Two Myanmar army deserters testify atrocities against Rohingya refugees

Based on these confessions alone, these two men may be directly responsible for killing up to 180 Rohingya civilians, said Fortify Rights

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In this photo taken on June 26, 2020, Rohingya people from Myanmar look outside a fence at the immigration detention centre in Lhokseumawe, in Indonesia's North Aceh Regency Photograph. Photo:AFP

In a public confession, two soldiers who abandoned Myanmar army confirmed that they were ordered by commanding officers to “shoot you see and that you hear” in minority Rohingya villages, said Fortify Rights in a statement on Wednesday.

“The soldiers provide the names and ranks of 19 direct perpetrators from the Myanmar Army, including themselves, as well as six senior commanders in the Myanmar Army whom they claim ordered or contributed to atrocity crimes against Rohingya, including a lieutenant colonel, a colonel, and three captains,” read the news release issued by the human rights group on Tuesday.

As per the details, one of the soldiers named Myo Win Tun, 33, is an ethnic Shanni originally from Mohnyin Township in Myanmar’s Kachin State. He was a private in the Myanmar Army from April 2016 until he deserted his ranks in Rakhine State in May 2020.

Whereas, the second soldier Zaw Naing Tun, 30, is an ethnic Rakhine originally from Ramree Township, Rakhine State. He was forcibly conscripted into the Myanmar Army in March 2016 and served as a private until he deserted his ranks in Rakhine State in June 2020.

Requesting protection from Bangladesh authorities, the two men appeared on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in mid-August.

Significantly, both deserted soldiers were operational in two separate townships, simultaneously following orders under different commanders, which may indicate operational consistency between battalions, coordination, and intent to commit genocide.

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“Both men separately claimed to be acting on orders from senior commanders to “exterminate all [Rohingya],” to “shoot all that you see and that you hear,” and to “kill all” Rohingya in specific areas”, the document underscored.

According to Fortify Rights, the filmed confessions appear to be credible and the information described in the confessions is consistent with human rights documentation of the 2016 and 2017 Myanmar Army-led “clearance operations” against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State.

“For instance, Zaw Naing Tun and Myo Win Tun identify six LIBs as responsible for crimes against Rohingya— LIBs 345, 353, 551, 552, 564, and 565. Fortify Rights, as well as the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, previously identified these six LIBs, and others, as involved in genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya in 2017,” read the document.

"Based on these confessions alone, these two men may be directly responsible for killing up to 180 Rohingya civilians," said the human rights organisation.

Over 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017 to escape what Myanmar's military called a clearance campaign following an attack by a Rohingya armed group in Rakhine state.