صراط عشق صراط عشق
Independent UN human rights experts last week voiced grave concern over the killing and displacement of civilians in north-west Myanmar during the intensifying conflict between the military and the Arakan Army, a Buddhist rebel group calling for greater autonomy for Rakhine, the UN website reported.
“Civilians, including children, continue to bear the brunt of this escalating conflict, “said the UN rights experts, adding that “we are especially fearful for them as violence has increased in the areas where an internet shutdown was recently re-imposed”, mizzima told.
Local organisations say the conflict is reaching dangerous new heights away from public scrutiny: the government has imposed an internet blackout across nine conflict-hit townships in Rakhine and neighbouring Chin State.
“We are struggling to help civilians affected by conflict in Rakhine because of the dramatically increasing number of displaced people and a lack of access,” said Zaw Zaw Htun of the Rakhine Ethnic Congress, a humanitarian organisation based in the state capital, Sittwe.
Further, credible reports showed that fighting and possible use of heavy weapons occurred near ethnic Rakhine and Rohingya villages.
At least 17 students were injured last week when an artillery shell hit a school in a northern township, according to state-run media. The UN says there are near-daily reports of civilians killed or maimed, but aid access is curtailed in about half of Rakhine, according to The New Humanitarian.
“We are gravely concerned that children are being killed and injured, and that reports suggest weapons are being used indiscriminately, and precautions are not being taken to protect civilians and civilian objects such as schools and monasteries, in violation of international humanitarian law,” the experts said.
On the one hand, civilians continue to experience severe difficulties in moving around the conflict-affected area, particularly for those in need of assistance.
On the other hand, heavy restrictions on humanitarian access in Rakhine state remain and access for the media and human rights monitors is extremely limited.
“We call on all parties to the conflict to abide by international humanitarian law and international human rights law and protect civilians at all times,” said the experts.
The internet shutdown has severely impacted the human rights of over a million people in Rakhine state, including their rights to safety, security, health, education, food, shelter, livelihood, freedom of expression, information, participation, association and assembly.
The UN rights experts urged the Government to lift its restrictions and grant immediate access to the media, humanitarian organizations and human rights monitors. “The blanket suspension of mobile internet cannot be justified and must end immediately,” they said. The Rohingya Muslims primarily reside in Rakhine state in northern Myanmar, a majority Buddhist country.
More than 700,000 people from Rakhine fled to neighbouring Bangladesh following a reported military crackdown in August 2017 during which numerous alleged human rights abuses were committed, scoop told. In separate reports last year, a UN rights probe and Amnesty International accused the military of indiscriminate attacks on civilians, arbitrary arrests, torture, and executions. They say some of the abuses could amount to war crimes.
The ICJ in The Hague on January 23 imposed the emergency “provisional measures” on Myanmar regarding its actions against and treatment of the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state of the country.
The order may sound like incomprehensible legal jargon to any average person, but for many Rohingyas, it was probably one of the best news they ever received, after waiting for long to witness the international community take meaningful action to end their suffering, Tun Khin, president of Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, wrote.
The “World Court” of the United Nations, with this decision, effectively directed the Myanmar government, led by de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, to respect the requirements of the 1948 genocide convention and bring an end to its military crackdown on the Rohingya Muslims.
This was the first time that a credible international body said “enough” to the Myanmar government that has abused and oppressed the Rohingya Muslims for so many decades, he wrote, The Daily Star reported.
