burn scars have been seared onto him - scars which I saw with my own eyes. I wanted to share what I saw with you today. 

I heard allegation after allegation of horrific events like these – slitting of throats, indiscriminate shootings, setting alight houses with people tied up inside and throwing very young children into the fire, as well as gang rapes and other sexual violence. Even men, young and old, broke down and cried in front of me telling me about what they went through and their losses.

Putting these experiences together with the institutionalized discrimination and long-standing persecution of the Rohingya population which I have reported on previously, as well as the continuing action by the authorities to make their lives even more difficult – even as the clearance operations are taking place – which include by dismantling their homes and conducting a household survey where those absent may be struck of the list that could be the only legal proof of their status in Myanmar - indicates the government may be trying to expel the Rohingya population from the country altogether. I sincerely hope that that is not the case. 

Excellencies,

Myanmar has established several commissions to review the situation in Rakhine State, however I believe they have yet to discharge their investigative obligations. In the case of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the alleged human rights violations are outside the scope of their mandate. For other commissions, there are questions about the extent to which their investigations are “prompt, thorough, independent and impartial”. In particular, for investigations to be truly independent – members should be independent of any institution or agency that may be the subject of the inquiry. However, the Maungdaw Investigation Commission, whose members I was able to meet during my January visit, includes former members of the military and the currently serving Chief of the Myanmar Police Force. The commission also does not appear to have a robust methodology or policies in place to address key issues such as witness protection or documentation of evidence. 

The truth about whether all, or some, or any of these allegations are correct needs to be established. There is a need for a new set of investigations which are “prompt, thorough, independent and impartial”, and this needs to happen soon, before the evidence is compromised. In Myanmar’s pursuit of a fully democratic society, no stones must be left unturned. The alleged victims, as well as all the people of Myanmar deserve to know the truth. The international community must come together in expressing a strong and single voice in this regard, regardless of varying interests of individual member states. This is why I called for a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the systematic, structural, and institutional discrimination in policy, law and practice, as well long-standing persecution, against the Rohingya and other minorities in Rakhine State.

Prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations are not only needed in Rakhine, but also in conflict affected areas such as Kachin and Shan which are often overlooked and where serious violations, of a similar type to those in Rakhine, have been reported for many years. Yet many of these violations have also gone uninvestigated, with the situation in these areas worsening and still receiving little attention. For this reason, I have repeatedly requested to travel to Laiza and other areas in Kachin and Shan to speak to community members and IDPs but have been repeatedly denied, including during my most recent visit. That is also the reason why I recommended for this Council to hold a dedicated and urgent discussion to address the human rights violations occurring in other parts of the country including in Kachin and northern Shan.

Mr. President,

Following my visit to Bangladesh, I was a bit disappointed to hear that the Government of Myanmar has started to claim that I am unfair and biased. But I have to point out that the focus of my Bangladesh visit and related observations was to meet those who had fled from the north of Rakhine subsequent to the conduct of clearance operations there – and all those I met who had fled were Rohingya. 

Excellencies,

I would like to draw some attention to the joint benchmarks I have proposed as well as the suggested areas which remain to be explored for development of technical cooperation programmes. I remain convinced that Myanmar would highly benefit from establishing a fully-fledged OHCHR country office with proper resources and a full mandate to help with the provision of technical advice and assistance on human rights issues to the Government and people of Myanmar.

I want to end this statement by emphasizing that I have absolutely no reason whatsoever to present a biased, one-sided report. However, I have every reason to present the situation to reflect the reality, even if some may not like what I have to say.

I believe this Council expects me to do exactly that by entrusting me with this mandate. 

As I have always done, I present myself, and my mandate, as a source for support and assistance towards Myanmar’s aim of becoming a fully functioning democracy and aspiration to be respected in the international fora. 

Thank you for your attention.

By AFP

March 12, 2017

'Face of Buddhist terror' ordered into silence by top religious body as deepening anti-Muslim tensions rise.

A Myanmar monk infamous for his bilious anti-Muslim tirades has been banned from giving sermons for a year by the country's top Buddhist body, an unprecedented slapdown on a man whose hate speech has galvanised religious tensions. 

