The United Nations (UN) reported that war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Myanmar have become “increasingly frequent and brazen.” It was stated in the annual report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), that evidence points to a dramatic increase in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country, with widespread and systematic attacks against civilians.
Strong evidence shows that the Myanmar military and its affiliate militias have committed three types of combat-related war crimes with increasing frequency and brazenness.
Case files are being built that can be used by courts to hold individual perpetrators responsible, the report said.
Head of the IIMM Nicholas Koumjian said that the Myanmar army is harming entire communities by directing air strikes and setting fire to villages, as well as committing massacres against civilians and detainees.
Koumjian said that the Naypyidaw authorities did not authorize the IIMM to enter the country. However, the investigation team interviewed more than 700 sources and collected and analyzed more than 23 million pieces of information data which include eyewitness reports, documents, photos, videos, forensic evidence and satellite images.
He also noted that the findings of the report intersect with data collected by other UN agencies, non-governmental organizations and countries regarding the acts of violence that the country has witnessed since the military coup in 2021.
The IIMM, which cooperates with several parties, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), expressed its aspiration to speed up the process of collecting evidence on the most serious international crimes to share it with investigators, prosecutors and courts capable of prosecuting those responsible.
The IIMM focuses in particular on specific individuals such as senior officials, especially since the disregard of higher authorities for these crimes shown in the report may indicate that they are behind it.
Source: Qatar News Agency