MYANMAR MILITARY ADMITS SOLDIERS MURDERED 10 ROHINGYA MEN

It says 4 members of the security forces helped kill 10 in custody

YANGON

AFTER months denying any wrongdoing, Myanmar has admitted its forces helped kill 10 Rohingya in custody in an apparent bid to blame a few rogue soldiers for what the global community alleges is part of an organised ethnic cleansing campaign.

Accounts of mass murder, rape and torture from the 655,000 Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh have horrified the world.

Since the August crackdown, the army vigorously denied any abuses, instead locking down access to Rakhine State and accusing critics, including the United Nations, of pro-Rohingya bias and spreading “fake news”.

Then on Wednesday, it suddenly changed tune: an internal probe found four members of the security forces helped kill 10 Rohingya militant suspects in Inn Din village on Sept 2, leaving their bodies in a hastily-dug pit.

“It was found that the incident was not reported to higher levels,” it said.

The acknowledgment, relayed on the Facebook page of the office of army chief Min Aung Hlaing, rippled out across the rights community.

“This grisly admission is a sharp departure from the army’s policy of blanket denial of any wrongdoing,” said James Gomez, Amnesty International’s regional director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

“However, it is only the tip of the iceberg,” he added, urging independent investigation into other allegations.

Some observers say the army move is an attempt to retake control of the story after rumours of extrajudical killings in Inn Din and the surrounding area began to seep out.

The admission came the same day as two Reuters journalists were charged by police in court with breaching the Official Secrets Act.

Myanmar nationals Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have widely covered the military campaign in Rakhine, although Reuters has declined to comment on whether they were reporting on the mass grave in Inn Din.

“The military’s admission demonstrates the culpability of soldiers and commanders in mass atrocities,” said Matthew Smith of Fortify Rights, suggesting the arrest of the journalists was a clumsy effort “to cover their tracks”.

The army said it would take action against the villagers and security forces involved, and any officers who failed to control their subordinates.

The European Union in Myanmar said the killings confirmed the need for a thorough and credible investigation into all violence incidents in Rakhine. AFP