Myanmar soldiers confess to murdering rohingyas

Two members of Myanmar s military have acknowledged the brutal genocide on Rohingya in the western state of Rakhine in 2016. The two army members_ who confessed to the massacre_ were taken to The Hague in the Netherlands. they admitted to killing and burying scores of villagers in Myanmar s Rakhine state to The New York Times_ the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Fortify Rights_ a non-profit organization. they said_ they were ordered to kill and rape Muslim Rohingya villagers. The comments appear to be the first public confession by soldiers of involvement in army-directed massacres_ rape and other crimes against Rohingya in the Buddhist-majority country_ and the group Fortify Rights suggested they could provide important evidence for an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court. Fortify Rights_ which focuses on Myanmar_ said the two army privates fled the country last month and are believed to be in the custody of the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands_ which is examining the violence against the Rohingya. According to Fortify Rights_ privates Myo Win Tun_ 33_ and Zaw Naing Tun_ 30_ who served in separate light infantry battalions_ gave "the names and ranks of 19 direct perpetrators from the Myanmar army_ including themselves_ as well as six senior commanders ... they claim ordered or contributed to atrocity crimes against Rohingya". Myo Win Tun said the commander of the 15th Military Operations Center gave an order to "shoot all you see and all you hear" when raiding Muslim villages. He said in one operation they killed and buried 30 people: "eight women_ seven children and 15 men and elderly". The commander ordered his unit to "exterminate all Kalar" - a derogatory name for the Rohingya - and they shot the men in their foreheads and kicked their bodies into a hole_ he said. They also raped the women before killing them and he admitted to carrying out one rape. UN agencies and human rights organisations have extensively documented atrocities carried out against the Rohingya by Myanmar security forces. The International Court of Justice agreed last year to consider a case alleging that Myanmar committed genocide against the group. The court's proceedings are likely to continue for years. Myanmar has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide_ saying its military operations in 2017 were targeting Rohingya rebels who attacked police border posts. The ICC is investigating the crime against humanity of forced deportation of Rohingya to Bangladesh_ as well as persecution and other human rights violations. -Source: aljazeera