Aung San Suu Kyi delivers first parliamentary speech

 Aung San Suu Kyi speaks as she asks a question during a regular session of the parliament at Myanmar Lower House in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Picture: AP Source: AP
MYANMAR opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi today called for laws to protect the rights of ethnic minorities in her first ever speech to the country's fledgling parliament.

The veteran activist used her first speech to lawmakers to support a motion by a ruling-party lawmaker on upholding ethnic minority rights.

''To become a truly democratic union with a spirit of the union, equal

rights and mutual respect, I urge all members of parliament to discuss

the enactment of the laws needed to protect equal rights of ethnicities,'' she said.

Protecting ethnic rights required more than just maintaining ethnic languages and culture, she added, noting that ethnic minority groups suffer above-average poverty rates.

''Furthermore, the flames of war are not completely extinguished,'' she said.

The 67-year-old's entry into mainstream politics is one of the most visible signs of change under a new reformist government which took power last year under President Thein Sein, a former general.

Thein Sein has overseen a series of dramatic reforms, including the release of hundreds of political prisoners, currency market liberalisation and ceasefire deals with several armed rebel groups.

Civil war has plagued parts of the country formerly known as Burma since it won independence from Britain in 1948, and many members of ethnic minority groups are suspicious of the majority Burmans including Suu Kyi.

An end to the conflicts and alleged rights abuses involving government troops is a key demand of Western nations, which are starting to roll back sanctions imposed during military rule over Myanmar's human rights record.

Ongoing fighting in northern Kachin state has displaced tens of thousands of people and cast a shadow over the nationwide peace efforts.

In western Rakhine state meanwhile, recent clashes between ethnic Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya have left dozens dead and tens of thousands homeless.

Myanmar's government considers the Rohingya to be foreigners, while many citizens see them as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh and view them with hostility.

Suu Kyi has disappointed some rights campaigners by not offering stronger support to Myanmar's estimated 800,000 Rohingya, described by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.

Delivering a Nobel prize acceptance speech two decades in the making in Oslo last month, Suu Kyi said she and her party ``stand ready and willing to play any role in the process of national reconciliation''.

AFP Source

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Myanmar: Abuses against Rohingya erode human rights progress

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Myanmar: Abuses against Rohingya erode human rights progress

Amnesty International has received credible reports of recent human rights abuses against Rohingyas

© UNHCR/Y Saita

Six weeks after a state of emergency was declared in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, targeted attacks and other violations by security forces against minority Rohingyas and other Muslims have increased, Amnesty International said today.

Communal violence in the state has also continued, the organization said.

“Declaring a state of emergency is not a license to commit human rights violations,” said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher. 

“It is the duty of security forces to defend the rights of everyone – without exception or discrimination – from abuses by others, while abiding by human rights standards themselves.”

The Myanmar government declared a state of emergency in Rakhine State on 10 June, following an outbreak of communal violence the previous week among the Buddhist Rakhine, Muslim Rakhine, and Muslim Rohingya communities. It remains in effect in several areas. 

Since then, Myanmar’s Border Security Force (nasaka), army, and police have conducted massive sweeps in areas that are heavily populated by Rohingyas. Hundreds of mostly men and boys have been detained, with nearly all held incommunicado, and some subjected to ill-treatment. 

While the restoration of order, security, and the protection of human rights is necessary, most arrests appear to have been arbitrary and discriminatory, violating the rights to liberty and to freedom from discrimination on grounds of religion.

“In six weeks, Myanmar has not only added to a long litany of human rights violations against the Rohingya, but has also done an about-turn on the situation of political imprisonment,” said Zawacki. 

“After more than a year of prisoner amnesties and releases, the overall number of political prisoners in Myanmar is again on the rise.”

Anyone arrested since 10 June must be either charged with an internationally recognized offence and be remanded by an independent court, or released. Any judicial proceedings must meet international standards of fairness and must not include the imposition of the death penalty.

Amnesty International has also received credible reports of other human rights abuses against Rohingyas and other Rakhine Muslims– including physical abuse, rape, destruction of property, and unlawful killings – carried out by both Rakhine Buddhists and security forces. The authorities should stop these acts and prevent others from occurring. 

On 3 June, a large group of local Rakhine Buddhists killed 10 Muslims in Taung Gouk township in Rakhine State, who were returning by bus to their homes in Yangon.

