Rights group urges global response to abuse in Myanmar

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA

A London-based rights group on Monday called upon the world to reflect and respond to the ongoing human rights abuses in Myanmar.

"While we celebrate the anniversary of the UN’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the achievements thereafter, we must also take a sober and honest look at the work that remains ahead.

"In Burma, this work is needed desperately for the marginalized and the vulnerable. The victory of human rights in the world remains incomplete as long as these issues are unresolved," Kyaw Win, executive director of Burma Human Rights Network said in a statement.

Win added that human rights abuses in Myanmar have "drastically" increased over the past five years and the world has been slow to respond.

"Some have seemed to hold out hope that a democratic transition would succeed and benefit all equally, while others may have turned a blind eye to increasing abuses to further investment into Burma," he added.

Win said the world is overdue to address the serious issues which remain in the country, adding: "...the world must recall its duty to the most vulnerable among them who suffer under tyranny and unchecked abuses."

The Myanmar government has long been blamed for a genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya community in western Rakhine state.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

The UN has documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.