Genocide and massacres in Myanmar: The case for accountability has never been stronger

This week, Myanmar’s democratically elected National Unity Government (NUG) and the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP) will present new evidence of genocide and massacres to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul. The move is part of an ongoing investigation opened by the Turkish authorities in June 2022 under the principle of universal jurisdiction, after MAP submitted evidence of widespread and systematic atrocity crimes committed by the junta. The fresh evidence submitted by the NUG centres on the infamous Pa Zi Gyi massacre of April 11, 2023, when junta fighter jets attacked defenceless villagers in Pa Zi Gyi who were gathering for a local event. The NUG’s Human Rights Ministry has documented the massacre of 157 civilians including 27 women and 19 children. Elderly people and pregnant mothers were among those slaughtered. Many of the injuries were caused life-changing disabilities and will lead to inter-generational trauma. The attack on Pa Zi Gyi was systematic, indiscriminate and disproportionate. It took place at 7:30am and lasted 30 minutes. Two 500-pound bombs were dropped on the village. The explosions were so severe that according to eyewitnesses, body parts were blown as far as 300 metres from the points of impact. Those who survived suffered severe fractures and burns. Hundreds were displaced and forced to flee into nearby forests. Medical teams did what they could to assist the injured and dying. But at 5:45pm on the same day, a fighter jet returned and for 15 minutes conducted further attacks against first responders, which severely hampered the relief and recovery effort. The Pa Zi Gyi massacre is the single most deadly mass killing since the coup in February 2021 and cries out for accountability. Ongoing genocide against the Rohingya MAP is additionally submitting testimony gathered by local investigators into a series of junta rocket attacks against the village of Hpon Nyo Leik, in northern Rakhine State’s Buthidaung Township, at the end of January 2024. Grassroots investigation teams have documented the killing of 18 people and the wounding of 50, including women and children. The strikes took place after the Arakan Army (AA), which opposes the junta, took up positions in the village, but this does not justify the use of indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, which, if proven, would constitute war crimes. As part of an impressive initiative to build grassroots accountability institutions, the partners we work with have documented a pattern of abuse, adding to overwhelming evidence that the genocide against the Rohingya is continuing today, just as it has for decades. Massacres are a disturbing feature of the ongoing repression against civilians in Rakhine State, caught between junta forces and the AA, which has forced the regime out of the entire state bar a handful of townships. The NUG has requested that the Geneva-based Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), which has gathered millions of pieces of evidence from Myanmar civilians, submit evidence about the attacks in order to support the investigation in Turkey. This would add significantly to the prospects for our case, given how overwhelmed the Turkish justice system is. The IIMM has shared vast amounts of evidence and analysis for proceedings at the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and the Federal Prosecutor in Argentina concerning crimes against the Rohingya. It is also responding to specific requests for information from authorities in the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions, often concerning post-coup violence. We appeal to the IIMM to respond positively to the NUG’s request. Massacres amid a humanitarian disaster According to the NUG’s Human Rights Ministry, since the coup, there have been at least 413 massacres—mass-killing incidents where over five people died. More than 4,377 people were killed in documented massacres, including at least 1,545 children and at least 757 women. Last month alone, an estimated 277 civilians were killed across the country. The UN has identified two alarming new trends: 26 allegations of the use of chemicals attached to explosive devices in six states and regions; and the use of armed paramotors, low-flying tactical aircraft that are used to drop munitions almost entirely on civilian locations. Meanwhile, the latest UN humanitarian figures paint a dire picture: an estimated 19.9 million people—over a third of Myanmar’s population—are in need of humanitarian assistance, representing an increase of over 1 million compared to 2024. Internal displacement has reached a record high of more than 3.5 million people. Children are bearing the brunt of the crisis, with 6.3 million children in need of assistance, of which an estimated 1.1 million were left without access to protection services, increasing their vulnerability to violence, neglect, and exploitation. Myanmar’s internal meltdown is exacerbating the already dire regional refugee crisis. The UN says as many as 150,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in the past two years, adding to the 1.2 million living there in abject poverty, as the UN’s monthly assistance package dwindles to the point where starvation is now inevitable. And according to a new Amnesty report, repatriating them under existing conditions in northern Rakhine State would be “catastrophic.” The need for robust action has never been greater. Some 30,000 political prisoners have been jailed since the coup. The army has press-ganged 65,000 young people into forced conscription, for use as cannon fodder on the front lines. The brutal excesses of Myanmar’s junta are going unchecked. Meanwhile, upcoming—and widely rejected—elections called by the dictatorship will likely see violence increase. The people of Myanmar are crying out for justice. Along with demands for humanitarian access and an end to junta attacks on civilians, accountability must be part of the international response. Our case in Turkey offers some hope to a people who have been denied dignity, peace and prosperity for far too long. Tun Aung Shwe is the Representative in Australia of Myanmar’s National Unity Government Chris Gunness is Director of the Myanmar Accountability Project

Genocide and massacres in Myanmar: The case for accountability has never been stronger

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