Myanmar’s National Human Rights Commission said on 11 July that at least 78 people have been killed since the violence began, but unofficial estimates exceed 100. 

Between 50,000 and 90,000 people – with lower figures coming from the government and higher ones from UN agencies– are estimated to have been displaced. 

The discrepancy between the figures is largely due to the Myanmar authorities allowing extremely limited access to independent and international monitors as well as humanitarian aid workers.

“The human rights and humanitarian needs of those affected by the violence depend on the presence of monitors and aid workers,” said Zawacki.

 “The Myanmar authorities are compounding the error by exacerbating the suffering of those displaced by the violence and violations.”

Amnesty International is calling on Myanmar’s Parliament to amend or repeal the 1982 Citizenship Law to ensure that Rohingyas are no longer stateless.

“Under international human rights law and standards, no one may be left or rendered stateless. For too long Myanmar’s human rights record has been marred by the continued denial of citizenship for Rohingyas and a host of discriminatory practices against them,” said Zawacki.

MYANMAR: Muslims and Their History

Paper no. 2461

15-Nov.-2007

MYANMAR: Muslims and Their History By R. Upadhyay Burma re-named as Myanmar in 1989 is a multi-ethnic country in Southeast Asia bordering Thailand, Laos, China, India, Bangladesh and Andaman Sea. Buddhism, which is professed by about 89% of country's various ethnic groups like Burmans, Karen, Shan, Rakhine and Mon - has more or less become a part of their national identity. Various reports suggest that due to certain historical, social, political and cultural problems the Muslim minority had felt alienated and occasional communal riots have occurred. Historically, some reports suggest that there was a mass killing of Muslims in Arakan in 17th century, when Shah Shuja, the second son of Shajahan lost to his brother Aurangzeb and fled to this province by sea route. As Shuja failed to meet the demand of the then king of Burma asking for his daughter and the wealth he had carried with him, his companions were massacred. The entry of Muslims in Burma was mainly from countries like Turkey, Persia, Arab, China and India. They were mostly travellers, traders, sailors, pioneers, adventurers, and war prisoners. Although, their arrival in this land began even prior to the first Burmese Empire founded by king Anawrahata in 1055 AD, their main influx was from the eighteenth century onwards through the Arakan region. The current Muslim population in Burma is therefore the descendents of Arab, Persian, Turks, Moors, Pathans, Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese, Malays and Bangladeshis. While the Muslim immigrants from China, who are meagre in number and mostly settled in Rangoon are termed as Panthay, those who entered in Arakan particularly from East Bengal are known as Rohingyas, who form a prominent group of Muslims in Burma. Arakan extends nearly 550 km along the coastal areas of Bay of Bengal. In fact the region is a continuation of East Bengal and is intersected by a chain of hills. (Hindu Colonies in the Far East by R. C. Majumdar, 1944, page 202). It is a land of many ethnic groups with majority of Rakhines and therefore, this state is also known as Rakhine. Till 1784 an independent king, who ruled over this region - had exercised “fluctuating sovereignty” over extensive part of Muslim majority East-Bengal. This facilitated the immigration of Muslims to this region. The British annexed Burma in 1885 and made it a part of its Indian colony. This further increased the influx of Muslims and Hindus from India to Burma. A widely believed theory suggests that Muslims from Bengal migrated to the coastal areas of Burma principally to Arakan are called Rohingyas, who form a prominent group of a Muslim minority in Burma. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia also suggests that the Rohingyas are migrants from southern regions of Bangladesh.  