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Forbes Business Policy Tatmadaw Targets Religious And Ethnic Communities In Myanmar Yet Again Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab is a lawyer, human rights advocate, and author. Following Jul 2, 2023, 12:45pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin On February 1, 2021, the Burmese military, the Tatmadaw, staged a coup and took over Myanmar. What followed can only be described as a brutal crackdown to suppress opposition to its rule, including mass killings, torture, and sexual violence. The crackdown on human rights defenders and the opposition in the country was followed by an increase in arbitrary detentions and criminal proceedings, especially targeting protesters, journalists, lawyers, health workers, and political opposition. However, a new report suggests that the Tatmadaw continues to target religious and ethnic communities. This comes years after the Tatmadaw specifically targeted the Rohingya for annihilation. The Tatmadaw targeted the Rohingya with extrajudicial executions or other killings, including by random shooting; enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention; rape, including gang rape, and other forms of sexual violence; physical assault including beatings; torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; looting and occupation of property; destruction of property; and ethnic and religious discrimination and persecution. As a result of the atrocities, close to a million Rohingya Muslims were forced to flee to Bangladesh. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights described the atrocities committed against the Rohingya Muslims in Burma as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing ”, and the UN Special Envoy for human rights in Myanmar identified the “hallmarks of a genocide ” within the horrendous crimes suffered by the Rohingya Muslims. The International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice are looking into the crimes. A shattered statue of the Virgin Mary stands in the remnants of a Catholic church that was destroyed ...
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