Amnesty: military must face trial for Rohingya atrocities

BURMA’S army chief should face justice for his alleged involvement in atrocities targeting the Rohingya minority population, according to Amnesty International.

The human rights group accused Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing of playing a key role in the campaign of “ethnic cleansing” that forced more than 700,000 Muslims to flee to Bangladesh.

Amnesty International has also accused 12 high-level military officials of being implicated in the murder, rape and deportation of Rohingya in a report based on a nine-month investigation involving more than 400 interviews, satellite images, photos and videos.

“The explosion of violence – including murder, rape, torture, burning and forced starvation – perpetrated by Myanmar’s security forces in villages across northern Rakhine State was not the action of rogue soldiers or units,” said Matthew Wells, Amnesty senior crisis adviser.

“There is a mountain of evidence that this was part of a highly orchestrated, systematic attack on the Rohingya population.” He wants the situation in Burma, also known as Myanmar, to be referred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for potential prosecution. A similar demand was made by the House of Commons international development select committee last month.

The Burmese army has consistently denied charges of ethnic cleansing,

‘The explosion of violence by Myanmar’s security forces was not the action of rogue soldiers or units’

made among others by the United Nations, although a handful of soldiers have been convicted for their roles in some of the worst atrocities.

Amnesty’s 190-page report, “We Will Destroy Everything: Military Responsibility for Crimes against Humanity in Rakhine State” also expands on alleged abuses by the armed insurgent group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. It prompted the military crackdown last August by launching coordinated attacks on security posts.