Human Rights Watch yesterday accused the Burmese security forces of committing widespread rape against women and girls as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing during the past three months against the Rohingya in Rakhine State.
The allegation in a report by the New York-based rights group echoes an accusation by UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten earlier this week.
Patten said sexual violence was “being commanded, orchestrated and perpetrated by the armed forces of Myanmar.”
The Burmese army on Monday released a report denying all allegations of rape and killings by security forces, days after replacing the general in charge of the operation that drove more than 600,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.
The UN has denounced the violence as a classic example of ethnic cleansing. The Burmese government has denied allegations of ethnic cleansing.
Human Rights Watch spoke to 52 Rohingya women and girls who fled to Bangladesh, 29 of whom said they had been raped. All but one of the rapes were gang rapes, the rights group said.
“Rape has been a prominent and devastating feature of the Burmese military’s campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya,” said Human Rights Watch women’s rights emergencies researcher Skye Wheeler, the author of the report. “The Burmese military’s barbaric acts of violence have left countless women and girls brutally harmed and traumatized.”
Human Rights Watch called on the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar and targeted sanctions against military leaders responsible for human rights violations, including sexual violence.
The 15-member council last week urged the Burmese government to “ensure no further excessive use of military force in Rakhine State.”
It asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to report back on the situation in 30 days.
Myanmar has said the military clearance operation was necessary for national security after Rohingya militants attacked 30 security posts and an army base in Rakhine State on Aug. 25.
Myanmar is refusing entry to a UN panel that has been tasked with investigating allegations of abuses after a smaller military counteroffensive launched in October last year.
Hala Sadak, a 15-year-old from Hathi Para Village in Maungdaw Township, told Human Rights Watch that troops had stripped her naked and then about 10 men raped her.
“When my brother and sister came to get me, I was lying there on the ground, they thought I was dead,” she said.
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