HRW, Amnesty for quick probe into Rohingya leader murder

Rohingya leader Mohibullah

HRW, Amnesty for quick probe into Rohingya leader murder  

Dhaka, Sept 30 - Human Rights Watch (HRW) has sought urgent investigations into Rohingya leader Mohibullah’s killing along with other attacks on Rohingya activists in the camps.

“Mohibullah was a vital voice for the community of Rohingya who had suffered unimaginable loss and pain when they arrived as refugees in Bangladesh,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch on Thursday. 

The Amnesty International also has called for a speedy investigation into the assassination of Mohib Ullah, a top Rohingya leader, to bring the culprits to justice in fair trials.

Mohib Ullah, 46, who led the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, was killed by unidentified gunmen last night at his office in the Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar. 

In a statement received here on Thursday Saad Hammadi, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner, said the leading Rohingya activist’s killing sent a "chilling effect" across the entire community. 

HRW said, “He always defended the rights of the Rohingya to safe and dignified returns and to have a say in the decisions concerning their lives and future."

Mohibullah’s death undermines not only the struggle of Rohingya refugees for greater rights and protection in the refugee camps, but also their efforts to safely return to their homes in Myanmar, Ganguly said. 

Mohibullah, 46, chair of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar on Wednesday night.

Mohibullah had served as a leader among the nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, documenting the Myanmar military’s crimes against the Rohingya and advocating for the refugees’ rights in international forums. 

Amnesty said,  “We call on the Bangladeshi authorities and the UN Refugee Agency to work together to ensure the protection of people in the camps, including refugees, civil society activists and humanitarian workers from both the Rohingya and host community, many of whom have shared concerns about their safety," said Hammadi.

Violence in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar has been a growing problem, he observed. 

He said "Armed groups operating drug cartels have killed people and held hostages. The authorities must take immediate action to prevent further bloodshed.”   

Mohib Ullah had represented the Rohingya community at the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2019.    

Mohib Ullah was a leading representative of the Rohingya community, who spoke out against violence in the camps and in support of the human rights and protection of refugees, said AI.

He also had campaigned for a safe and sustainable repatriation of more than 12 lakh Rohimgyas who fled to Bangladesh in 2017 to escape killings, rape and arson by Myanmar military regime. - UNB