They鈥檝e watched as their villages were razed and their loved ones were murdered -- but the atrocities do not end there. According to a shocking new report by Human Rights Watch, Myanmar鈥檚 鈥渟ecurity forces have committed widespread rape against women and girls as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims.鈥�
The report, which is based on interviews with 29 rape survivors,
鈥淚n every case described to us, the perpetrators were uniformed members of security forces, almost all military personnel,鈥� the report says. 鈥淭hese likely only represent a proportion of the actual number of women and girls who were raped.鈥�
鈥淭he vast majority of the women and girls that I spoke to were gang raped,鈥� Skye Wheeler, a Human Rights Watch researcher, adds in a video. 鈥淪ometimes by as many as nine or ten perpetrators and in all of the cases that I documented, there were many soldiers involved.鈥�
In one interview, Fatama Begum, 33, described such a gang assault.
鈥�(One man) grabbed me by the mouth and held me still,鈥� she told Human Rights Watch from a refugee camp in Bangladesh. 鈥淗e stuck a knife into my side and kept it there while the (five) men were raping me. That was how they kept me in place.鈥�
Myanmar has categorically denied that such atrocities have been committed by its security personnel. One Myanmar lawmaker has even refuted such claims by saying that Rohingya women are too 鈥渄irty鈥� for its soldiers to rape.
Human Rights Watch is calling on the international community to impose individual sanctions on Myanmar鈥檚 military leaders, including asset freezes and travel plans.
Since August, more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled targeted violence in Myanmar for the relative safety of neighbouring Bangladesh.
With a report from 麻豆影视鈥� Daniele Hamamdjian
