A report, released recently by the office of the Geneva-based UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, documents testimony from 204 Rohingya Muslim men and women who are part of 66,000 who have fled from Myanmar's northwestern Rakhine state to Bangladesh. Linnea Arvidsson, leader of a four-member team of UN human rights investigators, said in the report: "For me, personally, I have not ever encountered a situation in which you have interviewed so many people in such a short period of time, who have undergone such serious violations." Speaking to Voice of America, Arvidsson said that she was on the verge of breaking down on the first day after having interviewed an endless stream of women who recounted horrific tales. "Mothers who would say, ‘I was raped and my baby was crying and they slit the throat of my baby while I was being raped.' I mean, it was horrendous. Frankly, it was absolutely unbearable to do the interviews," Arvidsson said. "I cannot imagine what they went through having lived through that." Of the 101 women interviewed, more than half reported they had been raped or suffered other forms of sexual violence at the hands of Myanmar security forces. While releasing the report, High Commissioner Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein said: "The devastating cruelty to which these Rohingya children have been subjected is unbearable. What kind of hatred could make a man stab a baby crying out for his mother›s milk?" The investigators have concluded that Myanmar may be guilty of crimes against humanity. It is a well-known fact that almost all the governments that have ruled Myanmar have denied citizenship and all legitimate rights to Rohingya Muslims who have been living in Rakhine state for centuries. These minorities have been subjected to endless persecution at the hands of Buddhist extremists with the clandestine blessings and support of the government. A large number of Rohingya Muslims were killed, their houses were demolished, and their mosques and villages were torched. These inhuman acts and atrocities forced many of them to flee to Bangladesh and other neighboring countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Several others perished in the sea while fleeing the country or became victims of poverty and disease. All these atrocities are taking place while the world watches without doing anything to stop the ethnic cleansing and genocide. Several conferences have been held, resolutions have been adopted, and dignitaries have spoken about the tragedy of Rohingya Muslims, but none of this has helped alleviate the suffering of these people. In fact, such meetings or resolutions or condemnations have lost their credibility and seriousness because of their failure in put an end to this ordeal. Immediately after holding any of these conferences or passing these resolutions, the official spokesman of the government of Myanmar comes forward to reject these statements as baseless allegations. Even though the presence of Rohingya Muslims in the northwestern part of Myanmar dates back to the 8th century CE, they have frequently been subjected to persecution and mistreatment. The military junta has always considered them to be illegal immigrants, and hence has denied them their legitimate rights, the foremost of which is their citizenship. However, everyone pinned great hope that the democratically elected government, led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, would take the initiative to put an end to the persecution and come to the rescue of these miserable people. But to the utter dismay of everyone, Suu Kyi took a shameful position by sacrificing all human and moral principles for the sake of political gains. Her position toward Rohingya Muslims in particular and Myanmar Muslims in general was evident even before the general elections. Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy, denied party tickets to Muslims who belonged to her party as part of her strategy to please extremist Buddhists. In doing so she sacrificed the ideals, ethics and principles that earlier had made her a famous icon of democracy and freedom. What was the fate of the special meeting of the ASEAN countries that was convened to discuss the issue of Rohingya Muslims? What happened as a result of the special session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which was also held to discuss the same issue? The deliberations made and the condemnations articulated in the communiqués adopted at these meetings have brought about no results. As for the Myanmar government, it has so far made no change to its infamous policy toward Rohingya men who are being slaughtered, women who are being raped and children who are being massacred. The government denies permission to human rights organizations and journalists who are interested in human rights from entering the regions where crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing are being carried out against Rohingya Muslims. The Myanmar government said that it has formed a commission, headed by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in its bid to stop human rights violations in Rakhine state. Although the commission is comprised of nine members (six from within the country and three from abroad), they do not include a single representative from the Muslim community. Even though the commission was constituted several months ago, it has yet to submit a report. It is not anticipated that the commission is going to come forward with any statement or report that clearly describes the crimes against Rohingya Muslims of which the entire world is fully aware. — Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
