Image via Thai Government]
By Melissa Stusinski
The Inquisitr
April 24, 2013
Myanmar President Thein Sein received a peace prize on Monday, despite reports that he
participated in, or at least endorsed, ethnic cleansing in the country.
While Myanmar has been celebrated for his quick democratization, not
everything is going well for its people. The Rohyngya have steadily attempted
to escape from the country amid escalating violence aimed at them.
A new Human Rights Watch report on Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing of the
Rohingya people was released this weekend. The HRW’s report was made on the
sectarian violence that struck in Arakan state last year.
While more than 200 people were killed in the region, more than 125,000
were made homeless through mass arson, looting, and cold-blooded murder. The
fighting erupted between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and the stateless Muslim
Rohingya.
The Human Rights Watch accused the Rakhine in the report of instigating
the bloodshed. It also implicated state authorities for allowing the group tocontinue with no resistance. More
violence against the ethnic Muslims erupted last month, threatening the
country’s stability.
But despite the report from the HRW, the International Crisis Group
presented Sein with their “In Pursuit of Peace” award. The ceremony was hosted by ICG
President Louise Arbour, who also served as a UN high commissioner for human
rights.
Arbour was also a lead prosecutor for the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda. On its website, the ICG
praised Sein, saying:
“Since taking office in March 2011, President U Thein Sein of Myanmar has
pioneered a historic transformation of his country with bold reform
initiatives. His leadership has seen decisive action towards improving
Myanmar’s relations with the political opposition and liberalizing past
repressive laws.”
But not everyone in the international community agreed with the ICG’s
assessment of Sein.
Along with the Human Rights Watch, hacktivist collective Anonymous,
along with several others, have called for support for the Rohingya. The HRW’s
report instead blames some in Sein’s government and Bhuddist monks for carrying
out the systematic campaign to cleans Rohingya Muslims from the Rakhine state.
As for Sein’s part in the matter, the Myanmar president stated in July
2012 that the “only solution” to the violence in Rakhine state would be to
expel “illegal” Rohingya from the country.
Do you think Thein Sein deserves the peace prize for democracy in
Myanmar, or should he instead be investigated for war crimes against the
Rohingya?
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