A U.N. envoy to Myanmar has called for greater trust between the government and ethnic armed groups ahead of a planned nationwide cease-fire agreement, expressing concerns over attacks by government troops on rebel positions even as the two sides hold negotiations to end decades of conflict.
Tomas Ojea Quintana, on his final visit to Myanmar as the U.N.’s special rapporteur for human rights in the country, said securing peace with ethnic rebels and addressing sectarian violence are crucial to reforms advocated by President Thein Sein’s administration.
Speaking at the end of a six-day investigative mission, he said a government probe of recent violence in western Myanmar's Rakhine state had failed to address U.N. charges that at least 48 Rohingya Muslims had been killed by Buddhist mobs, warning he would call for U.N. Human Rights Council involvement if there is no credible investigation.
He praised government efforts to bring all of the country’s armed rebel groups within a nationwide cease-fire accord—anticipated in April—but said the deal needs to be accompanied by political agreements that will help address mistrust of the government still lingering after decades of military rule.
“What is now needed is further trust-building between the government and the ethnic armed groups.”
“Inclusive political negotiations need to proceed quickly following cease-fire agreements, so that underlying grievances can be addressed. This will do much to bridge the gaps in trust,” he told reporters in Yangon before departing.
He cited “poor implementation” of cease-fire agreements made with individual rebel groups, saying this has undermined ethnic groups’ trust in the peace process, as have moves by the Myanmar military to reinforce existing outposts and confiscate land instead of drawing back troops.
Laiza visit
In northern Kachin state, where Quintana made the first-ever visit by a U.N. special rapporteur to the rebel headquarters at Laiza earlier this week, Kachin rebels have reported fresh attacks carried out by government troops even as the two sides try to hammer out a cease-fire agreement, he said.
Refugees displaced by the Kachin conflict, which was reignited in 2011, told him of rapes, arbitrary detention, and torture under interrogation committed by Myanmar military troops against civilians, he said.
“The visit to Laiza brought home to me how closely related the fighting is with serious human rights violations, and the importance of securing a national cease-fire accord in the coming months,” Quintana said.
“A critical challenge [for Myanmar] will be to secure cease-fire and political agreements with ethnic minority groups, so that Myanmar can finally transform into a peaceful multiethnic and multireligious society.”
Du Chee Yar Tan probe
In Rakhine state, simmering ethnic tensions between Buddhist Rakhines and Muslim Rohingyas could “jeopardize the entire reform process” if left unaddressed, Quintana warned.
He raised “serious concerns” about the impartiality of a government investigation into Jan. 13 and 14 violence in Du Chee Yar Tan village in Rakhine’s Maungdaw township in which the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said at least 48 Rohingyas were killed.
A 10-member commission was tasked by President Thein Sein earlier this month with probing the death of a police sergeant in the village and a Jan. 28 fire in a nearby village.
But the orders made no mention of allegations by Pillay that at least 40 Rohingya men, women, and children were killed in revenge attacks by Buddhist mobs the same night after a police sergeant was killed by Rohingya villagers, and that eight Rohingya men were killed by Rakhines in the village earlier, on Jan. 9.
“So far, the domestic investigations have failed to satisfactorily address these serious allegations,” Quintana said.
“If the President’s recently established Investigation Commission on Du Chee Yar Tan fails to carry out an investigation that meets international standards, I will urge the U.N. Human Rights Council to work with the Government of Myanmar to establish a credible investigation to uncover the truth of what happened in Du Chee Yar Tan and to hold anyone responsible for human rights violations to account.”
Quintana also raised concerns about and assessed progress on press freedom, political prisoners, rule of law, constitutional reform, and other rights issues.
During his visit, his ninth to Myanmar after a six-year mandate as special rapporteur, Quintana met with government ministers, members of parliament, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, 88 Generation civil society leaders, former political prisoners, and others to discuss pressing rights concerns.
Claims rejected
The government-appointed Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) secretary, Sit Myaing, who met with Quintana to discuss the probe into the Du Chee Yar Tan violence, said the allegations about which Quintana had raised concerns could not be proven.
“We explained to him that the online reports about eight [Rohingyas] killed in Du Chee Yar Tan is something that cannot be proved, and that a group of patrol police was attacked there,” he told RFA’s Myanmar Service.
He rejected claims that the incident had not been fully investigated, but said Myanmar would welcome comments about other aspects of the human rights situation in Rakhine state.
“As for the Du Chee Yar Tan problem, it is obvious that a group of patrol police was attacked by a group of [Rohingyas], according to witness testimony and on-the-ground evidence,” he said.
“But, there are some areas that we haven’t been to and some problems that we don’t know about because we have not been informed. If we were informed about the problems with solid evidence, we could try to solve them,” he said.
While in Rakhine state earlier this week, Quintana faced protests by scores of Rakhine Buddhists who accused of him being biased in his reports, which they said were in favor of the Rohingyas.
Presidential spokesman and information minister Ye Htut said Quintana had raised concerns about biased reporting on his visit.
“He said some media outlets have been writing unfair comments even on his work in Myanmar and he wanted to know how we could solve this problem together,” Ye Htut told RFA.
Reported by Khin Khin Ei for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.