The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar has found gross human rights violations and abuses committed by Myanmar's military in the Rakhine state, and urges to investigate and prosecute senior military officials, the mission said in a press release on Monday.
GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2018) The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar has found gross human rights violations and abuses committed by Myanmar's military in the Rakhine state, and urges to investigate and prosecute senior military officials, the mission said in a press release on Monday.
"Myanmar's top military generals, including Commander-in-Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, must be investigated and prosecuted for genocide in the north of Rakhine State, as well as for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States," the press release read.
The mission's report specified that the Tatmadaw, Myanmar's military, had committed numerous grave violations of international law, including indiscriminate killings, enforced disappearance, torture, gang-rape, sexual slavery, assaulting children, and burning entire villages. The experts noted that the military's tactics were "consistently and grossly disproportionate to actual security threats, especially in Rakhine State."
"Many of these violations undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law. They are also shocking because they stem from deep fractures in society and structural problems that have been apparent and unaddressed for decades. They are shocking for the level of denial, normalcy and impunity that is attached to them," the report read.
The mission also discovered evidence to warrant the probe and prosecution of senior officials in Myanmar's military command, making a list of top-priority offenders.
"The crimes in Rakhine State, and the manner in which they were perpetrated, are similar in nature, gravity and scope to those that have allowed genocidal intent to be established in other contexts," the report said.
The mission said that State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not use her position or moral authority to stop or hinder the events unfolding in the Rakhine State.
"Impunity is deeply entrenched in Myanmar's political and legal system, effectively placing the Tatmadaw above the law ... The impetus for accountability must come from the international community," the report read, calling for the situation in the country to be referred to the International Criminal Court or an ad hoc international criminal tribunal.
The Tatmadaw's attacks were systematically targeting civilians, the mission stressed.
A fuller report is set to be published and presented to the Human Rights Council on September 18.
Mark Field, the UK minister of state for Asia and the Pacific, has responded to the UN report, stressing that it "comes as no surprise."
"Anyone like myself who has been engaged directly in this terrible crisis, or has spoken to Rohingya refugees, knows the Burmese military is primarily to blame for such appalling human rights violations as the widespread rape and murder of the Rohingya people," Field said in a statement.
According to the UK minister, once the report is presented to the Human Rights Council, the United Kingdom will discuss options for submitting it to the UN Security Council with the body's other members.
Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, have been fleeing their homes to avoid waves of violence following the government's deployment of police and military units in response to an attack by Rohingya insurgents on security posts in the Rakhine State on August 25, 2017. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 700,000 Rohingyas have left the country for Bangladesh since last August for the fear of persecution.
