A UN report has said top military figures in Myanmar must be investigated for genocide in Rakhine state and crimes against humanity in other areas.

The report, based on hundreds of interviews, is the strongest condemnation from the UN so far of violence against the Rohingya.

The army's tactics are "consistently and grossly disproportionate to actual security threats", it says.

It names six senior military figures it believes should go on trial.

It is also fiercely critical of Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, for failing to intervene to stop the violence.

The report calls for the case to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The government has consistently said its operations targeted militant or insurgent threats.

But the report says the crimes it has documented are "shocking for the level of denial, normalcy and impunity that is attached to them".

"Military necessity would never justify killing indiscriminately, gang raping women, assaulting children, and burning entire villages."

Source: BBC

BDST: 1623 HRS, AUG 27, 2018

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