Asia/South Asia
3 years ago

Myanmar junta's civilian rivals promise justice for Rohingya

FILE PHOTO: Arrested Rohingya people leave a Hlegu court, outside Yangon, Myanmar, February 21, 2020. REUTER
FILE PHOTO: Arrested Rohingya people leave a Hlegu court, outside Yangon, Myanmar, February 21, 2020. REUTER

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One of the leaders of a group of civilian rivals to Myanmar's military junta promised on Wednesday to deliver justice for the country's Rohingya minority, saying they had also suffered at the hands of the military, reports Reuters.

"We will not rest until we bring these military generals into justices for the war crimes, atrocities and the crimes against humanity they have committed against the great and brave people of Myanmar," Dr Sasa said in a Facebook post.

Sasa, a medical doctor who goes by one name, has spoken publicly on behalf of a group that includes members of the government that was overthrown by the military in a Feb 1 coup. He is accused by the military of treason and is in hiding.

At least 730,000 people from Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority fled to neighbouring Bangladesh in 2017 after an army crackdown that United Nations' investigators said was carried out with genocidal intent.

But democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who headed the civilian government until she was ousted and imprisoned last month, had backed the military and denied genocide, including at the World Court in The Hague.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group says at least 275 people have been killed in a military crackdown on pro-democracy protests against the Feb 1 coup.

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