‘Myanmar army should be removed from politics’

YANGON: Myanmar’s powerful army should be removed from politics, United Nations investigators said yesterday, as they released the final part of a damning report reiterating calls for top generals to be prosecuted for “genocide” against the Rohingya.

A brutal military crackdown last year forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.

The 444-page probe called for the military’s top leadership to be replaced and for the institution, known as the Tatmadaw, to have no further influence over the country’s governance.

Myanmar’s military dominates the country, holding a quarter of seats in Parliament and controlling three ministries.

UN’s analysis, based on 18 months’ work and more than 850 interviews, calls on the international community to investigate military top brass for genocide, including commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing.

Myanmar’s army has denied nearly all wrongdoing, insisting the military campaign was justified to root out Rohingya insurgents.

But the UN team said the military’s tactics had been “consistently and grossly disproportionate to actual security threats”.

Investigators said the Tatmadaw should be restructured and that the process should begin by replacing the current leadership.

But the army’s presence in Parliament means it has an effective veto on constitutional changes, making any transition to full civilian control extremely difficult.