SEPTEMBER 19, 2017 / 12:21 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO

Myanmar's Suu Kyi condemns abuses in Rakhine but silent on army role

Antoni Slodkowski

NAYPYITAW (Reuters) - Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi condemned on Tuesday human rights violations in Rakhine state and said violators would be brought to book, but she did not address U.N. accusations of a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the military.

The Nobel Peace laureate’s remarks came in her first address to the nation since attacks by Rohingya Muslim insurgents on Aug. 25 sparked a military response that has forced 421,000 Rohingya Muslims into neighboring Bangladesh.

Western diplomats and aid officials, hoping for an unequivocal condemnation of violence and hate speech, welcomed the tone of Suu Kyi’s message, but some doubted if she had done enough to deflect global criticism.

Human rights group Amnesty International described her speech as “little more than a mix of untruths and victim-blaming”, saying she and her government were “burying their heads in the sand” for ignoring the army’s role in the violence.

“We condemn all human rights violations and unlawful violence. We are committed to the restoration of peace and stability and rule of law throughout the state,” Suu Kyi said in her address in the capital, Naypyitaw.

“Action will be taken against all people, regardless of their religion, race and political position, who go against the law of the land and violate human rights,” she said.

Long feted in the West as a champion of democracy in the Buddhist-majority country during years of military rule and house arrest, Suu Kyi has faced growing criticism for saying little about abuses faced by the Rohingya.

The United States urged Myanmar on Monday to end military operations, grant humanitarian access, and commit to aiding the safe return of civilians to their homes.

Myanmar’s generals remain in full charge of security and Suu Kyi did not comment on the military or its operation, except to say there had been “no armed clashes and there have been no clearance operations” since Sept. 5.

Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh have told of soldiers and Buddhist civilians attacking and burning villages as recently as last Friday. It was not possible to verify their accounts.

BURNING VILLAGES

Rights monitors and fleeing Rohingya say the army and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes have mounted a campaign of arson aimed at driving out the Muslim population. The U.N. rights agency said it was “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.

Myanmar rejects that, saying its forces are tackling insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which has claimed responsibility for attacks since October. The government has declared it a terrorist group and accused it of setting the fires and attacking civilians.

Western governments that backed Suu Kyi’s campaign against military rule still see her as the best hope for Myanmar’s political and economic transition.

But she has to avoid angering the powerful army.

She also has to avoid alienating her supporters by being seen to take the side of a Muslim minority that enjoys little sympathy in a country that has seen a surge of Buddhist nationalism.

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi arrives to deliver a speech to the nation over Rakhine and Rohingya situation, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar September 19, 2017. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

Some diplomats said she had not squarely addressed the problem of violence in her speech.

But her domestic audience was happy.

Thousands of supporters cheered and let balloons float into the sky in the main city of Yangon as they watched her speech on a big screen. Social media saw a blizzard of posts with the message: “We stand with Aung San Suu Kyi”.

The military spokesman was not available for comment. One official familiar with the military’s thinking said it would have no objection to her speech.

Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch said satellite images showed about half of all Rohingya villages had been torched and it was time that Suu Kyi, the government and military faced the fact that the security forces “shoot and kill who they want” and burn villages.

Amnesty International said there was “overwhelming evidence” the security forces were engaged in ethnic cleansing.

“While it was positive to hear Aung San Suu Kyi condemn human rights violations in Rakhine state, she is still silent about the role of the security forces,” the group said.

‘READY TO EXPLODE’

In Geneva, the head of a U.N. investigation into the violence said his team had heard testimony that suggested Myanmar’s security forces may be committing rights violations.

“What they have come up with reflects in general the reporting of the international media,” Marzuki Darusman said, referring to a small team of investigators talking to refugees in Bangladesh.

Myanmar has declined to issue visas to Darusman’s team but he said was more hopeful, following Suu Kyi’s speech in which she spoke of allowing diplomats access to Rakhine state.

Suu Kyi, 72, said her government had been promoting harmony between the Muslim and largely Buddhist ethnic Rakhine communities. But a government official there did not share her optimism.

“They have no trust for each other,” the state’s secretary, Tin Maung Swe, told Reuters, adding tension was high.

“The situation is ready to explode.”

Suu Kyi said she was committed to recommendations made by an advisory team led by former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan, which last month suggested a review of a law that links citizenship and ethnicity and leaves most Rohingya stateless.

On the return of refugees, Suu Kyi said Myanmar was ready to start a verification process and “refugees from this country will be accepted without any problem”.

The U.N. children’s agency said a quarter of a million children were among the refugees.

