Myanmar forces use targeted campaign to terrorise, drive out Rohingyas: Amnesty

Amnesty International says Myanmar security forces are using crimes  against humanity in a targeted, systematic and widespread campaign of  violence to drive Rohingyas out of Rakhine state.
In their latest  report on the crisis on Wednesday, the rights organisation says dozens  of eyewitnesses have accused specific units of using murder, rape and  burning.
"In this orchestrated campaign, Myanmar's security forces  have brutally meted out revenge on the entire Rohingya population of  northern Rakhine State, in an apparent attempt to permanently drive them  out of the country," said Amnesty International Crisis Response  Director Tirana Hassan. "These atrocities continue to fuel the region's  worst refugee crisis in decades."
"Exposing these heinous crimes is  the first step on the long road to justice. Those responsible must be  held to account; Myanmar's military can't simply sweep serious  violations under the carpet by announcing another sham internal  investigation. The Commander-in-Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing,  must take immediate action to stop his troops from committing  atrocities."
The organisation says the interviews are corroborated by  satellite imagery and data and photo and video evidence. The operation  thus amounts to a 'widespread and systematic attack, amounting to crimes  against humanity', it said. Amnesty says it has documented murder,  deportation and forcible displacement, torture, rape and other sexual  violence, persecution, and other inhumane acts such as denying food and  other life-saving provisions, which are all considered crimes against  humanity at the International Criminal Court.
The testimonies include  accounts from 120 Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh in recent  weeks and 30 interviews with medical professionals, aid workers,  journalists and Bangladeshi officials. Following ARSA attacks on Aug 25,  Myanmar security forces surrounded Rohingya villages in Rakhine and  opened fire, killing or seriously injuring hundreds of people, Amnesty  said. This was repeated in 'in dozens of villages across Maungdaw,  Rathedaung, and Buthidaung townships'. Amnesty says it has documented  the killings of a dozen people in Chein Kar Li, Koe Tan Kauk, and Chut  Pyin villages in Rathedaung Township; and Inn Din and Min Gyi, in  Maungdaw Township. The death tolls were highest in Chut Pyin and Min  Gyi, where the organisation estimates scores were killed. The Amnesty  report included interviews with seven Rohingya survivors of sexual  violence by Myanmar security forces. It also found remote satellite  sensing evidence of at least 156 large fires in Rakhine since Aug 25,  but says it may be an underestimate. On Tuesday, rights organisation  Human Rights Watch released a separate report that claimed to have  satellite evidence that 288 Rohingya villages had been burned in Rakhine  state. Over half a million Rohingya refugees have crossed the border  into Bangladesh since the military operation began on Aug 25.