Myanmar minister dismisses rape claims
> ‘Where is the proof?’ he questions when asked
YANGON: A Myanmar colonel has dismissed claims state soldiers raped Rohingya refugees as false – despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Colonel Phone Tint, a minister for border security in the northern districts of the country, questioned “would anyone want to rape them?” when asked to address the alleged atrocities committed by the army. “Where is the proof?” he told the BBC. “Look at those women who are making these claims – would anyone want to rape them?”
Earlier this year, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report alleged Rohingya women and girls as young as 13 had been raped and sexually assaulted by soldiers.
HRW said the army and border guard police took part in rape, gang rape, invasive body searches and sexual assaults against women and girls in at least nine villages in the Rohingya-dominated Maungdaw district in the final months of 2016.
The attacks were reportedly often carried out in groups, with women being held down or threatened at gunpoint by some men while others raped them.
Meanwhile, international pressure tightened on Myanmar on Monday, as United Nations rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said the violence seemed to be a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.
Hours after the warning, the Security Council announced it would meet today to discuss the crisis, which has heaped global opprobrium on Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
A Nobel peace laureate, Suu Kyi is the focal point of anger from rights groups and fellow Nobel laureates for her failure to speak up for the Rohingyas.
The ministry of foreign affairs, which she heads, said late on Monday Myanmar “welcomes the statements issued by the UN and a number of countries firmly condemning the terrorist attacks” without referencing the charge of ethnic cleansing.
It also defended the military’s operations as part of their “legitimate duty to restore stability”, saying troops were under orders “to exercise all due restraint, and to take full measures to avoid collateral damage”.
Britain and Sweden requested the urgent UN Security Council meeting amid growing international concern over the ongoing violence.
The announcement came after the White House broke its silence on the clashes, saying it was “deeply troubled” by attacks by both sides, including ambushes by militants on security posts in Rakhine. – The Independent/AFP