Pressure on Myanmar over Rakhine abuses

Allegations that Myanmar soldiers are killing, raping and torturing villagers in Rakhine, a restive region that is home to the persecuted Muslim Rohingya, must be independently investigated, rights groups said.
The US State Department said on Friday that it had also voiced concern to Myanmar’s foreign ministry about the reported rape of Rohingya Muslim women by soldiers.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a briefing that the United States wanted Myanmar to investigate the reported rapes and hold those responsible accountable.
Toner said earlier that the United States had raised the issue with the Myanmar foreign minister, but the State Department later issued a transcript of the briefing saying it had brought the issue up with “the foreign ministry,” not the foreign minister.
Northern Rakhine has been under a military lockdown since an attack on border guards three weeks ago left nine policeman dead.
The government has blamed the raids on Rohingya militants and a search for the culprits has seen more than 30 people killed and dozens arrested, according to official reports.
Stories of grave abuse by security officers — including sexual violence, summary executions and the torching of villages — have spiralled on social media but are difficult to verify with the army barring rights groups and journalists from the remote region bordering Bangladesh.
On Friday Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch joined calls for an impartial investigation into the allegations, which the UN has called “alarming and unacceptable.”
“If Myanmar’s security forces are not involved in any human rights violations as the authorities claim, then they should have no trouble granting independent observers access,” said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty’s Southeast Asia and Pacific director.

Source: Arab News