Myanmar's new Rohingya group disappoints nationalists and rights groups



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The new Myanmar inquiry commission to investigate the atrocities committed in Rakhine State was criticized Tuesday by groups in the country who deny having been abused. President Win Myint's office unveiled Monday a four-person commission that he called "a part of his national initiative to address reconciliation, peace, stability and development in Rakhine."

"The Independent Commission will investigate allegations of human rights violations and related issues following the ARSA terrorist attacks," he said, referring to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, an armed group Rohingya.

The commission will be composed of two members of Myanmar and two international members. – The former Philippine Deputy Foreign Secretary, Rosario Manalo, and Kenzo Oshima, former Ambassador of Japan to the UN – President of

The two commissioners of Myanmar are the lawyer Mya Thein and Aung Tun Thet, economist and former UN official

Aung Tun Thet, who already plays a key role in Myanmar's response to the Rakhine crisis, in April, a newspaper in Bangladesh welcoming 800 000 Rohingya refugees said that Myanmar had "no intention of ethnic cleansing".

The new commission was launched following the international condemnation of a campaign of violence by Myanmar forces against the Rohingya, including murders, torture, rape and village fires in Rakhine in response to attacks by the ARSA on August 25, 2017.

Security forces also conducted a series of violence against Rohingya communities in Maungdaw District of Rakhine. attack by the same militant group in October 2016.

Together, the two campaigns killed more than 6,000 people and drove about 800,000 Rohingyas from the country and across the border into Bangladesh. where they now live in sprawling IDP camps.

Human rights groups and UN officials collected testimonies from refugees who, with near-uniformity, describe atrocities. The government and the army have defended "mine clearance operations" as a counter-insurgency against ARSA terrorists and have consistently denied that the security forces have committed most of the atrocities committed against them. the Rohingyas, despite widespread reports and credible evidence, including multiple satellite images of burnt villages.

Hostility of Rakhines, MPs supported by the army

Myanmar politicians questioned Tuesday by the FRG condemned the group and expressed resentment at the idea of ​​allowing to foreigners to access a commission on the Rohingya who were demonized as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh while they had been living in Myanmar for generations.

"The government ignored the Rakhine people, and it did what it wants," said legislator Aung Thaung Shwe of the Arakan National Party (ANP), which represents the Buddhist population in Rakhine. The villagers of Rakhine were accused of having encouraged the attacks of the army against the Rohingyas.

"This commission comes from the suggestions of the Kofi Annan Commission and we do not accept it," he said, referring to a previous group. "It is not fair to investigate human rights violations as a result of the ARSA terrorist attacks, instead of investigating the attacks and the attacks. killings of the ARSA, "said MP Thaung Aye of the army. Party of Solidarity and Development of the Union (USDP)

Nanda Hla Myint, spokesperson of the USDP, reiterated the opposition of the party to the inclusion of foreigners in the commission

In the state of Rakhine, we began to worry about having more complications in the internal affairs and the international pressure, "he said to FRG

.

"It is better to have experts from the commission of Japan and the Philippines who come from our neighboring countries. The problem will be solved to some extent if they work hard and impartially, I hope, "said U Thu Wai, leader of the Democratic Party.

A deputy deputy leader of the Aung San Suu Kyi, National League for Democracy, Khin San Hlaing, told Germany: "We should believe in these foreign experts in the commission according to their biographies that show that they have a good international reputation."

Al-Haj Aye Lwin, head of the Islamic Center of Myanmar and member of the Kofi Annan Commission said that he welcomed the formation of the commission as a "good step."

" We must see what he will do, "he told FRG." The commission must meet the powerful military, the ANP and local civic and government groups. "

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, denied the commission in a report. "

" Aung San Suu Kyi does not does not even contend that his latest "investigation" of mass atrocities against the Rohingya will be credible. A member of the investigative team she just named – Aung Tun Thet – denied that the ethnic cleansing even took place, "he wrote

Kyaw Thu, Khin Khin Ei and Win Ko Ko Lat for Myanmar Service of FRG Translated by Khet Mar. Written by Paul Eckert

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