Arakan report sent to president, no release date announced

Rohingyas run away from a fire that was set to a part of Sittwe on 10 June 2012. (Reuters)

DVB News:

April 24, 2013

The government-appointed commission responsible for investigating two bouts of ethno-religious violence in Arakan state last year sent their completed report to President Thein Sein earlier this week; however, there has been no word on when or if the report will be released to the public.

According to a press release published on Tuesday, the commission will hold a news conference next week at the Myanmar Peace Centre in Rangoon to discuss their findings.

“A thorough analysis has been made of all, data collected to date. On 22 April 2013, the commission submitted its final report to the president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar,” said the commission in a press release.

“The commission considers that it has fulfilled these duties satisfactorily within its given mandate.”

The completed report was sent to the President Thein Sein one day after Human Rights Watch published its own independent investigation that provided detailed evidence of how government officials participated in ethnic cleansing against Arakan state’s Rohingya minority.

The government-mandated commission was established by presidential decree last August. The 27-member team was ordered to investigate the sectarian riots that erupted in June and again in October in Arakan state, displacing more than 120,000 people and leaving hundreds dead.

The commission had initially agreed to publish their report in September 2012 but after several delays extended their deadline to late April to allow the group to investigate the second round of violence that kicked off in late October 2012.

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