Suu Kyi says abuse not tolerated
Concerned by Rohingya exodus
NAYPYITAW: Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday condemned any human rights violations in troubled Rakhine State and said anyone responsible would face the law, and that she felt deeply for the suffering of everyone caught up in the conflict there.
The Nobel Peace laureate’s remarks came in her first address to the nation since attacks by Rohingya Muslim insurgents on August 25 sparked a military response that has forced more than 410,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh.
She said Myanmar did not fear international scrutiny and was committed to a sustainable solution to the strife.
The United Nations has branded the military operation in the western state ethnic cleansing. Suu Kyi did not address that accusation but said her Government was committed to the rule of law.
‘‘We condemn all human rights violations and unlawful violence. We are committed to the restoration of peace and stability and rule of law throughout the state,’’ Suu Kyi said in her address in the capital, Naypyitaw.
Long feted in the West for her role as champion of Myanmar’s democratic opposition in the Buddhistmajority country during years of military rule and house arrest, Suu Kyi has faced growing criticism for saying little about the abuses faced by the Rohingya.
The United States yesterday urged the Myanmar Government to end military operations in Rakhine, grant humanitarian access, and commit to aiding the safe return of civilians to their homes.
Myanmar’s powerful military remains in full charge of security and Suu Kyi did not comment on the military operations, except to say that there had been ‘‘no armed clashes and there have been no clearance operations’’ since September 5.
‘‘Nevertheless, we are concerned to hear that numbers of Muslims are fleeing across the border to Bangladesh,’’ she said.
‘‘We want to find out why this exodus is happening.’’
Rights monitors and fleeing Rohingya say the army and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes have mounted a campaign of arson aimed at driving out the Muslim population.
Myanmar rejects that, saying its security forces are carrying out operations to defend against the insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which claimed responsibility for the August 25 attacks and for smaller assaults.
The Government has declared ARSA a terrorist organisation and accused it of setting the fires and attacking civilians.
Western diplomats and aid officials attending the address welcomed Suu Kyi’s message, although some wondered if she had said enough to end the global criticism.
‘‘We have to take the speech at face value,’’ Paul Edwards, deputy representative of the UN children’s agency in Myanmar, said.
‘‘But of course, none of us really knows what’s happening there,’’ he said.
Suu Kyi (72) did not use the term Rohingya to refer to the Muslim minority in Rakhine but said her Government had been making every effort to restore peace and stability and to promote harmony between the Muslim and largely Buddhist ethnic Rakhine communities.
Suu Kyi said her Government was committed to the swift implementation of recommendations made by an advisory team led by former UN secretarygeneral Kofi Annan.
Annan’s panel recommended last month the acceleration of a citizenship verification process and, in the longer term, a review of the citizenship law, which makes a link between citizenship and ethnicity and leaves most Rohingya stateless. — Reuters