UN calls for prosecution of Myanmar officials over genocide of Rohingya Muslims

A United Nation fact-finding mission report has called for the investigation and prosecution of Myanmar’s senior military officials for genocide and war crimes against the Rohingya Muslims. (Courtesy)

NAIROBI—A United Nation fact-finding mission report has called for the investigation and prosecution of Myanmar’s senior military officials for genocide and war crimes against the Rohingya Muslims.

The UN fact-finding mission 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”.

“Military necessity would never justify killing indiscriminately, gang raping women, assaulting children, and burning entire villages,” said the report.

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.

“The Tatmadaw’s tactics are consistently and grossly disproportionate to actual security threats, especially in Rakhine State, but also in northern Myanmar,” the report added.

The UN report said that there is “sufficient information” to open a genocide and war crimes investigation of senior Myanmar generals, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing.

A file photo of General Min Aung Hlaing, Supreme Commander of Myanmar’s armed forces. (Courtesy)

The mission said a full list of suspects will be made available to any credible body pursuing accountability, adding that the case should be referred to the International Criminal Court, or an ad-hoc criminal tribunal.

The Rohingya are often described as “the world’s most persecuted minority”.

They are an ethnic group, the majority of whom are Muslim, who have lived for centuries in the Buddhist Myanmar. Currently, there are about 1.1 million Rohingya in the Southeast Asian country.

More than 750,000 Rohingyas fled Myanmar last August and crossed into Bangladesh, fleeing violence and massacres initiated by the Myanmar army.

Investigators documented mass killings, the destruction of Rohingya dwellings, and “large-scale” gang rape by Myanmar soldiers.

A group of Rohingya Muslims gathered in front of U.S. Capitol building on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the violence against their community.

“It is a call of the Rohingya people, they have called for this day to be marked all over the world. So we can support them, so we can stand in solidarity with them, so we can educate people about the genocide,” said Hena Zuberi, Myanmar Task Force Director .

Zuberi mentioned the Rohingya community thought that the exodus would be a temporary solution and soon the Rohingya would return to their homes, however, one year later, they remain in refugee camps.

“We thought it would be a temporary stay. But it has been a year, and nothing has changed. The needle is stuck, and we want this needle to move,” the task force director added.