| UN calls for credible probe into Myanmar ethnic unrest |
YANGON A top United Nations envoy on Saturday voiced grave concern over alleged abuses by Myanmar security forces after sectarian violence in Rakhine State and urged a full and credible state investigation.
Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special human rights rapporteur, called on the government to find out the truth about violence in June between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and stateless Muslim Rohingyas and address reports of extrajudicial killings and torture by its police and soldiers.
“I am concerned ... at the allegations I have received of serious human rights violations committed as part of measures to restore law and order,” Quintana said in a statement at the end of a six-day visit to Myanmar, his sixth to the country.
“While I am in no position to be able to verify these allegations at this point in time, they are of grave concern. It is therefore of fundamental importance to clearly establish what has happened in Rakhine State and to ensure accountability.”
Quintana also called for a review of 1982 laws that he said discriminated against Rohingyas and denied them citizenship and freedom of movement, to ensure they were in line with international human rights standards. The government insists they are illegal immigrants.
Quintana also addressed allegations of attacks on civilians, sexual violence, torture and recruitment of child soldiers in northern Kachin state, where violence between troops and Kachin rebels resisting calls for dialogue have displaced at least 50,000 people.
“The government and all armed groups must do more to ensure the protection of civilians during armed conflict,” he added.
Agencies
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