During the British colonial rule the unabated migration of Indians particularly Muslims from Bengal to Burma as labour and for other miscellaneous professions including petty business increased the population of Indian immigrants, which constituted about 7% of Burma population by 1931. Yangon (Rangoon) with two-third of immigrant population including 53% Indians emerged as an immigrant city. Muslims, the main immigrants from Bengal province of British India became synonymous to Indians and therefore they were identified as the main alien group that could weaken the cultural tradition of the Buddhist- society of Burma. Initially, the Muslims co-existed with local population peacefully. As discussed above inter-marriage of Muslims with different ethnic groups like Rakhine, Shan, Karen and Mon was never resisted by the free Buddhist society in that country. In fact inter-ethnic marriage had been a tradition of Burmese society but it was far less in case of marriage between the Muslim girls and the Burmese boys. But due to their strict social structure, the Muslims did not integrate in the mainstream of the egalitarian character of the indigenous ethnic groups of Burma. More and more intermarriage between the Muslims and the Burmese women after their conversion followed by substantial rise to their progeny known as 'Zerabadis', who also professed the faith of their parents led to a steady growth of Islamic population. "According to 1931 census Buddhism was the professed religion of five-sixths of the total population of Burma". Population of other religious groups included Muslims 4%, Hindus 3.9% and Christians 2.3%. (Modern Burma by John Leroy Christian - University of California Press, 1942, page 194). According to Burma Human Rights Year Book (2002-3) the religion wise population of the country included Buddhists 89.3%, Christians 5.6%, Muslims 3.5%, Hindus 0.5% and Animists 0.2%. Contrary to the Government claim of Muslim population around 4%, the Muslim organisations maintain that their number is around 10%. The above figures of religion wise population suggests that there was a decline in Buddhist population whereas the Muslim population was on the rise. The new generation of indigenous groups in Burma viewed this declining trend as danger to their cultural tradition and national identity and they also apprehended that it would weaken the Buddhist society. The larger majority of the Hindu immigrants returned to their native land India particularly after Burma got independence from British colonial rule but the communal divide between the Buddhists and the Muslims, who did not return to the place of their origin continued and even prevails today. The Burmese people always viewed the role of their fellow Muslims during independence movement suspicious as the latter were found more under the influence of the political movement in Bengal led by All India Muslim League than the national movement in Burma. The growing influence of All India Muslim League also ignited the separatist imagination of the Burmese Muslims. One Imanullah Khan even made an attempt to form a branch of the Muslim League in Burma. Burmese Muslims, who were ignorant of the concept of separate Muslim nationalism, also developed communal consciousness under the inspiration of 1930 Muslim League Conference at Allahabad under the presidentship of Mohammad Iqbal. Accordingly, in their annual Muslim conference, which was hitherto confined to purely religious discourse they turned towards forming Muslim organisations. They also started opening of separate schools for Muslims and imparted Islamic education in Urdu language. One Ali Ahmad also formed a Gaddar Party patterned after the one in India. These developments further widened the gap of mistrust between the Burmese Buddhists and the Muslims. In 1937 the British administration separated Burma from India and ruled over it separately as an independent country. Just before Second World War General Aung San (Father of Aung Sang Su Kyi, the leader of National League for Democracy, who is presently under detention) and U Nu formed Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) and launched the movement for freedom of Burma from colonial rule of the British. The Muslims of Burma in stead of enrolling themselves as members of AFPFL formed a separate organisation called Burma Muslim Congress (BMC). They however joined the movement as a constituent of the AFPFL but maintained their independent identity. Although AFPFL leaders did not make it an issue for tactical reasons, they remained suspicious about the Muslims. General Aung Sang San, while addressing a conference in 1946 "bluntly asserted that reliance on alien support could only make Burma a prostitute nation". (Burma and Pakistan: A Comparative Study of Development by Mya Maung, 1971, page 77). In 1938 a Muslim clergy had passed some derogatory remarks against the Buddhists which ignited communal