Responding to mounting reports of violence in northern Rakhine State, including the deaths of Buddhist and Rohingya villagers in the last week, Amnesty International’s Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific James Gomez said:
“The alarming reports of attacks in northern Rakhine State underscore the need for everyone operating in the area to refrain from violence before it spirals out of control.
“These latest attacks underscore the need for the Myanmar authorities to cooperate fully with the UN Fact-Finding Mission and allow them unfettered access to all parts the country. The people of Myanmar and the international community deserve to know the truth.
“The authorities’ pledge to respond to the latest killings in Rakhine with ‘intensive clearance operations’ is particularly worrying, given the scorched-earth tactics Amnesty International has documented during these operations in the past.
“While the Myanmar authorities have the duty to maintain law and order and investigate these attacks, they must ensure that these investigations are conducted in a fair and transparent manner, in accordance with international human rights law.”
For more of Amnesty International’s work on Myanmar, please see:
· Myanmar: Security forces target Rohingya during vicious Rakhine scorched-earth campaign
· Myanmar’s Borderlands on Fire
For more information, please contact Sue Montgomery, media relations for Amnesty International Canada, at 613-744-7667, ext. 236 or smontgomery@amnesty.ca
