In the refugee camp of Kutupalong in Bangladesh, there are many women who are known as "survivors". They report on rape by the military in their native Myanmar. Like Runa *, who was abused by two soldiers in her house in northern Myanmar and later became pregnant. Runa fled with her children over the border to the neighboring country about a year ago - in the refugee camp now live more than 900,000 Rohingya from the majority Buddhist Myanmar.

What led to the exodus of the Muslim minority - there is now another drastic report. A United Nations expert group spoke to hundreds of refugees and eyewitnesses, and on Monday published a 20-page document with the findings. She had not let the Myanmar government into the Rakhine state of rest, where most of the crimes occurred.

From their research, the three independent human rights activists conclude: The military has systematically used rape and sexual violence against women to intimidate and terrorize people. In addition, the experts accuse the military of war crimes such as murder, torture, hostage-taking and expulsion. The previous estimates of about 10,000 killed Rohingya are therefore probably too low.

The report also lists crimes committed by the Muslim extremist group "Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army" (Arsa). In August 2017, she raided police stations in the majority of the Buddhist state, causing the recent riots. But the military has reacted disproportionately to that, according to the UN report.

Impunity deeply rooted in the system

It is not the first time that investigations have confirmed ethnic cleansing and even genocide in Myanmar. Now, however, the experts denounce the elite of the country more clearly than ever before: At least six high-ranking military men should be held accountable, according to the UN report. The Supreme Commander Min Aung Hlaing and five other generals, who are listed by name, were to be tried before the International Criminal Court or a special tribunal.

AFP

Min Aung Hlaing

The chairman of the fact-finding mission, Indonesia's former Attorney General Marzuki Darusman, called for the "immediate resignation" of the army chief. Even Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has not used her position as de facto head of government to prevent or stop the crimes. The civil authorities would not have intervened as well. With this they have contributed to the "atrocities", it was said.

A criminal punishment of the crimes against Rohingya, which have been discriminated against and oppressed in the country for decades, is not promoted in Myanmar: "The impunity is deeply rooted in the political and legal system of Myanmar, the military is above the law," the activists conclude , "The pressure for a legal review must therefore come from the international community."

EU wants to discuss punitive measures

According to a spokesman, representatives of EU member states want to meet the authors of the report this week and discuss punitive measures. "There must be no impunity in these cases," said British Foreign Secretary Mark Field in response to the publications.

The government in Bangladesh, which has provisionally welcomed hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, also hopes for sanctions by the international community. Kazi Reazul Hoque, chair of the Dhaka Human Rights Commission, said, "Myanmar should be completely boycotted, and then we can see how long the government can go on." The refugees were back to Myanmar. According to the experts, a safe return is currently still excluded.

It was not until April that the Myanmar Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing was received in Berlin - which had led to criticism, as there were already numerous reports on the expulsion of the Rohingya at the time. Government circles in Berlin emphasized that it was all about political dialogue. In the meantime, the Federal Government has approved sanctions against Myanmar in the EU framework. It is about expanding the arms embargo and listing military who are accused of involvement in crimes in Rakhine.

Facebook locks hate pages

After the report was released, Facebook said it had deleted dozens of profiles and groups, including Min Aung Hlaing's account. The network has long been accused of tolerating hate contributions against Rohingya. The UN report also concludes that hatred spread across the web has contributed to the tense situation in the country.

According to Facebook data, more than twelve million people followed the now-blocked pages.

Video: One year after the start of the escape movement - what do Rohingya want?

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