Wirathu, a monk once dubbed the "face of Buddhist terror", has led calls for restrictions on Myanmar's Muslim population, penning hyperbolic speeches warning of an Islamic takeover of the overwhelmingly Buddhist country. 

Myanmar is gripped by deepening religious tensions that have repeatedly spilled into violence. 

The unrest has been partially attributed to anti-Muslim rhetoric spread by Wirathu's wing of Buddhist monks. 

Aung San Suu Kyi's government is under strong international pressure to explain a bloody crackdown on the Muslim Rohingya minority in Rakhine state over recent months. 

The February assassination of Ko Ni, a respected and high-profile Muslim lawyer and long-time Suu Kyi ally, also heightened tensions. 

Wirathu, who draws large crowds to his stock-in-trade Islamophobic speeches or social media posts, had already been barred from speaking at an event shortly after Ko Ni's murder. 

But a special meeting of the country's most senior monks - the State Sangha Maha Nayaka - on Friday decided to ban all of his sermons. 

"As he has repeatedly delivered hate speech against religions to cause communal strife and hinder efforts to uphold the rule of law", the monk "was banned from delivering sermons across Myanmar for one year from March 10, 2017 to March 9, 2018", the council said in a statement that emerged on Saturday. 

He will face "action under the rule of law" for any breach of the order, the Sangha added, without specifying the punishment. 

Aung San Win, the director of the Ministry of Religion, confirmed the order to AFP news agency, but did not elaborate on the actions that may be taken against him, or say whether the order covered his vigorous social media profile. 

Muslims make up about 5 percent of Myanmar's population. 

Religious riots have roiled the country in recent years, killing scores of people - the majority of them Muslims. 

The worst violence has been in Rakhine, where tens of thousands of Rohingya fled a military crackdown after deadly raids on police border posts.

By Jonah Fisher

BBC News

March 12, 2017

When soldiers went searching for militants in Myanmar's Rakhine state last October, the result for members of the Rohingya minority was disastrous. Villages were burned, men were killed, women were sexually abused. And when one woman complained of rape, she was accused of lying by the office of the country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and hounded by vengeful soldiers.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, 25-year-old Jamalida Begum tells me what happened in the days after her husband was shot dead in the village of Pyaung Pyaik, north-western Myanmar.

Jamalida fled with her two children and watched from a distance as the army set houses in the village on fire. Satellite images confirm that at least 85 buildings were destroyed. 

Five days later she returned with some of her neighbours to find her belongings and home destroyed. They sheltered together in one of the few homes that had survived - but at dawn the next day the soldiers came back.

"They chose 30 women. Half were young girls aged between 12 and 15," says Jamalida.

The soldiers took them to the village school.

"Then they chose four from among the 30," Jamalida says.

"It was me and three teenage girls. Then we were separated. The army took me to the east of the school near the pond. Another seven soldiers took the other three girls to the hill to the south of the school.

"They shouted at me to open my shirt and my thami (wrap-around skirt). When I refused they started beating me, grabbed my clothes and pushed me to the ground. Three soldiers raped and tortured me for an hour. Blood came out of my lower part and my legs got cramped. They punched me into the eyes saying I was staring at them. It turned my eyes red like fire coal. They left me bleeding and drove away in their Jeeps."

The soldiers were sent into northern Rakhine state to conduct "clearance operations" after militants from Jamalida's ethnic group, the Rohingya, launched an attack on three Burmese police posts on 9 October last year - killing nine officers and seizing guns and ammunition.

A wave of reports of human rights abuses followed, including scores of allegations of rape.

For weeks Myanmar's human rights icon turned leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, denied the allegations, insisting soldiers were adhering to the law, while at the same time refusing to allow independent journalists or observers to access the area.

But as the outcry grew she set up an investigation team, and on 11 December it reached Pyaung Pyaik.

Though initially reluctant, Jamalida was persuaded to speak by the only woman on the team, Dr Thet Thet Zin, the chairman of Myanmar's Women's Affairs Federation.

"She said we won't harm you, bring us the raped and tortured women," Jamalida says. "So I went there and told her everything and they recorded it."

Jamalida's interaction with the investigation team was filmed and several minutes of it broadcast on television. It is extraordinary footage, not just because of the way Jamalida is browbeaten by the translators, but because the Burmese state broadcaster didn't translate what Jamalida is saying to the investigators in the Rohingya language.

