One year on, HRW calls for junta to be held to account for violent crackdown
Posted on September 26, 2008
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Troops take to the streets of Burma's two largest cities
On the first anniversary of the Burmese junta’s violent crackdown on peaceful protests, Human Rights Watch says the international community should demand accountability from the Burmese military government for the crackdown. It warns repression in Burma has increased and the military government has failed to deliver on promises it made a year ago, despite international efforts at mediation.The protests were triggered by a steep hike in government controlled fuel prices and saw tens of thousands of people take to the streets led by Buddhist monks.
The junta’s response was to brutally crackdown on what it saw as a threat to its rule, and ordered security forces to open fire on the unarmed protestors. It is not clear how many people died or how many were arrested in the days and weeks that followed. But, Human Rights Watch has documented at least 20 cases of extrajudicial killings, and dozens of beatings and arrests by riot police and army soldiers, assisted by local paramilitaries of the pro-government Union Solidarity and Development Association. They say 800 political prisoners were arrested following last year’s protests.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, made a report after his November 2007 visit, but acknowledged it was not a full investigation and recommended that the UN Human Rights Council call for investigations into the circumstances of the crackdown.
Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch said, “It’s a failure of the Burmese government and the international community that the perpetrators of killing, arbitrary arrests and torture during the September 2007 crackdown have not been brought to justice.”
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