Rohingya may face 'death penalty' over Myanmar murders

A total of 113 people have now been arrested for alleged involvement in last month's attacks in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, some of whom could face the death penalty.

Nine border police officials were killed and dozens of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition were stolen Oct. 9. when around 400 armed men attacked three police station outposts in Maungdaw and Yathay Taung Townships.

Myanmar troops have since been searching villages predominantly occupied by the country’s Rohingya population for the assailants and stolen weapons. (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)

Myanmar gov't asked to step in to stop non-Muslim force

A Bangkok-based human rights group is calling on the Myanmar government to "immediately" intervene in a regional government's plan to arm non-Muslim civilians in a predominantly Muslim area of northern Rakhine State.

In a statement released Saturday, Matthew Smith, chief executive officer at Fortify Rights, called the move "highly inadvisable and dangerous".

“If the government wants to improve security, it should take urgent action to protect members of all races and religions and immediately provide free and unfettered access to aid groups.” (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)

Myanmar involved in cleansing Rakhine of Muslims: Activist

Diplomats from the UN, the EU and the US have urged Myanmar to launch a transparent investigation into human rights violations against Rohingya Muslims in its western Rakhine state. The request on Friday came after a two-day visit to the region, where Myanmar’s security forces stand accused of rape, torture, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and burning of homes.

Jahangir Mohammad, director of the Center for Muslim Affairs from Manchester, said Myanmar’s government and military are pursuing the agenda of ethnic cleansing in Muslim-populated areas.

“We’ve seen over the last four or five years that the Rohingya Muslims are being slowly cleansed from society," he told Press TV. (Courtesy of presstv.com)