Authorities in Burma accused over ethnic riots

HUMAN Rights Watch (HRW) has accused authorities in Burma’s western Rakhine state of crimes against humanity in the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims last year, charges the government dismissed as one-sided and “unacceptable”.

Security forces were complicit in disarming Rohingya Muslims of makeshift weapons and standing by, or even joining in, as Rakhine Buddhist mobs killed men, women and children in June and October 2012, New York-based HRW said.

The human rights abuses took place despite widespread political, social and economic reforms by a quasi-civilian government that took power in Burma in March 2011 and convinced the West to suspend most sanctions to allow aid and investment into one of Asia’s poorest countries.

“While the state security forces in some instances intervened to prevent violence and protect fleeing Muslims, more frequently they stood aside during attacks or directly supported the assailants, committing killings and other abuses,” the report said of the unrest, in which at least 110 people died.

More than 120,000 people fled arson and machete attacks in Rakhine state and thousands have set out for other countries, where they are prey to human trafficking gangs.

The failure to investigate properly or punish state officials had emboldened those behind campaigns against Muslims elsewhere, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at HRW, referring to violence in central Burma that killed more than 43 people in March and displaced at least 12,000.

Ye Htut, Burma’s deputy minister of information, dismissed the report, saying: “Its words are unacceptable. The government is not going to give any special consideration to a one-sided report.”