Report documents evidence of attacks on Rohingya

By Kyaw Ye Lynn

YANGON, Myanmar

A Rohingya advocacy group urged the government of Myanmar on Tuesday to cooperate with a UN fact-finding mission as it presents new evidence of attacks against Muslim civilians in western Rakhine state.

The London-based Burmese Rohingya Organization U.K. (BROUK) published a new report that contains evidence Rohingya have been targeted in an organized manner by state forces in northern Rakhine state during military operations since last October.

“What is new about the material contained in this report is that it documents, through photographs, testimony and forensic analysis, physical evidence of attacks against civilians,” BROUK said in its report.

The report was based on more than two dozen interviews with Rohingya refugees in the Cox’s Bazar region of Bangladesh, who fled the Maungdaw area last year.

Evidence of gunshots and other weapon wounds were checked against information collected by international groups working in the refugee camps, according to the report.

BROUK urged the government to further investigate the physical evidence of abuses against civilians in the area.

“The government should cooperate with the UN fact finding mission into the violence that took place following October 9th,” it said.

It added that the need for full accountability and justice is essential not only for the Rohingya community but to the broader process of reconciliation in Rakhine state.

The UN Human Rights Council decided in March to send an international fact-finding mission to Myanmar to investigate atrocities against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine but the government rebuffed that decision, saying it does not reflect the situation on the ground.