A Rohingya woman
and her child at a makeshift camp outside Sittwe in Myanmar's western Rakhine
State. Photo: IRIN
11 June 2013
The
fatal shooting of three Rohingya women is the latest example of law enforcement
officials operating with complete impunity in western Myanmar, an independent
United Nations expert today said, calling on Government authorities to
investigate the incident.
“The human rights
violations being committed against the Rohingya in Rakhine State are widespread
and systematic and there continues to be absolutely no accountability for what
is occurring there,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights
situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana.
Calling for
authorities to investigate all reported violations of human rights against the
minority group, he added that there is no way of “glossing over this state of
affairs” with the genuine progress that is being made in other areas.
The police
reportedly fired indiscriminately on 4 June into a crowd of Rohingyas
protesting peacefully against the proposed location of new shelters in Pa Rein
village. Their homes had been destroyed last year during inter-communal
violence. In addition to the three women killed, at least five other people
were reportedly injured.
Mr. Ojea Quintana
said Government authorities have “an obligation to conduct prompt, thorough and
impartial investigations” into such accidents and hold those responsible to
account.
Since the violence
in Rakhine State erupted last June, “I have seen absolutely no evidence that
the Government is fulfilling this obligation,” he added.
In his report to
the Human Rights Council in March, the Special Rapporteur said he had received
consistent and credible allegations of a wide range of human rights violations
being committed against the Rohingya and wider Muslim population in Rakhine
State. These include “sweeps” against Muslim villages, arbitrary detentions,
sexual assault and torture.
Restating the offer
he made in the report, Mr. Ojea Quintana said that if the Rakhine Investigation
Commission fails to properly address such allegations of human rights
violations, he will offer his support to the Government to pursue further
investigations.
“I reiterate my
offer of support to the Government to address the impunity which is enabling
widespread and systematic human rights violations to continue against the most
vulnerable of all ethnic minority groups in Myanmar,” he noted.
The President of
the Human Rights Council, Remigiusz Henczel, is expected this week to make a
statement on Myanmar.
Independent
experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human
Rights Council to examine and report back, in an unpaid capacity, on specific
human rights themes.
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