OIC sets meeting to discuss Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims on Jan 19

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an emergency meeting with foreign ministers following Sunday’s disclosure of a video posted online showing Myanmar police officers beating Rohingya Muslim villagers.

Myanmar news outlets broadcast the video and it went viral on social media. It depicted several police officers beating and kicking two villagers who were among dozens of Rohingya Muslims being questioned during a military sweep of the region, Arab News reported.

The video is a rare documentation of abuses by the Myanmar government against Rohingya Muslims in a region closed to non-governmental organizations and aid workers.

Maha Akeel, director of the information department at the OIC, said that the organization has been “following up closely the situation in Myanmar with the Rohingya villagers for a few months now, and all the attacks, abuses, beatings, and burning of their villages.”

“The OIC will hold an emergency meeting at the level of foreign ministers on January 19 in Malaysia to discuss the dangerous violations committed against the Rohingya Muslims and to make a decision to (bring) an end to this humanitarian crisis and take practical steps in terms of humanitarian aid to find a political resolution to grant this persecuted group their full rights.”

The beatings occurred during a crackdown by Myanmar army on November 5 that made more than 34,000 Rohingya Muslims flee into Bangladesh, according to the United Nations. The operations have led to allegations of abuses, summary executions, and rape of villagers. The government of Aung San Suu Kyi has denied the allegations.

However, Suu Kyi’s office confirmed the authenticity of the footage and noted that it recorded by a police officer during a clearance operation in northern Rakhine State. “Action will be taken against police who allegedly beat villagers,” Suu Kyi’s office said in a statement.

Four policemen have been identified by name, including the leader of the operation. “Further investigations are being carried out to expose other police officers who beat villagers,” the statement said.

The violence in Rakhine State has renewed international criticism that Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi has done too little to help members of the Muslim minority, who are denied citizenship in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.

Source: Arab News