Statement of Nicholas
Koumjian, Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, on the
anniversary of the military’s seizure of power in Myanmar
01
February 2022
One year
ago, the elected government of Myanmar was deposed by military authorities. At
that time, I explained that the issues surrounding this coup, its legality
under the constitution and the effect on democracy in Myanmar were not within
the mandate of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar. This
is because the coup itself did not qualify as a “serious international crime,”
a term defined in our Terms of Reference as including only genocide, war crimes
and crimes against humanity. However, I explained that given the tragic history
of the Myanmar military using violence against political opponents, the
Mechanism was concerned and would be closely following events. I explained
that if it appeared that crimes against humanity or war crimes were being
committed, the Mechanism would fulfill our mandate to collect the evidence and
build files that could facilitate criminal prosecutions of those persons
responsible in national, regional or international courts.
Tragically,
reports received over the last year suggest that well over a thousand
individuals have been killed in circumstances that may qualify as crimes
against humanity or war crimes. The security forces have detained thousands of
civilians in circumstances that include credible allegations of arbitrary
detention, torture, sexual violence and even killings while in detention. The
Mechanism is working diligently to substantiate and document the facts
underlying these reports to establish whether these crimes were committed and
if so, who is criminally responsible, and to prepare files that could
facilitate prosecutions. The Mechanism has been able to gather a great deal of
relevant material concerning these events and we are adding information and
evidence to our files almost daily.
The
Mechanism is very grateful to the many thousands of persons and organizations
that have shared evidence relevant to our examination of serious international
crimes in Myanmar. We are committed to doing all we can to assure the safety
and security of those with whom we interact and will make every effort to build
cases so that their brave contributions to justice in Myanmar are not made in
vain.
Investigations
of serious international crimes are always challenging. It typically takes a
long time and significant resources to build good cases. The Mechanism is using
all possible strategies and innovations to gather and verify evidence in order
to build strong case files that can facilitate prosecutions in national and
international courts.
The
cooperation of States where the evidence and witnesses are located is
essential. The Mechanism is grateful to the many States providing ongoing
cooperation and looks forward to strengthening and deepening such cooperation
in order to advance its mandate.
Governments
all over the world have been unanimous in calling for a cessation of the
violence by all parties now being inflicted on the people of Myanmar.
ASEAN, in particular, has made the immediate cessation of violence, the very
first point of its Five Point Consensus. The work of the Mechanism, by
collecting evidence of the very worst international crimes, complements these
efforts to end the violence.
The
Mechanism is closely watching events and working to fulfill its mandate. Those
who are considering committing crimes should be aware that serious
international crimes have no statute of limitations. International justice has
a very long memory and one day the perpetrators of the most serious
international crimes in Myanmar will be held to account.
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