BANGKOK – Myanmar security forces have committed serious rights abuses against Muslims in violence-hit western Rakhine state during six weeks of emergency rule, Amnesty International said Friday.

Hundreds of people, mostly men and boys, have been detained in sweeps of areas heavily populated by the Muslim Rohingya group, with almost all held incommunicado and some ill-treated, it said.

Most arrests appear to have been “arbitrary and discriminatory”, it added.

“In six weeks, Myanmar has not only added to a long litany of human rights violations against the Rohingya, but has also done an about-turn on the situation of political imprisonment,” said Amnesty researcher Benjamin Zawacki.

While communal violence appears to have eased since the unrest erupted in early June, violations by the security forces have increased, he said.

Amnesty said there were “credible reports” of abuses - including rape, destruction of property and unlawful killings - by both Rakhine Buddhists and the security forces.

Communal violence between ethnic Buddhist Rakhine and local Muslims, including the Rohingya, has left at least 80 people dead. – AFP