BANGKOK, Dec 16 (Bernama): The International Criminal Court (ICC) can end the Myanmar military’s impunity urgently, said the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M).
SAC-M, a group of independent international experts, who came together in response to the military coup in Myanmar, said human rights atrocities in Myanmar, which have continued to escalate throughout 2022, will persist until and unless the military is held accountable.
In a briefing paper, "Myanmar and the International Criminal Court,” published by SAC-M on Thursday concluded that the ICC has jurisdiction in relation to Myanmar as a whole, dating back to 2002, and that the international community has a responsibility to ensure that the leaders of the Myanmar military are prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes without further delay.
The paper explained the legal grounds for the ICC’s investigation to extend to all crimes perpetrated by the military against the Rohingya, and also to all crimes in the Rome Statute perpetrated against civilians throughout Myanmar since 2002.
"They include crimes perpetrated for many years against ethnic minorities throughout the country, and crimes perpetrated against civilians more broadly and particularly following the coup of February 2021,” it said.
Meanwhile, Yanghee Lee of SAC-M said the international community must do everything possible to bring them to justice at the ICC.
She said the human rights situation in Myanmar deteriorated even further this year.
"(Myanmar junta chief) Min Aung Hlaing and his generals will continue inflicting atrocities on the people of Myanmar until they are stopped,” said the former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, who held the mandate from 2014 to 2020.
In July 2021, several months after the Myanmar military’s unlawful power grab, National Unity Government (NUG) lodged a declaration accepting ICC jurisdiction in Myanmar since July 1, 2002.
This declaration should grant the ICC authority to investigate the situation in the entire territory of Myanmar, for which investigations are clearly warranted, as has been noted by authoritative UN entities, and by civil society.
Meanwhile, Chris Sidoti of SAC-M said the international system, including the ICC, cannot let another year slip by without justice for Myanmar.
"We have been calling for Min Aung Hlaing and his generals to be prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes since 2018, when the UN Fact-Finding Mission completed its examination of the military’s violations in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States.
"Because of a legal declaration by Myanmar’s National Unity Government, the ICC has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Myanmar,” he said.
On Feb 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military took power in a coup, abruptly halting the country’s fragile transition towards democracy.
It justified the coup by alleging widespread fraud in the 2020 election - which Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won by a landslide. However, independent observers have rejected such claims. - Bernama
