Six Muslims charged with murder over death of Buddhist monk during sectarian violence

At least 43 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in sectarian violence in Meikhtila, some of them hunted down and burnt to death by Buddhist mobs.

YANGON // A court in Myanmar has charged six Muslims with murder for their alleged role in the death of a Buddhist monk during an outbreak of sectarian violence that shook the country in March, authorities said today.

The charges issued on Monday mark the latest legal action against minority Muslims in the central city of Meikthila, one of several recent flashpoints for anti-Muslim violence that rights groups say includes an organised campaign of "ethnic cleansing" in the Buddhist nation.

At least 43 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in Meikhtila, some of them hunted down and burnt to death by Buddhist mobs. Authorities have detained Buddhists allegedly involved in the attacks, but so far none have been charged with crimes.

Containing the violence has posed a serious challenge to President Thein Sein's reformist government as it attempts to institute political and economic liberalisation after nearly half a century of military rule. It has also tarnished the image of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticised for failing to speak out strongly in defence of the country's Muslim community.

All six men charged on Monday face the death penalty if convicted, said Ye Aung Myint, the advocate general. He said the men were among 50 people detained in connection with several days of violence in Meikhtila that also displaced more than 12,000 people, most of them Muslim.

The March violence started after a dispute between a gold shop owner, who is Muslim, and some of his customers, who are Buddhists. The argument triggered a wave of anti-Muslim violence across the city that left entire Muslim neighbourhoods in flames and charred bodies in the streets. The government declared a state of emergency and deployed the army to restore order.

The gold shop owner and two employees, all Muslims, were sentenced by the same court in April to 14 years in prison on charges of theft and causing grievous bodily harm.

Among those killed in the riots was a Buddhist monk who was reportedly pulled off his motorbike, attacked and burnt. The six men accused of attacking him were part of a larger group, and authorities are searching for four more men, said Ye Aung Myint.

The sectarian violence in Myanmar first flared nearly a year ago in western Rakhine state between the region's Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya. Mobs of Buddhists armed with machetes rased thousands of Muslim homes, leaving hundreds dead and forcing 125,000 people to flee, mostly Muslims.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused authorities - including Buddhist monks, local politicians, government officials, and state security forces - of fomenting an organised campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against the Muslims in Rakhine state. The government has denied the charges.

The Rohingya living in Rakhine state are widely seen as foreign intruders from Bangladesh, and are largely denied citizenship even though many of them have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Since the Rakhine violence, religious unrest has morphed into a campaign against the country's Muslim community in other regions. The latest violence flared last week when several Muslim villages north of Yangon were burnt to the ground.

Thin Seine vowed on Monday that his government would do everything it can to protect the rights of minority Muslims.

In a speech broadcast on state television late on Monday, Thein Sein said his "government will take all necessary action to ensure the basic human rights of Muslims in Rakhine state, and to accommodate the needs and expectations of the Rakhine people".

"In order for religious freedom to prevail, there must be tolerance and mutual respect among the members of different faiths," he said. Only then, he added, "will it be possible to coexist peacefully."