Myanmar commission slams UN for ‘smear campaign’
YANGON: A Myanmar government commission that investigated allegations made by an international human rights organization and the media about the country’s security forces abusing the human rights of Muslim Rohingyas in Rakhine state has found these allegations to be “unproven” and denounced its critics, including the United Nations, for carrying out an international “smear campaign” against the country.
The 13- member Investigative Commission on Maungtaw in Rakhine state headed by Vice President U Myint Swe released its report at a press conference on August 6.
It said that it found no possible evidence indicating any crime against humanity or any acts of ethnic cleansing as alleged in a report by the United Nations Of in February this year.
But it called on the government to take urgent action and implement a long- term plan to address the problems plaguing Rankhine state, one of the poorest regions of Myanmar.
The commission gave 48 recommendations that include governance, national and border security measures to deal with the UN and international non-governmental organizations, citizenship - ters and religious affairs.
‘Unsubstantiated, exaggerated’
on interviews carried out in January 2017 with 204 Rohingya refugees who had fled the border to Bangladesh from Rankhine state. The government-commissioned report said that many of the stories of abuse included in that report were unsubstantiated, and exaggerated the numbers of deaths, injuries and displaced persons “with the intention of tarnishing the image of Myanmar internationally.”
report fails to describe the brutal Myanmar Vice President U Myint Swe acts and murders by terrorist organizations against members of in the Maungtaw area in October last year, or the indiscriminate killing and intimidation of natives and Muslim villagers, or terrorist training by terrorist organizations,” Myint Swe said
The vice president also described the attack of October 9, 2016 on the Border Guards Police Force headquarters and other police stations as an “act of rebellion” and the crackdown by the armed forces that followed as an “areacombing operation”.
In a statement issued from abroad, the Arakan Rohingya claimed that the government commission lacked independence and a proper mandate, and that the report was a ploy by the Myanmar government “to prevent an independent international investigation from delivering justice.”
The Union government of Aung San Suu Kyi has said that it will not grant visas to a UN investiga to visit Myanmar because it is not
Aung Kyi, a commission member and a retired Union minister, told the media that it was not possible to investigate some of the really never existed,” he said.
“Some of the cases are caused by misunderstandings, some are totally untrue and some are group- wise hatched lies. We are reluctant to make quick conclusions. But, the international community is making hasty decisions”.
had waited for the commission report, its report would have been more balanced. “Unfortunately, the report was issued in haste. This has enlarged the problem rather than solving it,” he noted.
Drug trafficking feeding insurgency
In a statement issued from the Netherlands, the European Rohingya government to allow the UN fact impartially investigate the violence”, but the government- appointed commission’s report indicates a wide gap between what the overseasbased Rohingya activists and their supporters say and what seem to be the ground reality.
The government commission visited the Maungtaw area many times and also refugee camps in report. The commission has also given time for anyone in the
In releasing the commission report, Myint Swe warned that the large quantities of narcotic drugs seized in Maungtaw region indicates the likelihood of illicit feeds the insurgency along with other illegal businesses.
The commission has recommended imposing “administra- tive restrictions” on people in Muangtaw area to prevent people whose citizenship has not been and extremism among the Muslim population in the state.
Aung Kyi has argued that Rohingya activists would like to establish a case of genocide so that their rebellion could be seen as legitimate under international law.
- mission scrutinized the actions of the Rohingya militants there was a clear path of how they collected arms and attacked security forces, looting arms and ammunition from the quarters of security forces and devising methods to prevent the armed forces from retrieving them. “They tried to concoct a made-up story of existence of genocide or racial cleansing in Rakhine state using the media. This sequence of actions indicates that they intend to fabricate a story in trying to support the accusations,” he said.
Foreign connections
The commission said that the group which describes itself as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation village in the area but lived most of his life overseas, especially received military training in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The report claims that this group is funded by Rohingyas who have fled the Maungtaw area and live mainly in the Middle East. Persons coming across the border from Bangladesh have also provided military training for ARSA members.
- eign connections” argues Aung Kyi. “But, we can’t say exactly whether those organizations are terrorist groups or not.”
Another commission member, the Young Men’s Christian Associa in Maungtaw area there are 1,278 mosques, 121 Buddhist monaster churches, and Muslims are allowed to say their prayers publicly. “These