riots. Police had to open fire in which two Buddhist monks died. The local media highlighted the news, which spread all over the country causing burning of Muslim houses, shops, properties and mosques. In fact the religio-political divide between Hindus and the Muslims in India also had its impact in Burma. On April 4, 1948 Burma got independence from British colonial rule and formed a democratic government with U Nu as Prime Minister. The new government, while counting the Muslims settled in Arakan as Indians (The Role of Indian Minorities in Burma and Malaya by Mahajani, 1966) asked the BMC leaders to resign from the AFPFL. BMC leaders however assured the new government that they would discontinue the religio-political activities of the organisation and subsequently got two berths in U Nu’s cabinet. But in 1956 U Nu removed the BMC from the League and in 1958 declared Buddhism as state religion, which antagonized the Muslims and the Christians. (Burma and Indonesia by Kalyan Bandyopadhyay, South Asian Publishers, New Delhi, 1983, page 34). The Ne Win regime with a view to divert the peoples attention from the main issues of the country initiated action against Rohingyas, who were fighting for a separate statehood ever since the independence of Burma.  They had even made an unsuccessful attempt for making Arakan a separate independent country. This created an adverse impact in the minds of Burmese Buddhists against them. Although, the U Nu Government remained indifferent towards them, the military regime headed by General Ne win took them seriously for their alleged Islamist activities. The new regime declared Rohingyas as illegal immigrants on the plea that they had settled in Burma during British rule. They however, recognized the Kachins, who are mostly Christians as indigenous ethnic group of the country. It also formed its own party namely Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP). In 1974 the military regime framed a new constitution and named the country as Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma. Its main focus was on Burmese culture, language, tradition and religion. Accordingly it completely removed the nationality of Rohingyas, declared them as foreigners, denied their citizenship rights, removed them from various government jobs and also confiscated their properties. They also put travel restrictions on them by introducing special identity papers for their movement. In 1978 the army launched repressive measures against them for their alleged Islamist activities and links with terrorist organizations. This forced a large number of Rohingyas to flee to Bangladesh, where they were settled in various refugee camps in Cox Bazar area. The Islamist organizations in Bangladesh took advantage of the situation and sent a sizeable number of them to Afghanistan to fight against the Russian army. After the withdrawal of Russian Army from Afghanistan in 1989 most of the war trained Rohingyas retuned to Bangladesh and also re-entered Burma to fight against the Burmese army. After the end of Afghan war the Ne Win government intent on removing all anti-Burmese elements again targeted the Muslims settled in its western region bordering Bangladesh. The repressive measures against them was for their alleged link with international Islamist terrorist organisation like Al Qaeda and Taliban. Therefore, in 1991-92 again a large number of Rohingyas fled from Burma to Bangladesh.  Conclusion Even though there is no written law or regulation mandating customary discriminatory practices against the Muslims, the latter have suffered from ethnic and religious discrimination in Burma for long.  The rigid socio-religious character of the community which generated anti-Muslim feelings among the Buddhist majority was the main reason behind the developments. The pro-democracy movement in Burma since August 19, 2007 had accepted the Rohingyas as indigenous population. Even some of the National League for Democracy leaders in their talk to the author blamed the military regime for diverting the attention of the people from the real issue by masterminding communal tensions in the country. But they evaded the question as to why the democratic government led by U Nu declared Buddhism as state religion and dropped Muslim members from his cabinet. Even Aung San, the main leader of freedom movement and National Martyr had assertively expressed his reservation against the Muslims. (The author can be reached at e-mail ramashray60@rediffmail.com)

