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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – US Vice President Mike Pence has criticized the Myanmar army for persecuting Rohingya Muslims at a meeting with the country's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on Wednesday, and S & H. He is enthusiastic about the fact that those responsible for this violence are held responsible.
Myanmar State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi and US Vice President Mike Pence hold a bilateral meeting in Singapore on November 14, 2018. REUTERS / Athit Perawongmetha
"The violence and persecution of the soldiers and militiamen who drove 700,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh are without excuse," he told Suu Kyi during a brief meeting with the media before they are entering private talks on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in Singapore.
"I look forward to hearing about the progress you are making in empowering those responsible for the violence that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and created such suffering, including loss of life," he said. he adds.
He added that Washington also wanted to know the progress made to allow the Rohingya to voluntarily return to the Rakhine State of western Myanmar from large refugee camps in southern Bangladesh. where they live now.
The United States accused the military of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya, a largely worshiped Muslim minority in Myanmar, which is largely Buddhist. United States-mandated investigators have accused the army of having launched a campaign of killings, rapes and arson with "genocidal intent".
ARREST OF JOURNALISTS
Myanmar said its operations in Rakhine were a legitimate response to Rohingya insurgency attacks against security forces last August.
Suu Kyi, answering Pence, said, "Of course, people have different points of view, but the point is that you should exchange these points of view and try to understand yourself better."
"In one way, we can say that we understand our country better than any other country and I am sure you will say the same as you, that you understand your country better than anyone," she added. .
This week, Amnesty International withdrew Suu Kyi's most prestigious human rights award, accusing her of perpetuating human rights abuses by not denouncing violence against her. against Rohingya.
Once hailed as a champion of the struggle for democracy, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1991 was deprived of a series of international awards for the exodus of the Rohingyas.
Mr Pence also said that Washington wanted to see a free and democratic press in Myanmar and that the imprisonment of two journalists last year was "deeply troubling" for millions of Americans.
"In America, we believe in our democratic institutions and ideals, including a free and independent press," he said.
He did not mention by name Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters journalists who were arrested in Yangon in December 2017. They were found guilty of breaking the law on official secrets and sentenced to seven years in prison.
On November 5, the lawyers of the two Reuters reporters filed an appeal against their conviction.
At the time of their arrest in December, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim villagers during an army-led crackdown in the country. Rakhine State. Reuters released its investigation of the massacre on February 8.
Written by John Chalmers; Edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan
