PROFILE: MIN AUNG HLAING Mediocre cadet who rose to rule over massacres
While Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar, has carried the burden of blame over the brutal crackdown on the Rohingya, the military is believed to operate outside of her control and to be the sole perpetrators of human rights abuses.
As commander-in-chief of the military, known locally as the Tatmadaw, it is Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing, 62, who has called the shots in a vicious campaign against minorities.
“As the mass killing took place last year, Min Aung Hlaing is the most responsible, and of course Aung San Suu Kyi is complicit in the ongoing genocide against Rohingyas. She should be tried at ICC,” Ro Nay San Lwin, a leader of the Free Rohingya Coalition, told The National.
“He said it was unfinished business from the Second World War. He repeatedly said we are illegal immigrants, Bengalis from Bangladesh. Even though we have primary source evidence that we belong to Arakan [today, Rakhine state], he is not going to accept the truth,” Mr San Lwin said.
“He is the most responsible person for killing thousands of Rohingya in shooting, burning alive, slaughtering and raping thousands of Rohingya women and girls.”
Reuters reported that Gen Hlaing was an “unremarkable cadet” who was admitted to the elite Defence Services Academy at his third attempt.
Despite this, he was regularly promoted and spent much of his time commanding units on Myanmar’s eastern borders. He is accused of consolidating military rule and rejecting democracy.
After a UN investigation recommended a genocide prosecution for Gen Hlaing and other military commanders, Facebook shut his and other military-linked pages down.
This is a damaging blow for the general, who conducts much of his public contact through his 1.3 million followers.
The commander-in-chief’s page was sometimes updated several times a day. Some of the military’s Facebook posts from last year included detailed accounts of clashes with Rohingya militants, often accompanied by pictures.
A Facebook spokeswoman said the pages were closed, “since international experts, including a UN-commissioned report, have found evidence that many of these officials committed serious human rights abuses in the country”.
Facebook removed “a total of 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook pages, followed by almost 12 million people”.