The Myanmar President Office issued a statement yesterday on January 21, stating that President U Win Myint agrees to conduct further criminal investigations and prosecutions, according to the recommendations of the Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE).
On January 20, President U Win Myint has received the ICOE’s final report.
The President concurs with the recommendations of the Commission that there needs to be further criminal investigations and prosecutions, where evidence finds it compelling. To this end, the President has transmitted the full report with annexes to the Union Attorney General for further investigation and prosecution of any property destruction, looting or other serious crimes committed to civilians during the internal armed conflict in Rakhine.
The President has also asked the Union Attorney General to consult with the Judge Advocate General as necessary on how serious crimes committed by ARSA members or collaborators should be investigated and prosecuted, the statement says.
The President has also, acting under the Constitution of Myanmar, transmitted the full Commission report with annexes to the Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar’s Defence Services in order that the Office of the Judge Advocate General might extend its ongoing investigations and prosecutions to cover crimes alleged to have been committed by members of Myanmar’s security forces, in particular the killings in MinGyi and Chut Pyin and the failure to prevent the burning of homes in abandoned Muslim villages.
The Commission was established by the Office of the President on 30 July 2018 to investigate allegations of human rights violations in Rakhine during the internal armed conflict between Myanmar’s Defence Services and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in 2016-17.
The Commission has found that war crimes were committed during the internal conflict in Rakhine, by members and collaborators of ARSA, by members of the Myanmar’s security forces and by civilians. These crimes included the killing of civilians, disproportionate use of force, looting of property, and destruction of abandoned homes of Muslims in Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung Townships in Northern Rakhine. The Commission has found particularly serious loss of life in the villages of Min Gyi (Tula Toli), Chut Pyin and Maung Nu. The Commission’s findings reveal no indication of a pattern of conduct from which one could reasonably conclude that the acts were committed with ‘genocidal intent.’
The President has expressed sympathy for all victims and assured them of his commitment to accountability, justice and to the professionalism of Myanmar’s security forces.
The report of the Commission is comprehensive. With 31 annexes, it amounts to more than 450 pages. The analysis of the Commission is based on about 1,500 statements carefully collected by the Commission itself in northern Rakhine and from members of Myanmar’s security forces who served in Rakhine at the relevant time, the statement says.
