UN report calls for prosecution of Myanmar generals

It implicates army chief and five other generals in genocide of Rohingya minority

Mr Marzuki Darusman (centre), chairman of the UN's fact-finding mission, flanked by members Christopher Sidoti and Radhika Coomaraswamy at a press conference on the report yesterday. Rohingya refugees taking part in a protest last Saturday at a camp
Rohingya refugees taking part in a protest last Saturday at a camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on the first anniversary of Myanmar's military crackdown, which sparked the exodus of some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Mr Marzuki Darusman (centre), chairman of the UN's fact-finding mission, flanked by members Christopher Sidoti and Radhika Coomaraswamy at a press conference on the report yesterday. Rohingya refugees taking part in a protest last Saturday at a camp
Mr Marzuki Darusman (centre), chairman of the UN's fact-finding mission, flanked by members Christopher Sidoti and Radhika Coomaraswamy at a press conference on the report yesterday. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

GENEVA • United Nations investigators yesterday called for an international probe and prosecution of Myanmar's army chief and five other top military commanders for genocide against the country's Rohingya minority.

Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh after Myanmar launched a brutal crackdown on insurgents in August last year amid accounts of arson, murder and rape by soldiers and vigilante mobs in the mainly Buddhist country.

Myanmar has vehemently denied allegations of ethnic cleansing, insisting it was responding to attacks by Rohingya rebels.

But yesterday, a UN-backed fact-finding mission probing violations in Myanmar said the country'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".

They should also be investigated and prosecuted for "crimes against humanity and war crimes in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states", it said, insisting that army tactics were "consistently and grossly disproportionate to actual security threats".

The mission, created by the UN Human Rights Council in March last year, said in its report that "there is sufficient information to warrant the investigation and prosecution of senior officials in the Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) chain of command". "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 investigators named Gen Min Aung Hlaing and five other top military commanders. Mr Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, said Gen Min Aung Hlaing should step down.

The Myanmar government, which was sent an advance copy of the UN report, did not comment. A military spokesman said ahead of a news conference that he could not immediately comment on the UN report.

The report also directed criticism at Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate who has been the target of global vitriol for a perceived failure to stand up for the stateless minority. The report found she had "not used her de facto position as head of government, nor her moral authority, to stem or prevent the unfolding events".

While acknowledging she and the other civilian authorities had little influence on military actions, it said that they "through their acts and omissions... have contributed to the commission of atrocity crimes".

Myanmar never permitted the UN investigators access to the country, but they said that in the course of their investigation, they interviewed 857 victims and eyewitnesses, and used satellite imagery and authenticated documents, photographs and videos as a basis to reach their conclusions.

The report detailed horrifying atrocities committed against the Rohingya, including murder, enforced disappearance, torture, rape and other sexual violence "perpetrated on a massive scale". Information collected by the investigators suggested that an estimate by the Doctors Without Borders charity - that up to 10,000 Rohingya were killed in the 2017 crackdown - was conservative.

They also found that soldiers carried out "large-scale gang rape", sometimes of as many as 40 girls and women at once, in at least 10 Rakhine villages. "The scale, brutality and systematic nature of these violations indicate that rape and sexual violence are part of a deliberate strategy to intimidate, terrorise or punish a civilian population, and are used as a tactic of war," it said.

Warning that "impunity is deeply entrenched in Myanmar's political and legal system", the investigators stressed that the only chance of obtaining accountability was through the international justice system.

They called on the UN Security Council to refer the issue to the International Criminal Court, or for an ad hoc international criminal tribunal to be created. They recommended an arms embargo and "targeted individual sanctions against those who appear to be most responsible" .

The report also called for an independent investigation of the extent to which posts on Facebook "led to real-world discrimination and violence". Facebook said yesterday it is banning 20 Myanmar individuals and organisations, including Gen Min Aung Hlaing, to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 28, 2018, with the headline UN report calls for prosecution of Myanmar generals. Subscribe