Myanmar to investigate mass grave, as it bans UN rapporteur

This can only be viewed as a strong indication that there must be something terribly awful happening in Rakhine YANGHEE LEE UN special rapporteur

Myanmar’s military says an investigation has begun after the discovery of 10 bodies in a mass grave in Rakhine state.

The bodies were found on Monday near a cemetery in the village of Inn Din.

Meanwhile, the United Nations human rights agency said the Myanmar government was denying a special rapporteur access to the country.

The government had informed UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee that it was denying her access to the country for the rest of her tenure.

Ms Yanghee had been due to visit Myanmar next month to look into human rights abuses against Rohingya in Rakhine.

“This declaration can only be viewed as a strong indication that there must be something terribly awful happening in Rakhine, as well as in the rest of the country,” she said.

Ms Yanghee said she hoped the government would reconsider its decision.

More than 630,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since security forces in neighbouring Myanmar launched a violent crackdown against them on August 25, prompting Asia’s worst refugee crisis in decades.

The UN and US accuse Myanmar’s military of human rights violations against Rohingya in Rakhine, including murder, rape and the burning of homes. The UN has condemned the violence against Rohingya as ethnic cleansing.

Medecins Sans Frontieres said last week it had conducted a field survey that found at least 6,700 Rohingya Muslims were killed between August and September.

International rights groups blame the government and military for their unwillingness to investigate any wrongdoing by government officials.

“It’s critical they accept the assistance of impartial, independent investigators and allow them to immediately travel to Inn Din to probe what happened and make a full report,” said Phil Robertson, Asian deputy director of Human Rights Watch.

The military said on Monday that action would be taken against those responsible.