US Muslims Plea for End to Rohingyas Plight

US Muslims Plea for End to Rohingyas Plight

Source : OnIslam Staff

Sunday, 15 July 2012 00:00

Aid groups have warned that Rohingya Muslims are being tortured and starved into fleeing Myanmar

CAIRO – Amid reports of torture and starving the sizable Muslim minority, an umbrella Muslim group in North America has called for respect of human rights of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
“ISNA rejects these ongoing oppressive policies and is deeply sorrowed by the recent killing of innocent Rohingya Muslims,” the Islamic Society of North America said in a statement obtained by OnIslam.net on Sunday, July 15.
“We stand firmly against the usage of ethnic and religious differences to perpetrate the persecution of minority communities, regardless of country, religion, or circumstance.

Rohingya Muslims...An Open Wound

“The government of Myanmar's current course of action is unacceptable, and the Rohingya people must be afforded basic human rights.”
Described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted minorities, Myanmar’s ethnic-Bengali Muslims, generally known as the Rohingyas, are facing a catalogue of discrimination in their homeland.
They have been denied citizenship rights since an amendment to the citizenship laws in 1982 and are treated as illegal immigrants in their own home.
Myanmar’s government as well as the Buddhist majority refuse to recognize the term "Rohingya", referring to them as "Bengalis".
Sectarian violence plagued the western Rakhine state last month after the killing of 10 Muslims in an attack by Buddhist vigilantes on their bus.
The attack followed the rape and murder of a woman in the state, which borders Bangladesh, with Buddhists blaming Muslims for that.
The violence has left dozens of people dead and tens of thousands homeless.
The official death toll of the rioting and its aftermath has been put at 78, although the real figure may be much higher.
International observers are banned from visiting northern Rakhine state, where the majority of Rohingya live, making accurate data collection impossible.
Last week, Human Rights Watch accused Myanmar’s security forces of using “brutal force” against the country’s Rohingya Muslims.
ISNA called on Myanmar’s authorities to respect the basic rights of Rohingya Muslims who have long experienced great hardship and oppression in their country.
“Rohingya Muslims require government permission to marry, are forbidden from having more than two children per family, and are subjected to modern-day slavery through forced labor,” ISNA said.
“Because the national government denies them the right to citizenship in their homeland, many Rohingyas have their land confiscated and they are restricted from travel.”
Torture
The call comes as aid groups have warned that Rohingya Muslims are being tortured and starved into fleeing the country.
"We are worried that malnutrition rates already have and will continue to rise dramatically,” Tarik Kadir of Action Against Hunger told The Guardian.
“If free and direct humanitarian access accompanied by guaranteed security is not granted with the shortest delay, there's no way they won't rise.”
Aid workers have been struggling to reach those affected by sectarian unrest since early June, amid complaints of government restrictions on their movement.
The UN said Friday that 10 aid workers in Rakhine state had been arrested, five of whom were UN staff.
The vast majority of aid workers assisting the Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine have been either evacuated or forced to flee in recent weeks.
The group's staff were forced to leave Rakhine state, where some 800,000 Rohingya live and where malnutrition rates were already far above the global indicator for a health crisis.
"There's no way of measuring the impact over the past month because staff have either been evacuated or forced to flee," Kadir said.
"And given that rainy season is underway, when you factor in all these other problems, we don't need to measure it to know it's a catastrophe."
Aid groups also reported torture of Rohingya men and children, as young as 12, in a police station after police "handed them over" to Rakhinese youths inside the station.
"I saw these youths burning the testicles and penis of old men with a cheroot [Burmese cigar] and also hitting young Muslim detainees with an iron rod and pushing a wooden stick in their anus," a resident of Maungdaw in northern Rakhine said.

Thailand: Press Burmese President on Rights

Thailand: Press Burmese President on Rights

Thein Sein’s Visit Offers Opportunity to Promote Reforms

Source : Human Rights Watch

(New York) – The Thai government should press Burmese President Thein Sein to take immediate and concrete steps to address serious human rights problems in Burma when he visits Thailand from July 22-24, 2012, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday.

Human Rights Watch urged Prime Minister Yingluck to use Thailand’s leverage as one of Burma’s major political and economic partners and a core member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to help improve respect for human rights and promote political reform in the country.

“The Burmese government’s record on human rights remains poor, despite recent signs of change,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “As a neighbor long affected by Burma’s abysmal rights record, the Thai government should not miss this opportunity to press Thein Sein to end army abuses against ethnic minorities and protect the basic rights of all people in Burma.”

Yingluck’s government has publicly and repeatedly pledged Thailand’s support for political reforms in Burma, including the improvement of human rights and humanitarian conditions. The most meaningful test of Burma’s commitment to genuine reform will be in its respect for plurality and transparency in enacting new laws; the creation of rights-respecting institutions such as the courts; its promotion and protection of basic human rights and respect for the laws of war; its commitment to ending discrimination and ensuring equality of opportunity for ethnic nationalities in political, economic, social, and cultural realms; and in the seriousness with which it addresses issues of impunity for current and past human rights abuses.

Human Rights Watch urged Prime Minister Yingluck to press President Thein Sein to:

·         Immediately and unconditionally release all remaining political prisoners;

·         Take all necessary steps to end serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by the Burmese army in Burma’s conflict areas;

·         Allow humanitarian organizations and independent human rights monitors unhindered access to populations in need, including in Kachin and Arakan States, and permit sufficient humanitarian aid to internally displaced people and others;

·         Bring Burmese laws, regulations, and practices into conformity with international human rights standards, and amend provisions in the 2008 Constitution that prevent the military from being accountable to civilian authority;

·         Include mechanisms in any political settlements reached between the government and ethnic armed groups to protect and promote human rights in ethnic areas, including civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights;

·         Fully implement the government-International Labor Organization memorandum of understanding to eliminate all forms of forced labor;

Human Rights Watch said that Thailand’s relationship with Burma should expand beyond the Burmese government, military, and business community to include opposition parties and a broad range of Burmese-led civil society organizations, including groups in remote areas and those working on issues in Burma from Thailand.

