UNITED NATIONS, Aug 23 (APP): Myanmar’s military must stop using sexual and gender-based violence to terrorize and punish ethnic minorities, according to a new report from the United Nations International Fact-Finding Mission.
“Extreme physical violence, the openness in which it is conducted … reflects a widespread culture of tolerance towards humiliation and the deliberate infliction of severe physical and mental pain or suffering on civilians,” the report said.
The Mission painted a picture of the brutal tactic being employed in Kachin and Shan states. It underscored that during the 2017 “clearance operations”, which led to more than 700,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, the severity in Rakhine state became an indicating factor of Myanmar military’s genocidal intent to destroy the Rohingya population.
The Mission concluded that soldiers routinely and systematically employed rape, gang rape and other violent and forced sexual acts against women, girls, boys, men and transgender people in blatant violation of international human rights law.
