Amnesty accuses Myanmar military of "crimes against humanity"

Amnesty International says the "deplorable" actions of the Myanmar military may be a crime against humanity.

Demonstrators outside the Myanmar embassy in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on November 25, 2016, protest the military crackdown on ethnic Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
TRT World and Agencies

Demonstrators outside the Myanmar embassy in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on November 25, 2016, protest the military crackdown on ethnic Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Myanmar's security forces are responsible for unlawful killings, mass rapes and the burning down of houses and entire villages in a campaign of violence against the country's Muslim minority Rohingya, Amnesty International said on Monday.

Amnesty published the report as foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Myanmar, met in Yangon to discuss the alleged human rights violations. Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman called on his ASEAN counterparts for joint action to defend the human rights of the Rohingya people.

"We believe that the situation is now of regional concern and should be resolved together," Anifah told the ASEAN meeting.

The Amnesty report said Myanmar's Nobel laureate and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi failed to meet her responsibilities on the case.

"While the military is directly responsible for the violations, Aung San Suu Kyi has failed to live up to both her political and moral responsibility to try to stop and condemn what is unfolding in Rakhine state," said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International's Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

TRT World's Ali Mustafa has more.

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