A new
report from the United Nations Human Rights Council codifies what many people already knew:
The military is acting with "genocidal intent" in Myanmar, persecuting the Rohingya Muslim minority. The team documented horrific human rights violations, but also identified several leaders connected with the violence, calling for an international trial in the Hague.
Military commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, Brigadier-General Aung Aung, Vice Senior-General Soe Win, Lieutenant-General Aung Kyaw Zaw, Major-General Maung Maung Soe, and Brigadier-General Than Oo have all been named in connection with a campaign that has lasted for years with the collusion of the civilian government. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees have been pushed over the border into neighboring Bangladesh, while at least 10,000, and possibly as many as 25,000, have been killed in gruesome ways.
The team documented mass rape, destruction of villages, beatings, shootings, and cases in which people were hacked or burned to death, sometimes in front of their families. This profound human rights violation has gone on too long, and this report shows there is enough evidence to build a criminal case against those responsible.
The United Nations Security Council needs to vote to establish a tribunal to conduct an investigation and refer the accused parties to justice. A transparent, public, neutral process overseen by the international community is vital; Myanmar's investigations into military abuses have been perfunctory, with few consequences for those involved.
The members of the UN Security Council, including the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France must accept this report and work with the Human Rights Council on taking action.
Members of the international community say "never again" after genocides like that in Rwanda: They cannot be slow to take action here in the face of ample documentation that a genocide is occurring. Photo: Naz Amir