UN rights envoy to inspect reports of abuse in Myanmar

By Kyaw Ye Lynn

YANGON, Myanmar (AA) - A United Nations human rights envoy is visiting Myanmar amid growing international concern over allegations against the military, including reports of rights abuses in western Rakhine State.

Yanghee Lee, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, arrived in the country’s biggest city Yangon on Sunday evening for a 12-day visit before leaving for northern Kachin State on Monday.

In Kachin, Lee is due to visit temporary camps in Myitkyina and Hpakant townships where thousands of people have been displaced by fighting between government troops and ethnic rebels.

She is also scheduled to meet the country’s leaders -- including State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and military chief Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing -- in political capital Nay Pyi Taw after the Kachin trip.

An officer at Rakhine’s regional government told Anadolu Agency on Monday that Lee would also travel to the state.

“She will visit Maungdaw district, and talk to people affected by recent and ongoing conflicts,” the officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media about the trip.

Since the deaths of nine border police officials in northern Rakhine on Oct. 9, aid agencies and independent journalists have been denied access to areas predominantly inhabited by the Rohingya Muslim community, and at least 101 people -- 17 police and soldiers, eight Muslim men working closely with the local authority, and 76 alleged "attackers" (including six who reportedly died during interrogation) -- have now been killed.

More than 600 people have also been detained for alleged involvement in the attacks and during a subsequent military crackdown.

Rohingya advocacy groups, however, claim around 400 Rohingya -- described by the UN as among the most persecuted groups worldwide -- were killed in the military operations, women were raped and more than 1,000 Rohingya villages torched.

“As far as I know, [Lee] also wants to talk to people detained on suspicion of involvement in attacks on police outposts in October last year,” the Rakhine government officer told Anadolu Agency on Monday.

“But I don’t know if she could have the chance,” he added.

The trip is Lee’s fifth "information-gathering visit" to the country and comes at the invitation of Suu Kyi's government.

A statement released last week said that Lee has proposed benchmarks to the government ahead of her visit to help monitor and assess progress in the situation of human rights in the country.

It added that by the end of the trip, she hopes to arrive at mutually agreed benchmarks, which will include priority areas for technical assistance and capacity building.

Lee is then scheduled to present a report to the Rights Council in March 2017.