Amnesty Int’l urges fair probe over Rohingya leader murder

Amnesty International has urged Bangladesh government to probe into the killing of Rohingya leader Md Mohibullah, who was shot dead by miscreants on Wednesday night.

Saad Hammadi, Amnesty International's South Asia Campaigner, said "Mohibullah 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. His killing sends a chilling effect across the entire community."

The onus is now on the Bangladeshi authorities to expedite an investigation into his murder and bring all those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice in fair trials, he said.

He further 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." 

"Violence in the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar has been a growing problem. Armed groups operating drug cartels have killed people and held hostages. The authorities must take immediate action to prevent further bloodshed," he concluded.  

Mohibullah, 46, who led the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, was shot dead at around 8:30pm at a Kutupalong camp office in Cox's Bazar.

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

Mohibullah came to the limelight on 25 August, 2019 when a rally organised by Arakan Rohingya Society to observe two years of the latest Rohingya exodus from the Rakhine state of Myanmar, drew more than 100,000 people.