Despite the reports of rapes and multiple killings of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, a special commission set up by the government said Wednesday that so far it has not found evidence of genocide nor rapes against the minority group.
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The commission contradicts the allegations made by international agencies, including the United Nations, that have documented abuses against the Rohingya population since a military counter-insurgency campaign was launched in the western state of Rakhine in October. Some advocates have even warned that the state's actions amount to ethnic cleansing.
According to the U.N., the Rohingyas are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
Some reports say Myanmar's government in Rakhine has killed scores of people and displaced 30,000 Rohingya people. Most have been forced to flee to neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.
The denial of such crimes has increased criticism targeting the government of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi for its failure to ensure human rights for the Muslim minority group, which faces persecution in the Buddhist-dominant country.
In 2012, there was a bloody conflict between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, which left at least 80 dead and led to the displacement of tens of thousands of Rohingyas who were forced to live in displacement camps in their own country in apartheid-like conditions.