Rohingya:
Victims of Arbitrary Arrests, Torture and Enforced Disappearances by Burmese
forces
Maungdaw — The Burmese (Myanmar) armed forces have been
continuously carrying out mass arrests of the Rohingya civilians, torturing the
arrestees and subjecting some to enforced disappearances as part of ethnic
cleansing in Myanmar’s western Rakhine (Arakan) state, said a human rights
activist based in Maungdaw.
In the pretext of ‘Clearance Operation’ in northern Maungdaw
Township since October 9, the Burmese armed forces — the Military and the
Border Guard Police (BGP) — have arbitrarily arrested more than 1,000 civilians
later subjecting them to tortures and enforced disappearances on top of
extrajudicial killings of around 500 people, raping more than 200 women and
burning down approximately 4,000 homes leading to displacements of more than
50,000 people without shelter, food, water and medicines.
Two people, a man and a girl, were severely wounded as a
joint force of 500 Burmese military and BGP launched raids on ‘Oo Shye Kya’
village and opened fire on the villagers trying to flee from arbitrary arrests
on December 7 morning. During the multiple raids conducted on the village on
December 7, 37 civilians were arrested by joint force.
“The military brought the women and children out of homes and
besieged them at a paddy plain in front of the village’s market, where the
military looted their jewelries and molested them for the whole day. The
military and BGP further threatened ‘tell us where the terrorists are. If not,
we will kill you, we will arrest you’” said a local person in northern Maungdaw
on the condition of anonymity.
According to local sources, series of plunders of Rohingya
homes and their shops by the Rakhine extremists supported by the Burmese
military are among many other widespread crimes committed against the Rohingya.
A displaced Rohingya said “the military have burnt down our
homes. The Rakhine (Magh) extremists supported by the military are plundering
many homes and shops. They have destroyed cooking pots and other household
tools so that we can’t sleep, cook and eat. Now, we don’t have shelters, food,
water and medicines. Many people will die soon due to diseases and starvations.
In fact, some have already died.”
In two separate incidents on Tuesday (Dec 6) and Wednesday
(Dec 7), the Burmese military have arbitrarily arrested four Rohingya youths at
‘Chinkhali’ village in Rathedaung Township. Without any evidences found against
the victims, the Burmese military referred them to the BGP Headquarter — where
according to the reliable sources at least 100 people are locked up and being
tortured inhumanely — in Kyikanpyin village, Maungdaw Township.
The victims are identified to be:
1. Mv Iman Hussein S/O Aman Ullah (ex-chairman), Age 28 years
2. Jahangir @ Zaw Win (School Teacher) S/O Saaf Meah, Age 25 years
3. Mv Abul Kasim S/O ? , Age 35 years
4. Ziyabu S/O ? , Age 17 years