Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 21 January 2020
Myanmar panel: Security forces likely committed war crimes

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar have been denied citizen-
(AP) — An independent ship since 1982, effectively
commission established by rendering them stateless,
Myanmar's government and they are also denied
has concluded there are freedom of movement and
reasons to believe that se- other basic rights.
curity forces committed The long-simmering crisis
war crimes in counterinsur- exploded in August 2017
gency operations that led when Myanmar's military
more than 700,000 Rohing- launched what it called a
ya Muslims to flee to neigh- clearance campaign in
boring Bangladesh. northern Rakhine State in
However, the commission, response to an attack by a
headed by a Philippine Rohingya insurgent group.
diplomat, said in a report The campaign forced more
given Monday to Presi- than 700,000 Rohingya to
dent Win Myint that there flee to neighboring Ban-
is no evidence supporting gladesh and led to accu-
charges that genocide sations that security forces
was planned or carried out committed mass rapes, kill-
against the Rohingya. ings and burned thousands
The Independent Commis- of homes.
sion of Enquiry announced Thoughs she has no control
its findings in a statement over the country's military,
posted on its Facebook Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, shakes hands with Philippine diplomat Rosario Manalo, Suu Kyi's response to the
page and the full report a member of the Independent Commission of Enquiry for Rakhine State, at the Presidential Palace crisis has led to global con-
does not appear to have in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. demnation of the Nobel
been publicly released. Associated Press peace laureate.
Nevertheless, it went further The Independent Commis-
than any public statements violations of domestic law scheduled for Thursday, on State Counselor Aung San sion of Enquiry statement
issued by Myanmar's gov- in 2017, it said. a request that Myanmar be Suu Kyi, Myanmar's top Monday said its members
ernment in suggesting gov- "The killing of innocent vil- ordered to halt what has leader, strongly denied also met with Suu Kyi when
ernment forces were guilty lagers and destruction of been cast as a genocidal wrongdoing by govern- submitting the report.
of major abuses. their homes were com- campaign against the Ro- ment forces at the initial In addition to finding a ba-
"Although these serious mitted by some members hingya. Gambia brought hearing on the case in De- sis for wrongdoing by secu-
crimes and violations were of the Myanmar's security legal action last year to cember . rity forces, the statement
committed by multiple ac- forces through dispropor- the International Court of Buddhist-majority Myan- said the report also points
tors, there are reasonable tionate use of force during Justice in the Netherlands, mar has long considered out that the security forces
grounds to believe that the internal armed con- alleging on behalf of the the Rohingya to be "Ben- acted in response to dead-
members of Myanmar's se- flict," it said. 57-country Organization of galis" from Bangladesh ly attacks organized by Ro-
curity forces were involved" The statement came Islamic Cooperation that even though their families hingya guerrillas belonging
in war crimes, serious hu- ahead of a decision by the genocide occurred and have lived in the country to the Arakan Rohingya
man rights violations, and United Nations' top court, continues. for generations. Nearly all Salvation Army — ARSA.q

Sri Lanka to treat war-missing

as dead, issue certificates

said in a statement. dent state for the country's cases, including those of
"Most of them had been ethnic minority Tamils. 5,000 security forces.
taken by the LTTE (Tamil Scores of fighters went miss- A law enacted in 2016
Tiger rebels) or forcefully ing in action while others mandated that an interim
conscripted. The families of were abducted by secu- report be given to the rel-
the missing attest to it," the rity forces and government atives if there is sufficient
statement said. "However paramilitaries as well as the evidence that the relevant
they do not know what has Tamil Tiger rebels. person is missing. At the end
In this Friday, Nov. 15, 2013, file photo, a Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil
woman cries holding a portrait of her missing son during a pro- become of them and so Relatives say they handed of an investigation a final
test in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. claim them to be missing." over hundreds of their fam- report will be given to en-
Associated Press Relatives have been pro- ily members after govern- able the relatives to obtain
testing for years demand- ment forces asked those a Certificate of Absence or
By KRISHAN FRANCIS death certificates will be ing to know the where- with the remotest link to the a Death Certificate as per
Associated Press issued, his office said Mon- abouts of mostly ethnic rebels to surrender as they the outcome.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) day. Tamils who went missing faced defeat in 2009. They It was unclear how Raja-
— Sri Lanka's president has President Gotabaya Ra- during Sri Lanka's 26-year say they are not heard from paksa's government came
decided that tens of thou- japaksa made his decision civil war, which ended in after being taken away by to the conclusion that all
sands of people still missing known last week during a 2009 with the government's the military in buses. the missing persons were
from the country's quarter- meeting with the United defeat of the Tamil Tiger An Office on Missing Per- dead. Rajapaksa was a
century civil war will be for- Nations' resident coordina- rebels. The rebels were sons set up in 2015 has top defense official during
mally declared dead and tor in Colombo, his office fighting for an indepen- been investigating 23,586 the war.q