The Regional Director of East and Southeast Asia at Amnesty International, Nicholas Bequelin, stated, “Less than two years since the world outrage over the mass atrocities committed against the Rohingya population, the Myanmar military is again committing horrific abuses against ethnic groups in Rakhine State.”
The conflict in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state escalated in January after 13 police officers were killed by the Arakan Army in a coordinated attack by prompting the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi to order the armed forces to “crush” the group, which recruits from the largely-Buddhist ethnic Rakhine community. Amnesty, in its new report on Wednesday, stated that its investigations showed war crimes and human rights violations committed by military troops implicated in past atrocity crimes, including specific divisions and battalions under the Rakhine-based Western Command against the Rohingya in August 2017.
More than 730,000 Rohingya, a minority ethnic group, were denied citizenship by Myanmar, driven into Bangladesh in the bloody crackdown in 2017. A United Nations fact-finding mission called for the prosecution of top Myanmar generals for the crimes against humanity and genocide over the violence. The latest unrest, with the military now focusing its attention on The Arakan Army, a group of an estimated 7,000 fighters, are battling for greater autonomy, and with the military now focusing its attention on them in the latest unrest, has driven more than 30,000 people from their homes, according to Amnesty.
The report stated that the army was involved in at least seven unlawful attacks that killed 14 civilians and wounded 29. In one incident in late January, a seven-year-old boy was denied access to emergency medical treatment following a mortar attack resulting in his death. The report also detailed abuses against Rohingya, including a helicopter attack on civilians cutting bamboo. At least six people, including boys, were killed and 13 wounded.
The government has responded to the reports of military abuses by restricting access to Rakhine and clamping down on the media. Criminal complaints have been filed against at least three Myanmar-language media. The seven soldiers convicted of involvement in those killings have been given early release having served less than a year of their 10-year sentences.
