GENEVA--Myanmar's military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with "genocidal intent", and the commander-in-chief and five generals should be prosecuted for the gravest crimes under international law, United Nations investigators said.
A report by investigators was the first time the United Nations has explicitly called for Myanmar officials to face genocide charges over their campaign against the Rohingya, and is likely to deepen the country's isolation.
The investigators called for the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar, subject its officials to targeted sanctions and set up an ad hoc tribunal to try suspects or refer them to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
The report also could serve as a major catalyst for change in how the world's big social media companies handle hate speech in parts of the world where they have limited direct presence but their platforms command huge influence. The investigators sharply criticised Facebook, which has become Myanmar's dominant social media network despite having no employees there, for letting its platform be used to incite violence and hatred.
Facebook responded on Monday by announcing it was blocking 20 Myanmar officials and organisations found by the U.N. panel to have "committed or enabled serious human rights abuses".
The company already acknowledged this month that it had been "too slow" to respond to incitement in Myanmar, following a Reuters investigative report into its failure to tackle rampant hate speech including calls for all Rohingya to be killed.
The U.N. investigators blamed Myanmar's de facto civilian leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, for failing to use her "moral authority" to protect civilians. Her government "contributed to the commission of atrocity crimes" by letting hate speech thrive, destroying documents and failing to shield minorities from crimes against humanity and war crimes.
"Our findings are grim," panel chairman Marzuki Darusman told a news conference on Monday. "We believe that establishing the facts is the first stepping stone towards change."
Contacted by phone, Myanmar military spokesman Major General Tun Tun Nyi said he could not immediately comment. Zaw Htay, spokesman for Suu Kyi's government, could not immediately be reached for comment. Reuters was also unable to contact the six generals named in the report. The Myanmar government was sent an advance copy of the U.N. report in line with standard practice.
A year ago, government troops led a brutal crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state in response to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on 30 Myanmar police posts and a military base. Some 700,000 Rohingya fled the crackdown and most are now living in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh.
