UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) — A report by United Nations investigators saying Myanmar’s military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with “genocidal intent,” and that the country’s commander-in-chief and five generals should be prosecuted, deserves serious consideration, the UN secretary-general said on Tuesday, August 28.
Antonio Guterres told a meeting of the UN Security Council the day after the report was published that accountability was essential for genuine reconciliation between all ethnic groups.
Without using the word genocide, Guterres said the report by independent experts found “‘patterns of gross human rights violations and abuses’ committed by the security forces, which it said ‘undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law.’”
“I believe this report’s findings and recommendations deserve serious consideration by all relevant United Nations bodies,” Guterres said.
He said international cooperation would “be critical to ensuring that accountability mechanisms are credible, transparent, impartial, independent and comply with Myanmar’s obligations under international law.”
Guterres said the UN Security Council needed to continue to press for the release of journalists arrested for reporting on the Rohingya crisis, a reference to two Reuters reporters on trial in Myanmar.
