Joint Statement by Rushanara Ali MP and Jeremy Hunt MP on the ICC Testimony of Two Myanmar Soldiers on massacres of the Rohingya People

Leading British Parliamentarians are calling on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute two soldiers from the Myanmar military who have admitted on video to carrying out massacres of the Rohingya people. The fate of the two men is unclear. They are not under arrest but are in the custody of the ICC.

The confessions of the soldiers, Private Zaw Naing Tun and Private Myo Win, reported here in the New York Times, marks a clear breakthrough in the campaign to bring justice for the Rohingya. It is the first testimony that comes directly from the perpetrators in Myanmar’s military who have openly confessed to taking part in what United Nations officials say was a genocidal campaign against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority.

The video testimony from the two soldiers reveals clear instructions from commanding officers to perpetrate indiscriminate killings, including that of children.

The Co-chairs of the Rights of Rohingya All-Party Parliamentary Group Rushanara Ali MP and Jeremy Hunt MP said:

“On the basis of information publicly available, including their presence in The Hague, we call on the ICC prosecutor to give the most serious and active consideration to the immediate prosecution of these two soldiers, for crimes against humanity and, if there is jurisdiction, genocide. The fact that they acted on orders, and are not themselves senior figures, would be no reason for the ICC not to exercise such jurisdiction as it has in the pursuit of justice under international criminal law. The act of killing, of dozens or hundreds of members of the Rohingya community, in two villages, is an international crime, and those who participate in such an act must face the full force of the law. That is why the ICC was created.”