(New York) - The impact of violent attacks against Muslims last year in Burma should be high on the agenda of the U.N. special envoy when he visits Burma next month, Human Rights Watch said today. The U.N. should also focus on the continuing violations of religious freedom and other fundamental human rights faced by Muslims in Burma.
These abuses were highlighted in a twelve-page briefing paper, "Crackdown on Burmese Muslims," released by Human Rights Watch today. The paper, based on interviews with Burmese Muslims and religious leaders inside the country, eyewitnesses to the attacks, and other material, provides details not previously known outside the country.
"The Burmese government must protect the rights of Muslims. Instead, it has imposed restrictions on Muslim religious activities and taken no action to punish those responsible for destroying Muslim homes and mosques," said Mike Jendrzejczyk, Washington Director for Asia at Human Rights Watch.
Former Malaysian Ambassador Razali Ismail, the U.N.'s special envoy, is due to make his eighth trip to Burma on August 2. He is expected to meet with ethnic minority leaders as well as government officials and the National League for Democracy (NLD.)
Human Rights Watch said that various factors sparked last year's confrontations between Buddhists and Muslims, including anger over the destruction of Buddhist images in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, in March 2001. Military authorities confiscated pirated photos and videos of the Bamiyan statues being blown up by the Taliban, fearful they would enflame Buddhist sentiment. But in some cities outside Rangoon, there were credible reports of military intelligence officers stirring up anti-Muslim violence.
The worst violence in eastern Burma took place in May and September 2001, when the country's economic crisis was particularly severe. In Taungoo, north of Rangoon, more than a thousand people led by robed Buddhist monks attacked Muslim shops, homes and mosques. There were beatings and at least nine deaths, but the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) reportedly did little or nothing to intervene to stop or prevent the attacks. There were also outbreaks of violence in Prome in early October and Pegu.
Restrictions on travel by Muslims were far more rigidly enforced in 2001, and earlier this year the government tightly restricted the number of Muslims allowed to travel to Mecca for the Haj pilgrimage. Muslims claimed they continue to have special difficulties getting passports to travel abroad.
In Arakan State, a predominantly Muslim area, human rights abuses have long been commonplace, including forced labor, restrictions on freedom of movement, and destruction of mosques. But in February 2001, full scale riots broke out in Sittwe, the state capital. The authorities did nothing to stop the violence initially, though they ultimately intervened and imposed a curfew for more than two months. Muslims from nearby areas were forbidden to travel to Sittwe. As of May 2002, few Muslims were being allowed to travel freely out of northern Arakan.
Later in the year, there were credible reports in Arakan of local mosques being destroyed at the order of local military commanders. One former Muslim teacher quoted government officials as saying, "In Afghanistan, Talibans have destroyed statues of our Lord Buddha, so that is why we were destroying your mosques here."
Human Rights Watch urged the Burmese government to take immediate steps to end the persecution of Muslim communities, to prosecute those responsible for attacks on Muslim civilians and property, and to ensure that losses are properly compensated. The government should also allow Ambassador Razali and the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, unrestricted access to Muslim areas, including the sites of last year's violence, so that they can meet with local Muslim residents and community leaders