昂山素季：我只是个政客我不怎么像撒切尔(图)

 

昂山素季接受BBC专访。图片来源：视频截图

缅甸国务资政昂山素季于近日接受BBC新闻的专访。在专访中，她否认缅甸政府对若开邦的少数族裔罗兴亚人进行种族清洗，同时也表示自己不是圣人，而是一名“政客”。

买票速度就服这里，别不信

广告

在BBC新闻4月5日发表的采访中，记者问昂山素季是否担心自己会作为一位无视种族清洗的诺贝尔和平奖得主，被大家记住。

对此，昂山素季回应说：“我不认为有种族清洗，我认为用种族清洗来描述所发生的事情太过严重了。”

去年10月，缅甸西部若开邦的三所边防警察局遇袭，造成九名警察死亡。缅甸当局称制造袭击的是“阿卡穆尔圣战者”组织，而该组织与当地的恐怖组织“罗兴亚团结组织 ”有关。

此后，缅甸军方对若开邦的反政府组织发动了军事行动，行动造成超过7万名罗兴亚人出逃到邻国孟加拉。有报道称缅甸军方在行动中迫害罗兴亚人，对其实施强奸、谋杀和酷刑。

今年2月，联合国发布报告，对200名罗兴亚难民进行采访。其中有近一半受访者称有家人遭到杀害，还有52名女性称遭到了缅甸安全部队士兵的强奸或者性暴力。

缅甸政府对报告进行了否认，而西方媒体也集体指责昂山素季对这一问题的回避态度。3月，联合国宣布将就报告中对缅甸军方做出的指控展开调查。

在被问到自己的回避态度时，昂山素季说从2013年若开邦爆发冲突开始，媒体就一直在追问她这个问题。

“他们问我问题，我给出答案，然后大家说我什么都没说。这只是因为我给出的答案不是他们认为我应该给的，那就是对某一方进行谴责。”

她表示若开邦的种族问题很复杂，“有很多敌对情绪，穆斯林也在屠杀穆斯林”，“这不是你所说的种族清洗，而是大家都站在分歧的对立面，我们一直在试图消除这种分歧”。

在缅甸，罗兴亚人的问题由来已久。

罗兴亚人是若开邦的一个穆斯林族群，自称是到孟加拉湾经商的阿拉伯人的后代，早在公元7世纪就居住在缅甸。而缅甸的民族主义者认为罗兴亚人是19世纪英国控制缅甸之后，移居到缅甸的南亚人与当地部分土著融合后形成的民族。

目前国际社会对罗兴亚人的来历还没有形成共识。1885年英缅战争后，英国对缅甸各民族采取了分而治之的策略，激化了不同信仰族群之间的矛盾。

二战期间，罗兴亚人站在英国一边，与反对英国统治的若开族和缅族作战。从此，信奉佛教的若开族和其他族群把罗兴亚人看做英国的帮凶，对其充满仇恨。

1982年，奈温政府颁布了新的《缅甸公民法》，使得罗兴亚人被排除在了缅甸国籍之外。此举激起了罗兴亚人的强烈不满，并在同年组建了独立组织，计划建立罗兴亚自治邦。

由于缅甸政府不承认罗兴亚人是该国公民，罗兴亚人在就业、医疗和教育等领域都无法享受公民的基本权利，生活境况恶劣。罗兴亚人问题也成为了缅甸诸多民族争端中的一环。目前缅甸境内有21支民族武装。

对于逃到其他国家的罗兴亚人，昂山素季表示如果这些罗兴亚人回到缅甸“会得到安全，这要看他们自己决定”。

除了联合国的调查外，缅甸政府也对若开邦的争端展开了调查。当局已邀请联合国前秘书长安南担任特别委员会负责人，以调解佛教徒和穆斯林的争端。

针对各方对缅甸军方的指控，昂山素季在采访中否认军队能随心所欲，“他们不能强奸、掠夺、实施酷刑。他们能够自主参加战斗，这是宪法规定的，军方事务由军方管理”。

同时她也表示重新争取对军方的控制是缅甸政府希望能完成的目标之一。根据缅甸目前的宪法，军队的运行独立于执政党之外。

此前西方媒体一直将昂山素季塑造成能改变缅甸历史的民主偶像。BBC记者在采访中说，现在有人认为相比甘地和特蕾莎修女，昂山素季更像撒切尔夫人。

对这一比较，昂山季素坦然指出：

“我只是个政客。我不怎么像撒切尔，我也不是特蕾莎修女。”

作者：界面网络