UN: Myanmar Army Committed Crimes Against Humanity Against Rohingya Muslims

The UN investigation team announced on Monday, September 5, that the Myanmar army has employed methods such as mass killings and gang rapes against Rohingya Muslims "with the intent of genocide" and that the army commander and five generals should be prosecuted under international law for committing the most serious crimes. The UN investigation team called on the Security Council to establish a special tribunal to prosecute the suspects or refer them to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The Security Council should also impose an arms embargo against Myanmar and sanction those primarily responsible for these crimes. The report holds Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and civilian leader of the country, responsible for failing to use her "moral authority" to protect civilians. It states that Suu Kyi's government has facilitated violent crimes by allowing hate to spread, destroying evidence, and failing to protect civilians from war crimes and crimes against humanity. The report also criticizes Facebook for allowing its platform to be used to promote hate and violence. In response to this criticism, Facebook announced on Monday that it has blocked the accounts of 20 Myanmar officials and entities that the UN investigation team reported as having committed the most serious human rights violations. A spokesperson for the Myanmar army stated in a phone call with Reuters that they could not comment on the report at this time. According to UN protocol, a copy of the investigation report was sent to the Myanmar government before its publication. Reuters was unable to contact the spokesperson for the Myanmar government and six generals named in the report by the time of publication. About a year ago, the Myanmar army launched a widespread crackdown in Rakhine State in response to armed attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on 30 police posts and a military base. Approximately 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled the army's attacks, and most are now living in refugee camps in Bangladesh. The UN investigation report states that the actions of the Myanmar army, including burning villages, "were not proportional to security threats." The investigation team, titled the "Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar," adds in part of its report: "The crimes in Rakhine State and the manner in which they were carried out bear a strong resemblance in scale and severity to other acts with the intent of genocide." The civilian government of Myanmar, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, has denied all allegations of violence against Rohingya Muslims by the army. The Myanmar government has established temporary centers for the return of refugees from Bangladesh, but UN agencies state that the situation is still not safe for the return of refugees. The UN defines genocide as actions aimed at destroying, in whole or in part, a nation, ethnic group, race, or religious group. The use of this legal definition is very rare but has been applied in cases concerning Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan. The UN investigation team concludes in its 20-page report: "There is sufficient information to conduct investigations and prosecute senior Myanmar army officials to clarify their roles and responsibilities in the situation in Rakhine State."