Amnesty report reveals the brutal face of ‘hapless refugee’ Muslim Rohingyas who massacred Hindus
London, May 23: Based on dozens of interviews conducted in Rohingya camps and across the border in Bangladesh, as well as photographic evidence analyzed by forensic pathologists, the Amnesty International has revealed that Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) is responsible for at least one, and potentially a second, massacre of up to 99 Hindu women, men, and children as well as additional unlawful killings and abductions of Hindu villagers in August 2017, Amnesty International revealed those shocking details after carrying out a comprehensive investigation inside Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
“It’s hard to ignore the sheer brutality of ARSA’s actions, which have left an indelible impression on the survivors we’ve spoken to. Accountability for these atrocities is every bit as crucial as it is for the crimes against humanity carried out by Myanmar’s security forces in northern Rakhine State”, Tirana Hassan, Crisis Response Director at Amnesty International comments. Tirana says: “Our latest investigation on the ground sheds much-needed light on the largely under-reported human rights abuses by ARSA during northern Rakhine State’s unspeakably dark recent history."
NewsBharati first published the bestial attacks on Hindus by Muslim Rohingyas
Much before the global rights organization were aware of the massacre of Hindu Rohingyas, Prof. Chandan Kumar Sarkar, the Human Rights champion of Bangladesh and head of Research and Empowerment Organization based in Dhaka, was the first rights activist and NewsBharati.com was the first agency to reveal the horrific state of Hindu Rohingyas before the world In September 2017, Sarkar published a fact-finding report on the unseen and neglected plight of the Hindu Rohingyas who are migrating from Myanmar to Bangladesh after facing brutal attacks by the Rohingya Muslim goons who killed the male Hindu members and are forcing Hindu females to marry them and convert to Islam. This report was published in NewsBharati titled:
From Myanmar to Bangladesh: Hindu Rohingyas slaughtered, deprived, discriminated and still suffering and appealed the Human Rights organizations, Muslim bodies, the UNHRC and many more who campaigning for the Muslim Rohingyas, who have systematically heavily infiltrated in various parts of India capturing land and properties there, but a small and real minority segment of Hindu Rohingyas are fleeing to escape from barbaric attacks by the Muslim Rohingyas depicting their real face.
Notably, all eight survivors interviewed by Amnesty International said they either saw Hindu relatives being killed or heard their screams. Amnesty International has also documented ARSA’s involvement in other killings and violent attacks against members of other ethnic and religious communities.
According to a detailed list of the dead, given to Amnesty International, the victims from Ah Nauk Kha Maung Seik include 20 men, 10 women, and 23 children, 14 of whom were under the age of eight. This is consistent with multiple testimonies the organization gathered in both Bangladesh and Myanmar, from survivors and witnesses as well as Hindu community leaders.
“In this brutal and senseless act, members of ARSA captured scores of Hindu women, men, and children and terrorized them before slaughtering them outside their own villages. The perpetrators of this heinous crime must be held to account,” said Tirana Hassan.
Amnesty report says that the full extent of human rights abuses by ARSA is difficult for them to determine, in large part because the Myanmar authorities continue to restrict access to northern Rakhine State. Access restrictions have made it extremely difficult for members of all ethnic minorities and religious communities still living in the region to speak about their experiences and to get the support and assistance they require.
In addition, those who speak about ARSA abuses face threats and intimidation from the group. The killing of Rohingya suspected of acting as government informers throughout 2017, and reports of ARSA-related killings in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, have only heightened such fears.
Tirana Hassan states that tens of thousands of people from other ethnic and religious communities were also displaced within Rakhine State during the violence. Although most have returned to their homes, some continue to live in temporary shelters, either because their homes were destroyed or because they fear further ARSA attacks if they return to their villages.
AMNESTY wants access for Independent investigations
The Amnesty also criticises the Myanmar government for their restrictions to the Rakhine state. The reports say that Myanmar govt must not criticize the international community as being one-sided while at the same time denying access to northern Rakhine State. The full extent of ARSA’s abuses and the Myanmar military’s violations will not be known until independent human rights investigators, including the UN Fact-Finding mission, are given full and unfettered access to Rakhine State.