A UN fact-finding team says Myanmar’s Senior Military Officials must be prosecuted for genocide and war crimes against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities.
The mission, which was established by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2017, found that Myanmar’s armed forces had taken actions that “undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law”.
Speaking in Geneva, Chairman of the Investigative Mission ,Marzuki Darusman, said his researchers have amassed a vast amount of primary information, based on 875 interviews with witnesses and victims, satellite imagery, and verified photos and videos.
Mr. Darusman said the victim accounts are “amongst the most shocking human rights violations” he has come across”.
He described Myanmar’s military as having shown a “flagrant disregard for lives” and displayed “extreme levels of brutality”.
The Rohingya he said are in a continuing situation of severe systemic and institutionalised oppression from birth to death.
The UN report said that Military Generals, including Commander-in-Chief, Min Aung Hlaing, must face investigation and prosecution for genocide in north Rakhine State, as well as crimes against humanity and other war crimes in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states.
The report singles out Myanmar’s military, which is known as the Tatmadaw, but adds that other Myanmar security agencies were also involved in the abuses.
Myanmar’s military is accused of involvement in murder, false imprisonment, torture, sexual slavery, and rape.
