Reuters / Denis Balibouse
Myanmar’s military had “genocidal intent” when it carried out killings and gang-rapes of Muslim Rohingya and its generals should be prosecuted, United Nations investigators ruled Monday. The new report, which was based on hundreds of interviews, is the strongest condemnation from the U.N. so far against Myanmar’s violence against the Rohingya. The country’s commander-in-chief and five generals should be prosecuted in the International Criminal Court, the report recommends. “Military necessity would never justify killing indiscriminately, gang-raping women, assaulting children, and burning entire villages,” the report states. The investigative team cited a “conservative” estimate that 10,000 people were killed in the violence, but outside investigators have had no access to the affected regions, making it difficult to come up with an exact death toll.