Myanmar Panel Finds No Evidence Of 'Genocidal Intent' In Rohingya Treatment

Myanmar's Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE) said Monday it had found no "genocidal intent" in the actions of the security forces in the Rakhine state during security operations which forced numerous Rohingya to flee the state

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2020) Myanmar's Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE) said Monday it had found no "genocidal intent" in the actions of the security forces in the Rakhine state during security operations which forced numerous Rohingya to flee the state.

The ICOE concluded that war crimes and human rights violations occurred during security operations in August and September 2017. The panel found that some members of the security forces used excessive force which led to the "killing of innocent villagers and destruction of their homes."

At the same time, the panel found no proof that these "these killings or acts of displacement were committed pursuant to an intent or plan to destroy the Muslim or any other community in northern Rakhine State."

"There is insufficient evidence to argue, much less conclude, that the crimes committed were undertaken with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, or with any other requisite mental state for the international crime of genocide.

The [Evidence Collection and Verification Team] ECVT findings reveal no indication of a pattern of conduct from which one could reasonably conclude that the acts were committed with 'genocidal intent'," the panel concluded.

According to the United Nations, about� 745,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh since the beginning of a large-scale security forces' campaign in� 2017. In 2018, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar issued a report, accusing the Myanmar leadership of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.