United Nations investigators have called for six top military figures in Burma to be prosecuted in an international court for genocide and war crimes against the country's Rohingya minority.
Burma’s army chief and five other top military commanders should be investigated and prosecuted for crimes against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities, a fact-finding mission working under a mandate from the UN Human Rights Council said in an August 27 report.
"Military necessity would never justify killing indiscriminately, gang raping women, assaulting children, and burning entire villages," it said, calling for the case to be referred to the International Criminal Court.
At least 700,000 Rohingyas fled Burma’s western Rakhine State after the military launched a brutal crackdown in August 2017 on rebels. Rights groups say thousands more have died.
Buddhist-majority Burma, also known as Myanmar, denies allegations of ethnic cleansing, insisting it was responding to attacks by Rohingya militants.
