Video: Meet Myanmar Army chief Min Aung Hlaing whom UN blames for Rohingya genocide
Myanmar Army Chief Min Aung Hlaing whom UN accuses of orchestrating Rohingya "genocide"
Min Aung Hlaing is Myanmar's Army chief. 'Myanmar's top military generals, including Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, must be investigated and prosecuted for genocide in the north of Rakhine State, as well as for crimes against humanity,' a UN-backed fact-finding mission said.
UN investigators called Monday for an international probe against and prosecution of Myanmar Army chief Min Aung Hlaing, along with five other top military commanders, for orchestrating the genocide against the country's Rohingya minority.
Min Aung Hlaing was born on July 3, 1956, and has served in the military since 1974.
Appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces in 2011, Hlaing was best known for leading an offensive against the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army — a communist-inspired armed insurgent group — in the country's Kokang region in 2009.
The Myanmar military however has faced accusations of human rights violations under Hlaing's leadership.
"Myanmar's top military generals, including Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, must be investigated and prosecuted for genocide in the north of Rakhine State, as well as for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States," a UN-backed fact-finding mission said.
The UN report called for an investigation into the brutal crackdown on the minority Rohingya community by government troops in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
The crackdown came in response to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) — a Rohingya militant group — on 30 Myanmar police posts and a military base.
Following the crackdown,some 700,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar and are now living in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh.
(With inputs from Reuters)