Prime Minister Yingluck should be cautious about encouraging more Thai investment in the absence of a functioning human rights safeguards and legal framework in Burma, Human Rights Watch said. In construction and maintenance of large-scale infrastructure projects, the Burmese military has a long record of carrying out serious violations, including forced relocations of civilians and systematic use of forced labor. In addition, there are credible reports of serious abuses by Burmese state security forces in various other sectors, such as mining, logging, and industrial agricultural farming. Some of these projects receive foreign investment, including from Thailand.

The Thai government should develop and implement legally binding safeguards that comport with international human rights standards with regard to business activities of Thai companies in Burma, such as the Dawei Deep Sea Port and industrial estate project in Tennaserim Division, coal mining projects in Shan State, hydropower dam projects in Shan and Karen States, and investments in the oil and gas sector. Thailand should suspend any financing for Thai-invested projects that do not abide by these safeguards.

“The opening of Burma’s economy should not be construed by Thai business as an excuse to aid and abet rights abuses by local partners,” Adams said. “Prime Minister Yingluck should insist that Thai companies demonstrate the best of Thailand, not the worst.”

Myanmar religious cleansing: Crime against humanity

Myanmar religious cleansing: Crime against humanity

Myanmar's ethnic Rohingya Muslims display placards near the British embassy in Kuala Lumpur on July 19, 2012. Rohingya refugees protested outside the British High Commission to end violence and humanitarian crisis against Rohingya in Arakan State in Burma

Described as the Palestine of Asia by the UN, the Rohingya Muslim community in Myanmar is currently going through an unutterable ordeal at the hands of the Rakhine extremist Buddhists in Arakan who are targeting the Muslim minority with the worst form of religious cleansing.

Ethnic cleansing is rife in Myanmar and is turning into a human tragedy of colossal proportions. A confidential United Nations report dated May 29, 2011 and marked “Not for Public Citation or Distribution”, defines ethnic cleansing as a “purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.”

What is happening in Myanmar to the Rohingya Muslims violates international laws and is to be categorized as crime against humanity.

Unfortunately, the Myanmar peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the plight of the Rohingya Muslims. Maybe she has forgotten her own words on democracy and human rights that, “The struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma is a struggle for life and dignity.”

Reportedly, the settlement of the Rohingya Muslims in this region dates back to the eighth century. However, in the seventies, the junta embarked on a systematic program of religious cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims who are denied their basic rights, i.e. the right to freedom of movement, marriage, faith, identity, ownership, language, heritage and culture, citizenship, education etc. Deplorable as it is, the Muslims in Myanmar are among the most persecuted minorities in the world according to UN.

According to reports, 650 of nearly one million Rohingya Muslims have been murdered as of June 28. On the other hand, 1,200 others are missing and 90,000 more have been displaced.

US photographer Greg Constantine has recently released a book of black and white photography titled “Exiled to Nowhere: Burma’s Rohingya.” He believes that “One of the things that is lost in the discussions of the issues of statelessness-particularly with the Rohingya-are human stories.”

He relates the story of 20-year-old Kashida who had to “flee to Bangladesh with her husband. The Burmese authorities had denied her permission to get married, but when they discovered she had married in secret and was pregnant they took away all her family’s money and cows and goats. They forced Kashida to have an abortion, telling her: “This is not your country; you don’t have the right to reproduce here.”

The dire humanitarian crisis has already begun to assume tragic proportions and Muslims and non-Muslims alike are beginning to respond with perturbation and fear.

Iran's Foreign Ministry has called for end to violence in Myanmar.

“It is expected that the Myanmar government will prepare the ground for solidarity, national unity and asserting the rights of Muslims in the country and that it will avert violence and a human catastrophe in this regard,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Monday.

Iranian lawmaker Hossein Naqavi-Hosseini has suggested that the Islamic Republic of Iran should call on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to hold an ad hoc meeting concerning the Muslim massacre in Myanmar.

Also, the president of India’s Jamiat Ulma-i-Hind has voiced concern about the massacre, calling for an end to the humanitarian crisis in the country. Maulana Syed Arshad Madani lashed out at the Myanmar government for being indifferent to the massacre of Muslims by extremist Buddhists. He also criticized the silence of the international community and human rights organizations across the world about this humanitarian tragedy.

