YANGON,
July 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Myanmar's ruling military
junta denied Saturday, July 20, a recent human rights report that
outlined escalating attacks on the country’s Muslim minority, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Human
Rights Watch (HRW) released a briefing paper last week that recounted
violent attacks against Myanmar's Muslims in 2001, based on credible
reports and interviews with eyewitnesses.
"The
HRW briefing paper on Myanmar highlighted some isolated incidents
which unfortunately occurred a couple of months ago in certain
townships in the country," the junta claimed in a statement
carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"These
kinds of isolated cases of minor disagreements happen sometimes.
"But
prompt action taken by the government in cooperation with the
religious leaders of the respective religions has always managed to
prevent any kind of religious incidents from flaring out of control
and the occurrence of incidents has been resolved peacefully,"
the statement went on.
The
statement concluded with the claim that "Myanmar does not suffer
or experience any situation where one religion comes into serious
conflict with another."
The
New York-based human rights watchdog HRW paper reported outbreaks of
violence against Muslim communities in Taungoo, 150 kilometers (93
miles) north of Yangon, in May 2001.
More
than a thousand people led by Buddhist monks attacked Muslims' shops,
homes and mosques, it said.
"Many
Muslims were reportedly beaten and there were credible reports of at
least nine deaths. Violence spread to nearby townships and
villages," the paper said.
Since
then, Muslims nationwide have complained of restricted freedom to
travel and to worship.
"The
ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) did little or
nothing to intervene to stop and prevent the attacks."
The
paper said further outbreaks of violence were spurred on by the
Taliban's destruction of Buddhist images in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, in
March 2001, and the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United
States.
These
outbreaks of violence against Muslims occurred in Prome, Pegu and in
Arakan state, a predominantly Muslim area.
The
paper called on United Nations special envoy Razali Ismail, due to
make his eighth visit to Myanmar August 2, to include the concerns of
Myanmar's Muslims on his agenda.
The
junta has long endured harsh international criticism for its
widespread rights violations.
A
recent human rights report has accused Myanmar’s military junta of
using systematic rape as a weapon of war against ethnic minority women
in eastern Shan state.
The
report, prepared by the Shan Human Rights Foundation and Shan Women's
Action Network documents the rapes of 625 girls and women in Shan
state by Myanmar troops, mostly between 1996 and 2001.
But
the government on July 10, 2002, accused the two rights groups which
reported on the rape claims of allegedly conspiring with the Shan
United Revolutionary Army to scupper its rapprochement drive with
Washington.
The
U.S. State Department said it had raised its concerns with the regime
over the report.
"We
are appalled by reports that the Burmese military is using rape as a
weapon of war against civilian populations in Shan State," AFP
quoted a U.S. spokeswoman as saying, using the country's former name.
"We
have raised our concerns with the Burmese regime and urged them to
fully investigate any and all allegations of the systematic rape of
ethnic minority girls and women in Burma and appropriately punish
those guilty of such heinous crimes," she added.
"The
report in question presents all sorts of details including dates, and
places and battalion numbers and names of individual perpetrators
involved," she concluded, casting doubt on Myanmar's
government’s version of events
