2 yıl önce

Myanmar junta chief accused of crimes against humanity before ICC

An advocacy group has submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court of violence by military forces against anti-coup protesters.

Reuters

The United Nations has characterised the military government’s tactic against dissenters “as a brute force terror campaign”.

An advocacy group has urged the Hague tribunal to open a criminal investigation “into the widespread and systematic use of torture as part of the violent crackdown against the protest movement” in Myanmar.

In a submission to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday, the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP) accused military leader Min Aung Hlaing of committing crimes against humanity for overseeing a brutal crackdown on protesters and activists opposed to the February 1 coup.

“The leader of the illegal coup is criminally responsible for the security forces under his command committing mass atrocity crimes,” MAP Director Chris Gunness said in a statement.

“Our submission to the ICC sets out a powerful case for criminal responsibility for these crimes going all the way up to Min Aung Hlaing himself.”

According to the head of the UN investigating body, Nicholas Koumjian, more than 219,000 items of information have been collected since the coup to support the allegations.

In July, the United Nations characterised the military government’s tactic against dissenters “as a brute force terror campaign”.

Mass protests met with crackdown

Myanmar’s military seized control following a general election won by ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

The armed forces had backed the opposition, who demanded a repeat of the vote over claims of widespread fraud.

Independent observers have reported no evidence to support the claim.

Mass anti-coup protests have been taking place across Myanmar since the military seized control.

A deadly crackdown on protesters has resulted in the deaths of at least 1,305 people, including more than 75 children as of Wednesday, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

At least 10,756 people have been arrested.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies