Myanmar rejects Human Rights Watch’s unfounded Rakhine conflict report

Myanmar rejects Human Rights Watch's unfounded Rakhine conflict report

Published on Monday, 22 April 2013 16:44

Myanmar government will not accept one-sided report on Rakhine conflict issue written by Human Rights Watch, government spokesman Ye Htut who is deputy information minister posted on his Facebook account on April 22.

The Human Rights Watch issued Rakhine conflict report on April 22.

Ye Htut wrote in his Facebook account that the government formed an investigation commission as to Rakhine conflict and it comprised experts of good reputation and respectable persons from two ethnic societies. The report is being compiled following several field trips to the conflict-affected areas. The words and usages contained in the Human Rights Watch's groundless report are unacceptable to Myanmar government. Myanmar government will place special emphasis on the findings and suggestions of the officially-organized commission regardless of the Human Rights Watch's report.

As Rakhine State Government is keeping a close watch on how the conflict situation develops, it is well aware of the communal violence. The Human Rights Watch issued the one-sided report mistakenly. The true situation is wrongly assessed, Rakhine State's attorney-general Hla Thein said.

Human Rights Watch, based in New York, released a statement on the Rakhine violence today.

In the statement, the organisation accused the Myanmar authorities and Buddhist monks of having their role in ethnic cleansing against the Muslims in Rakhine State.

Rakhine State Parliament MP Aung Mya Kyaw of Rakhine Nationalities Development Party said the HRW's statement was unfounded and unacceptable.

Aung Mya Kyaw said: "This is unfair. Our party does not accept the statement at all. All the local people in Rakhine State know the incidents from A to Z. The violence did not occur racially or religiously. It happened between those who want to seize the territory and those who want to defend that territory. Ethnic cleansing is not the matter of that issue."

Dr U Maung, vice chairman of the Arakan League for Democracy, said: "I don't know whether the HRW's wording is linked to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. We will say that their use of term 'Rohingya' is wrong."

"We don't have Rohingyas in our country. We can only say that they are Bangladeshi or foreign Bengalis. Now, the words used by this group have reached the level of hurting the country and its people. [They] often kept saying ethnic cleaning. Actually, it's not a racial or religious issue. It's called communal violence… Politically, it includes competition of groups living inside the country and abroad. We have been living together with Muslims since a long time ago and we didn't have any problems. The group will know if they come [to Myanmar]," said Dr U Maung.

Coincidentally, the report came out on the day the European Union is meeting to review the restrictions imposed on Myanmar.

It also came out a day before the Rakhine Issue Investigation Commission, formed by President Thein Sein, release their final report to the public.

"The action of the Human Rights Watch for releasing the report in sync with the European Union's meeting on removing restrictions imposed on Myanmar," Ye Htut wrote on Facebook.

"Although there are some who criticized [Myanmar] quoting the Human Rights Watch's report, [you can see]Myanmar has been praised recently for its human rights progress by the US which promotes human rights activities around the world," said Zaw Htay, the director for the President's Office on his Facebook page on April 22.

The human rights report released on April 19 by the US Department of State also said Myanmar made progress on its human rights.

As he released this year's Human Rights Report, Secretary John Kerry said one of the bright spots is Myanmar, where democratic reform and better human rights protections are ending years of isolation.

"Has it reached where we want it to be? No. But it's on the road. It's moving," he said. "And by starting to embrace universal rights, the Myanmar government has opened the doors to a stronger partnership with their neighborhood and with countries around the world."

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/04/22/myanmar-rejects-human-rights-watchs-unfounded-rakhine-conflict-report/