Geneva, Aug 22 (EFE).- This week marks seven years since a wave of atrocities were carried out against Myanmar’s Rohingya population, with continued impunity allowing similar violence to resurge, the head of a UN investigative group denounced on Thursday.
During the 2017 military offensive some 10,000 Rohingyas, including children, were killed and more than 700,000 sought refuge in neighboring Bangladesh, where the vast majority remain. Governments, rights groups and organizations have labeled the military operations as ethnic cleansing and genocide, with cases now before international courts.
Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, said in a statement that “no one has yet been held accountable for these horrific crimes. This has emboldened perpetrators in Myanmar to continue their brutal actions without fear of the consequences.”
Armed conflicts and violence have increased across Myanmar in opposition to military rule following the 2021 coup, including more recently in Rakhine state, home to the Rohingya.
“This has left Rohingya particularly vulnerable, with horrific reports of killings, torture, rape and the burning of villages,” he said.
Earlier this month, a drone strike on Rohingya fleeing violence killed scores of civilians, one of several for which the UN team has opened new investigations and begun collecting evidence on all suspected perpetrators.
In parallel, Koumjian said the mechanism has accelerated the amount of evidence and analysis it is sharing with authorities involved in 2017 Rohingya cases brought to the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and in Argentina.
“To date we have shared eighty packages containing more than one million items of supporting information and analysis. This includes reports on the movements of military units during the clearance operations and various analyses on the armed groups present in the area when the atrocities against the Rohingya were committed,” he added.
It is also collecting and analysing evidence of the loss or expropriation of Rohingya property before, during and after the military “clearance operations.”
“International justice is often slow, and this can be very frustrating for victims who rightly hope for justice that can bring an end to their suffering,” Koumjian said. EFE
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