REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
Five new mass graves have reportedly been confirmed by the Associated Press in an investigation into the possible genocide against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The news agency conducted interviews with dozens of survivors in refugee camps in Bangladesh in an effort to prove that Myanmar’s denials of the tragedy were false. The AP reports there has, in fact, been a “systematic slaughter” of Rohingya Muslim civilians by the country’s military. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said Thursday that the AP investigation “raises the stakes for the international community to demand accountability from Myanmar.” Separately, two Reuters journalists held on charges of violating the authoritarian nation’s state secrecy laws were denied bail in a Yangon courtroom Thursday. International press groups have repeatedly called for their release.