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Refugees line up for aid at Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Sept. 26, 2017. / Reuters ![]()
On 19 September, 2017, the Chairperson of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Myanmar[1], Marzuki Darusman, addressed the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) for the first time since the FFM was mandated by the HRC in March 2017. Since then, the grave deterioration of the human rights situation in Rakhine State, the lack of access for humanitarian agencies and media organizations, and the spread of misinformation only highlights why there is an urgent need for such a mission.
The HRC Resolution mandates the mission to investigate human rights violations in Myanmar "including but not limited to arbitrary detention, torture and inhuman treatment, rape and other forms of sexual violence, extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary killings, enforced disappearances, forced displacement and unlawful destruction of property". The FFM will investigate violations committed by the military and security forces throughout the country, particularly where there have been armed clashes, including Rakhine, Shan and Kachin States since 2011 . Given the grave violations committed by the Myanmar Army, particularly in ethnic areas, as well as the recent Myanmar Army operations that have forced 436,000 Rohingya to flee into Bangladesh, the geographical and temporal scope of the FFM are necessary. The statement also requests an extension until September 2018 for the FFM to give its final report.
The horrors of the last few weeks in northern Rakhine State are still sending shockwaves around the world. Human Rights Watch has documented the laying of landmines by the Myanmar Army along the Bangladeshi border where people are fleeing while Amnesty International released a statement with fresh evidence that the Rohingya villages are still being torched. Reports of widespread gang rape of Rohingya women have also emerged. It is not surprising that every day, the number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is increasing, and up to half the Rohingya population living in Rakhine State has fled in just one month. The intention of the FFM to investigate violations committed in northern Myanmar is also much needed. At the same time as the Myanmar Army's operations in Rakhine State, it was also arresting, torturing and killing civilians in Shan State, as documented by the Shan Human Rights Foundation.
Documentation from Bangladesh and satellite imagery of torched villages can only go so far to finding out the extent of what has occurred in Rakhine State, underlining the importance of the work of the FFM and also the obstacles created by the Myanmar Government by not allowing the FFM access to the country. Yet in the speech by State Counsellor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi made on 19 September she stated that "we want to find out why this exodus is happening", while also inviting the international community to go to Rakhine State to see for themselves. This invitation, however, does not extend to the FFM.
Meanwhile, the lack of media access and independent reporting from Rakhine State has been fertile ground for the rapid spread of disinformation, false information and hate speech from various actors. Fake social media accounts are spreading doctored photos and outright lies which are being taken as fact by many inside and outside the country. The bias and disingenuous stream of information coming from the spokesperson for the President's Office, Zaw Htay, only compounds matters. For example, when Zaw Htay posted photos that were purported to show Rohingya burning their own villages, these were quickly discredited when a BBC correspondent, on a rare Government escorted trip, had access to the area. After a Hindu woman vigorously denounced the actions of local Rohingya Muslims, the correspondent realized that she was one of the women in the photograph posted by Zaw Htay as 'proof' of the Rohingya burning their own homes, demonstrating that the photographs were obviously staged. As reports emerge of mass graves being found in Rakhine State, and the Government claiming the victims were Hindus killed by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army - which has been denied by the group - it is difficult to comprehend clearly what happened to those villagers. The FFM can obviously play a clear role in separating fact from fiction.
In an oral statement to the Human Rights Council, Khin Ohmar, on behalf of Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development stated, "we are today witnessing one of the greatest human rights and humanitarian tragedies of our times." In this context, it is almost implausible that the Myanmar Government refuses to allow access for the FFM. Yet as Chairperson Marzuki Darusman points out, "The hundreds of thousands of refugees, internally displaced people, affected communities, and all victims of alleged human rights violations and abuses, deserve a truthful account of what happened and who is responsible." |
