NEW YORK – United Nations investigators on Monday called for aninternational probe and prosecution of Myanmar’s army chief and five othertop military commanders for genocide against the country’s Rohingyaminority.
“Myanmar’s top military generals, including Commander-in-ChiefSenior-General Min Aung Hlaing, must be investigated and prosecuted forgenocide in the north of Rakhine State, as well as for crimes againsthumanity and war crimes in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States,” a UN-backedfact-finding mission said.
Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled northern Rakhine state to Bangladeshafter Myanmar launched a brutal crackdown last August on insurgents amidaccounts of arson, murder and rape at the hands of soldiers and vigilantemobs in the mainly Buddhist country.
Myanmar has vehemently denied allegations of ethnic cleansing, insisting itwas responding to attacks by Rohingya rebels.
But in Monday’s report, the UN mission insisted the army tactics had been“consistently and grossly disproportionate to actual security threats.”
The mission, which was created by the UN Human Rights Council in March2017, concluded in a report that “there is sufficient information towarrant the investigation and prosecution of senior officials in theTatmadaw (Myanmar army) chain of command.”
“The crimes in Rakhine State, and the manner in which they wereperpetrated, are similar in nature, gravity and scope to those that haveallowed genocidal intent to be established in other contexts,” the reportsaid.
The investigators named Min Aung Hlaing and five other top militarycommanders, adding that a longer list of names could be shared with “anycompetent and credible body pursuing accountability in line withinternational norms and standards.”
Criticism was also directed at Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi,a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been the target of global vitriol fora perceived failure to stand up for the stateless minority.
The report found that she had “not used her de facto position as head ofgovernment, nor her moral authority, to stem or prevent the unfoldingevents.”
While acknowledging that she and other civilian authorities had littleinfluence on military actions, it said that they “through their acts andomissions… have contributed to the commission of atrocity crimes.”
The investigators called on the UN Security Council to refer the Myanmarsituation to the International Criminal Court, or for an ad hocinternational criminal tribunal to be created.
They also recommended an arms embargo and “targeted individual sanctionsagainst those who appear to be most responsible.” – APP/AFP