By Michael Cross
The report of the Independent International
Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, published yesterday, concludes ’on
reasonable grounds that serious crimes under international law have been
committed that warrant criminal investigation and prosecution’. It found that the treatment of members of the
country’s Rohingya minority by the Myanmar’s security forces amounted to
’genocidal intent’. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/A_HRC_39_64.pdf
A special court
could be set up to prosecute serious crimes under international law committed
in Myanmar, a UN report accusing the country’s authorities of genocide has
proposed. Such an ’ad-hoc international criminal tribunal’, along the lines of
those formed in Rwanda or the former Yugoslavia would be an alternative to
referrals to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, which are open to
veto by members of the UN Security Council.
Specific crimes
against humanity committed in Myanmar include murder; imprisonment; enforced
disappearance; torture; rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual
violence; persecution; and enslavement, the report states.
The mission,
established by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2017, has drawn up a
non-exhaustive list of alleged perpetrators of crimes, including senior army
officers including Commander-in-Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing. The
report is also highly critical of the civilian authorities, saying that
’through their acts and omissions’ they have contributed to the commission of
atrocities. In particular, ’The state counsellor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyiu, has
not used her de facto position as head of government, nor her moral authority,
to stem or prevent the unfolding events.’
The report concludes
that ’impunity is deeply entrenched in Myanmar’s political and legal system’,
effectively placing the Tatmadaw (the military) above the law.
It calls for the
situation to be referred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague or
for an ad-hoc international criminal tribunal to be created. In the meantime,
an independent impartial mechanism should be created to collect, consolidate,
preserve and analyse evidence of violations.
Source: Law Gazette
