The Myanmar military actively demonized its Rohingya Muslim minority, organized militias that would later engage in widespread violence against the Rohingya, and coordinated its actions with ultranationalist Buddhist monks, according to a 

 gathered by war crimes investigators and reviewed by 

The Commission for International Justice and Accountability 

, a non-profit organization created by seasoned war crimes investigator and staffed by international criminal attorneys, gathered the papers and recently published the findings. 

The collection reveals discussions and planning behind the purges of the Rohingya people, which the UN and the US have both labeled as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing," as well as efforts to conceal military activities from the public.

In July 2017, a member of the Myanmar Border Guard Police took images of the charred ruins of a destroyed home in the northern Rakhine state. Simon Lewis for Reuters

These war crimes investigators have been gathering evidence in secrecy for the past four years in an effort to establish convictions in an international criminal court.

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh as a result of a deadly crackdown launched by the Myanmar military in August 2017. The world was astounded by the savagery against the Rohingya. Refugees described gang rapes, massacres, and the hurling of kids into blazing furnaces. According to the charity organization Médecins Sans Frontières, at least 10,000 people died. Numerous Rohingya villages were completely destroyed by fire.

The majority Muslim Rohingya can trace their ancestry back hundreds of years to the Rakhine region of Myanmar, according to independent historians. The Rohingya are perceived by nationalists from the majority-Buddhist nation as "illegitimate migrants" from neighboring Bangladesh.

A soldier is seen in Maungdaw in northern Rakhine during the crackdown on the Rohingya in August 2017. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh as a result of the military campaign. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

These records, which are uncommon in the realm of international justice, do not include direct orders for soldiers to murder or rape people. But the proof is enough, according to 

, who currently serves on the organization's board. "Everything in it points to this intention to engage in this kind of mass removal process,"

CIJA has started delivering its Myanmar-related materials to The Hague prosecutors. According to the organization, more than a dozen Burmese officials, mostly in the military, are named in the records.

Even if the Burmese military is accused of serious crimes under international law, convictions are difficult to obtain. The International Criminal Court (ICC), which has the authority to prosecute individuals for international crimes, was established by the 

Waves of refugees trying to cross into Bangladesh, 2017

Therefore, claims against Myanmar would normally need referral to the ICC by the United Nations Security Council. International law experts predict that allies of Myanmar, such as Russia, would likely resist such a move.

But there are other routes to trial. In 2019, the International Criminal Court (ICC) established a legal precedent by authorizing its chief prosecutor to start looking into crimes against the Rohingya community, including deportation. The argument was that they fled to Bangladesh, a member of the ICC.

After the military coup in 2021, the situation in Myanmar has gotten critical. 

He presented a grim assessment of 1.3 million displaced refugees; 28,000 destroyed homes; villages burned to the ground; over 13,000 children killed; a food crisis and over 130,000 Rohingya in terrible internment camps. 

“Let me be frank: the people of Myanmar are deeply disappointed by the response of the international community to this crisis. They are frustrated and angered by Member States that are working to prop up this illegal and brutal military junta with funding, trade, weapons, and a veneer of legitimacy,” he spelled out.

“But they are also disappointed by those nations that voice support for them, but then fail to back up their words with action. The stakes could not be higher”.

 in late September 2022 $170M in humanitarian aid: 

"it provides life-sustaining support to the over 940,000 Rohingya refugees, many of whom are survivors of a campaign of genocide and crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, and 540,000 generous host community members in Bangladesh. It will enable the provision of food, safe drinking water, health care, protection, education, shelter, and psychosocial support"

New Evidence Shows Myanmar Military Planned a Genocide

1 Comment