Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 10th August. UN released a report on Tuesday on the crimes against humanity systematically committed in Myanmar, with ongoing conflicts severely impacted women and children.
The report by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar outlined in its Annual Report, indicated that sexual and gender-based crimes, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, and crimes against children have been perpetrated by members of the security forces and armed groups.
Nicholas Koumjian, Head of the Mechanism said “Crimes against women and children are amongst the gravest international crimes, but they are also historically underreported and under-investigated.”
The report cited that IIMM has collected more than three million pieces of information from almost 200 sources.
These include interview statements, documentation, videos, photographs, geospatial imagery and social media material.
The report revealed that children in Myanmar have been tortured, conscripted and arbitrarily detained, including as proxies for their parents.
“Our team has dedicated expertise to ensure targeted outreach and investigations so that these crimes can ultimately be prosecuted,” said Mr. Koumjian.
According to the publication, “there are ample indications that since the military takeover in February 2021, crimes have been committed in Myanmar on a scale and in a manner that constitutes a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population” and the nature of potential criminality is expanding.
The execution by Myanmar’s military of four people on 25 July 2022, which was carried out after the report was prepared.
Mr. Koumjian said “Perpetrators of these crimes need to know that they cannot continue to act with impunity. We are collecting and preserving the evidence so that they will one day be held to account,”.
The latest analysis was released before the five-year commemoration of clearance operations that resulted in the displacement of one million Rohingya people.
The Rohingyas have faced decades of systematic discrimination, Statelessness and targeted violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and violent attacks in 2017 which displaced 745,000 Rohingya, including more than 400,000 children, to flee to Bangladesh, according to the UN..
Most of the Rohingya were deported or forcibly displaced at that time are still in camps for refugees or internally displaced persons.
“While the Rohingya consistently express their desire for a safe and dignified return to Myanmar, this will be very difficult to achieve unless there is accountability for the atrocities committed against them, including through prosecutions of the individuals most responsible for those crimes,” Mr. Koumjian explained.
He said that “The continued plight of the Rohingya and the continuing violence in Myanmar illustrate the important role of the Mechanism to facilitate justice and accountability and help deter further atrocities.”
IIMM is sharing relevant evidence to support international justice proceedings currently underway at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court.
The Mechanism was created by the UN Human Rights Council in 2018 to collect and analyze evidence of the most serious international crimes and other violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011.
IIMM to facilitate justice and accountability by preserving and organizing evidence and preparing case files for use in future prosecutions of those responsible in national, regional and international courts.
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