Police under probe over crimes against Rohingya Muslims

UN report says security forces had committed mass killings and gang rapes of the Rohingyas

Myanmar is to investigate whether police have committed abuses against Rohingya Muslims, the government has said, after officials promised that allegations of atrocities against members of the Muslim minority would be looked into.

The UN human rights office said in a report this month Myanmar’s security forces had committed mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya Muslims and burnt their villages since October in a campaign that “very likely” amounted to crimes against humanity and possibly ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar has denied almost all allegations of human rights abuses in northern Rakhine State, where many Rohingya A Malaysian aid ship anchored off Bangladesh yesterday bringing relief goods for some of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who’ve fled Myanmar.

Military spokesman Shaheenul Islam said Bangladesh welcomed the ship that anchored near Sonadia island off the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar.

Islam said the government was taking all the necessary procedures to unload the ship’s goods and transport them by road to Teknaf, the sub-district in Cox’s Bazar that borders Myanmar. live, and says a lawful counterinsurgency campaign has been under way since nine policemen were killed in attacks on security posts near the Bangladesh border on October 9.

The military said last week it was setting up a team to investigate alleged atrocities by the security forces and the interior ministry followed that up on the weekend with a promise to investigate police.

The Home Ministry said in a statement a “departmental inquiry” would be conducted “to find out whether the police forces have committed illegal actions including violations of human rights during their area clearance operations”.

The ministry, which is controlled by the military, said action would be taken against personnel “who failed to follow instructions”.

“The UN report provides many detailed accounts of what allegedly happened, and that’s why an investigation committee was set up to respond to the report with evidence,” Police Colonel Myo Thu Soe said yesterday. “It includes very serious human rights abuses allegations against police in Myanmar including rape. But as we know, it did not happen.”

- Reuters