Once fully translated, it's clear that Jamalida is describing strong circumstantial evidence that rape has taken place. She tells them she saw three young Rohingya women being taken off into the bushes by soldiers.

"Did you see if those women were raped or not?" the translator asks. 

"I did not," Jamalida replies.

"So, it isn't true," the translator fires back.

"Yes and no," Jamalida says. "They were bleeding directly from here". She points between her legs.

"Don't say that, don't say that, don't say that they are bleeding, just say whether you've seen rape or not," the translator replies.

The translator tells the investigators that Jamalida did not see the women being raped.

Jamalida is also asked directly whether she herself was raped. She tells the investigators that soldiers took her away, stripped her naked and molested her, but says it was "hands only" and not rape.

The translator says: "She wasn't raped."

Here things get complicated.

Ten days later Jamalida is filmed again. This time, a group of handpicked journalists have been brought by the government to Pyaung Pyaik.

Initially none of the Rohingya want to speak to them so someone goes to get Jamalida. She tells the journalists the same story of army abuse again, except this time it changes and she says she was raped.

This discrepancy, between being stripped and molested and being raped, was immediately seized on by Aung San Suu Kyi's office, which was at the time running an aggressive campaign rubbishing foreign and social media reports of atrocities in Rakhine State as "fake news".

Jamalida's face was suddenly on Burmese television and state media once again, now paraded as a liar.

Aung San Suu Kyi's Facebook page called her story an example of "Fake Rape"in a big picture banner.

So what's the truth? When I speak to Jamalida her testimony is detailed and convincing. It matches what she told the journalists and what she said to the investigators apart from that one detail. I believe her when she says she was raped.

I ask Jamalida about the difference in her accounts 10 days apart. She insists that she did tell the government investigators she was raped but that one of the translators was shouting and threatening to beat her. If she did tell the investigators this, it's possible Burmese TV chose not to broadcast this part of her testimony.

"I know they told everyone we weren't raped, tortured or anything," says Jamalida. "We do not have justice in our own country."

The promise made by Thet Thet Zin that no-one would face reprisals for speaking out, turned out to be hollow.

When soldiers came looking for her, she fled to a different village. Then, after speaking to the journalists, she realised it was not safe even there.

"The military were searching for me by getting all the women together in the yard and then showing them my picture," says Jamalida. "I was so scared I hid in the jungle." 

Unable to take it any longer, the young widow fled across the River Naf into Bangladesh - one of more than 70,000 Rohingya to have arrived in the last few months.

I spoke to Thet Thet Zin on the phone. She said that although she couldn't remember meeting Jamalida, the soldiers must have been searching for her to protect rather than harass her. She added that she had seen no conclusive evidence of rape and that she doubted it had happened, as it went against Buddhist culture and tradition. (While the Rohingya are Muslim, most of Myanmar's soldiers are Buddhist.)

Bangladesh is now the best place to go to learn what is happening in northern Rakhine state, which is closed to journalists. Even the UN's special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, has had very limited access.

"I didn't think that I would say this out loud, that it's crimes against humanity," she says, when we meet in the airport at Cox's Bazaar.

"I think that the military needs to bear [responsibility] but at the end of the day it is the civilian government that has to answer and respond to these massive cases of horrific torture and very inhumane crimes that they have committed against their own people."

On Monday Yanghee Lee will urge the UN Human Rights Council to set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the abuses against the Rohingya.

As dusk began to fall at the Kutupalong refugee camp, where I met Jamalida Begum, I ask her what she thinks of Aung San Suu Kyi.

"She is doing nothing at all for us," she says. "If she was good, we wouldn't have to suffer so much in that country. Since she is in power Myanmar is hell for us."

Suu Kyi's power to stop the army abuses is limited, under the terms of the constitution drafted by the military. The spokesman for her party told me the UN claims were "an exaggeration" and the Rohingya issue was "an internal affair".

But Aung San Suu Kyi hasn't been to northern Rakhine State, and has never visited a Rohingya camp. In short, Myanmar's Nobel peace prize winner has given no indication to the Rohingya that she really cares.

Jonah Fisher's report was a joint investigation by Our World and Newsnight