Human rights groups poured scorn on Tuesday on a Myanmar military investigation into alleged atrocities against Rohingya Muslims, branding it a "whitewash" and calling for UN and independent investigators to be allowed into the country, report agencies.
More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since late August, driven out by a counter-insurgency clearance operation in Rakhine State that a top UN official has called a classic case of "ethnic cleansing".
Accusations of organised mass rape and other crimes against humanity were levelled at the Myanmar military on Sunday by another senior UN official, who had toured camps in Bangladesh where Rohingya refugees have taken shelter.
Pramila Patten, the UN special representative of the secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict, said she would raise accusations against the Myanmar military with the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
The military, known as the Tatmadaw, has consistently protested its innocence, and on Monday it posted the findings of an internal investigation on the Facebook page of its commander in chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
It said it had found no instances where its soldiers had shot and killed Rohingya villagers, raped women or tortured prisoners. It denied that security forces had torched Rohingya villages or used "excessive force".
The military said that, while 376 "terrorists" were killed, there were no deaths of innocent people.
Amnesty International has alleged that Myanmar's military is trying to sweep serious violations against the Rohingya under the carpet.
"Once again, Myanmar's military is trying to sweep serious violations against the Rohingyas under the carpet," said Amnesty International's Regional Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific James Gomez.
In response to findings released after the Myanmar military's internal investigation into violence in northern Rakhine State since August 25, Gomez said there is overwhelming evidence that the military has murdered and raped Rohingyas and burned their villages to the ground.
"After recording countless stories of horror and using satellite analysis to track the growing devastation, we can only reach one conclusion: these attacks amount to crimes against humanity," said the official.
Mentioning that Myanmar military has made clear it has no intention of ensuring accountability, Gomez said it is now up to the international community to step up to ensure these appalling abuses do not go unpunished.
"The full extent of the violations against the Rohingyas and other ethnic minorities will not be known until the UN Fact-Finding Mission and other independent observers are given unfettered access to Myanmar, and in particular Rakhine State," he said.
Meantime, more than 200 have drowned making the attempt in the past couple of months and Bangladesh border guards have clamped down on fishermen who Rohingya were paying to take them across.
With fewer boats available, desperate Rohingya have been stringing together rafts from bamboo and plastic canisters. In the past week, some 1,200 people crossed over on such flimsy rafts, according to police.
The government in mostly Buddhist Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, regards the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
Suu Kyi's failure to speak out strongly over the plight of the Rohingya has widely damaged the Nobel peace prize winner's reputation as a stateswoman.
Many diplomats, however, believe Myanmar's fragile transition to democracy after 49 years of military rule would be jeopardised if she publicly criticised the armed forces.
On Friday, the Myanmar military replaced the commanding officer in Rakhine State. No reason for Major General Maung Maung Soe's transfer was given, but a senior officer with the military's media department told Reuters the general had no new assignment, and had been placed on a reserve list. A spokeswoman for the US State Department, Katina Adams, said the United States was aware of reports of the general's replacement.
"We remain gravely concerned by continuing reports of violence and human rights abuses committed by Burmese security forces and vigilantes. Those responsible for abuses must be held accountable," Adams said.
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