The International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) has strongly condemned the brutal massacre perpetrated against the Rohingya Muslims and has demanded that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) take necessary and urgent steps to prevent religious cleaning and these crimes against humanity in this region.

The statement reads, “The IUMS is reviewing in all concern what has befallen the Muslims in the Muslim region of Arakan, Burma, of fierce killing, displacement and persecution since a long time, not to mention displacement of them, and demolition of their homes, properties and mosques at the hands of the religious extremists in the Buddhist community. Unfortunately, the Buddhist government acts as a bystander in face of the heinous massacres escalating day after day against the Muslim minorities in the country. The numbers of casualties, in the attacks that are considered the most ferocious in the history of targeting the Muslims in Burma, are countless.”

In view of the ongoing inhumane violations in Myanmar, the US and its western allies, which keep pontificating about human rights in the world, have feigned ignorance about this humanitarian catastrophe. Why? Because they will not be able to reap any benefits of their future efforts in the country as they do in the Middle East and elsewhere. To crown it all, they have kept an agonizingly meaningful silence over the massacre.

It is certainly incumbent upon every person who cares about human dignity to fly in the face of this inhumanity and give a helping hand to the downtrodden Myanmar Muslims.

As the great Persian poet Sa'di says, “Human beings are members of a whole, In creation of one essence and soul. If one member is afflicted with pain, Other members uneasy will remain. If you've no sympathy for human pain, The name of human you cannot retain!”

IS/JR

Source : Press TV

Bangladesh rights record faces US scrutiny

Bangladesh rights record faces US scrutiny

Source : The Daily Star (Bangladesh)

AP, Washington

Accusations of extrajudicial killings by Bangladeshi paramilitary forces and the South Asian nation's refusal to grant refuge to fleeing refugees faced scrutiny from US lawmakers Thursday.

The congressional hearing also examined allegations of abuses against labor and opposition activists in the moderate Islamic nation, whose human rights problems weigh on Washington's efforts to forge stronger relations.

Lawmakers singled out for concern Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion. The paramilitary unit was formed to fight organized crime but Human Rights Watch calls it a death squad.

Top US diplomat for South Asia, Robert Blake, said the unit's record has improved, but cited figures from a Bangladeshi rights group that the battalion has committed 34 killings so far this year. That compares with 83 deaths in 2010 and 51 in 2011.

"There's been some progress, but again, it's still a very large number," Blake told the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Blake said the US has helped set up an inquiry cell within the battalion, which comprises police and army soldiers, as a means for it to probe its rights abuses.

Bangladesh's government, elected in 2008, denies the battalion has committed unlawful killings on its watch.

John Sifton of Human Rights Watch said the government which had promised before the election to crack down on the abuses needs again to admit there's a problem.

"They should either disband it, or at least disconnect it from the military, and either way they need to take steps to hold it accountable for its past crimes," Sifton said.

Democrat congressman Joe Crowley moderated the criticism of Bangladesh's rights record by crediting it for the conduct of a free and fair elections in 2008 praise that drew hearty applause from supporters of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attending the hearing.

But Crowley also urged Bangladesh bring to justice those responsible for the "brutal murder" of labor leader Aminul Islam, who led a campaign for higher wages for the country's 3 million garment workers.

Islam was found dead along a highway April 5. His family blames the killing on law enforcement agencies.

Crowley voiced particular concern that ethnic Rohingya women and children fleeing communal violence in western Myanmar last month had been turned back by Bangladeshi authorities.

Clashes between the Rohingya, who are Muslims, and Buddhists in Myanmar's Rakhine state left scores dead and tens of thousands displaced. Crowley said he would raise concerns over the Rohingyas' plight with Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi when she visits the United States in September.

The Rohingya are in a stateless limbo. Myanmar considers them to be illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and denies them citizenship. Bangladesh says Rohingyas have been living in Myanmar for centuries and should be recognized there as citizens.

Blake said that Bangladesh has allowed more than 250,000 Rohingya to live there for more than 30 years but turned back those fleeing the recent violence, despite US urging that Dhaka abide by its international obligations to provide refuge, and US and UN offers of assistance.

Bangladesh said its resources were too strained.