By The Stateless
October 17, 2014
When a country has no rule of law, a country where every government officer is above the law, and a country where the majority ethnic group is above its sister minorities, the killings become an easier and common practice. It is the country none other than Burma also known as Myanmar which is branded and promoted as ‘Democratic’ after more than 50 years of dictatorships.
Rohingya, is a common scapegoat minority which has been under the programme of extrajudicial killings under the hands of Burmese Police, Border Security Guards and armed forces ever since the status of Rohingya is systematically altered from being a recognized Burmese ethnic minority group to a complete stateless.
It is the distinguished characteristics of Rohingya (being Muslim and difference in appearance) and the laws that remove the right to be citizen, the right to freedom of religion, the right to freedom of movement, the right to freedom of education, the right to freedom of marriage, and so forth, attract the perpetrators towards the extrajudicial killings of Rohingya in pure impunity.
The extrajudicial killings of Rohingya have been proven over and over again, especially since the beginning of the state sponsored Rohingya ethnic cleansing programme started in 2012. There are thousands of Rohingya people, young and old, literate and illiterate have been disappeared under the programme of the extrajudicial killings. There are thousands of families who are waiting for the news of one’s husband, one’s brother, one’s father and one’s friends who are mercilessly and lawlessly killed and disappeared.
A recent example is the killing of 32 years old Abu Toyyib who is a native of Nashaa Fru village in the northern part of Maungdaw township. He was arrested and tortured brutally by Burmese Border Guard in Nagpura Village for three days until he died in agony from the treatments he received from the officers on 16th October, 2014.
The only crimes he has committed are, being a Rohingya, having a beard and having a family of three to support who have now lost their main support making them to be more susceptible to exploitation and pessimism.
The administrator of Nashaa Fru village has been warned by the officers not to report about the death of Abu Toyyib to any media, and if so, he too will be punished.
One of the main reasons for lack of news or reporting on the extrajudicial killings of Rohingya is the grave threatenings and heavy punishments that the officials imposed on Rohingya extrajudicially.