By TCN News,
New Delhi: After maintaining silence almost for two months of bloody ethnic violence in Rakhine state of Myanmar which saw killings of hundreds of Rohingya Muslims and displacement of tens of thousands, the United Nations on Saturday called for an independent inquiry into the violation of human rights by security forces of Myanmar.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has said that armed forces sent to quash violence in the northern state of Rakhine were reported to be targeting Rohingya Muslims. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says about 80,000 people have been displaced following inter-communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims.
The Myanmar government says the violence began after rape and murder of a Buddhist woman allegedly by three Muslims on 28th May 2012. The first retaliatory attack on Muslims was reported on 3 June when a mob of Buddhists killed 10 Muslims.
UN human rights office has received “a stream of reports from independent sources alleging discriminatory and arbitrary responses by security forces, and even their instigation of and involvement in clashes,” Ms Pillay has been quoted as saying in the media.
She welcomed Myanmar government decision to allow a UN envoy visit Rakhine state next week, but said it was “no substitute for a fully-fledged independent investigation”.