Myanmar military top brass must face justice: Rights body
London, June 27 : A human rights body on Wednesday called for Myanmar military and security forces officials to face justice for their alleged crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population.
The Amnesty International said there is "a mountain of evidence" demonstrating that the campaign was "orchestrated" by the military against the Rohingya population, Efe news reported.
Amnesty demanded that top Myanmar military officials be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court.
"Those with blood on their hands -- right up the chain of command to Senior General Min Aung Hlaing -- must be held to account for their role," Amnesty's Senior Crisis Advisor Matthew Wells said in a statement.
The military operations, supported by the Border Guard Police, began at the end of August 2017 after a group of Rohingya insurgents launched an attack on about 30 security posts.
The crackdown forced more than 700,000 people of the Muslim-majority ethnic group that had resided in western Myanmar for centuries to flee to Bangladesh.
In the report "Myanmar:'We Will Destroy Everything': Military Responsibility for Crimes Against Humanity in Rakhine State" published on Wednesday, Amnesty provided new details arrests, enforced disappearances, torture and "systematic attack" on the Rohingya population.
It named individuals for their roles in the "ethnic cleansing campaign".
International organisations and the UN have also denounced other crimes committed by the Myanmar armed forces, such as murder, rape, targeted large-scale burning of villages, among others.
Amnesty urged the international community to "finally put an end to the years of impunity" for the Myanmar military and called on the UN to "impose a comprehensive arms embargo".
Earlier this week the European Union imposed a series of sanctions -- asset freezes and travel bans -- against seven Myanmar security officials.
However, the head of the Myanmar Armed Forces was not on the list.
Considering the Rohingya illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Myanmar does not recognise their citizenship and subjects them to discrimination, including restrictions on freedom of movement.
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Delhi court acquits husband, in-laws in dowry death case
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has acquitted a man and his parents in a dowry death case, saying the prosecution failed to establish allegations of cruelty or dowry harassment against them.
Additional Sessions Judge Deepak Wason acquitted Kartik Sharma, his father Ravi Dutt Sharma, and his mother Veena Sharma in the case of Shivali Sharma, who died by suicide in March 2023.
The accused were facing trial under Sections 498A (cruelty by husband or relatives) and 304B (dowry death) of the IPC.
In the April 1 order, the court said, “There is nothing on record to establish the culpability of the accused persons in the commission of the offences charged against them. The prosecution has failed to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.”
It held that while the death was unnatural and occurred within seven years of marriage, the key elements of dowry death, particularly proof of harassment connected to dowry demands, remained unproven.
According to the prosecution, the deceased's family alleged she was subjected to harassment and repeated dowry demands, including cash and a vehicle, which allegedly drove her to commit suicide.
The police registered the FIR after her parents made statements before an executive magistrate.
However, during the trial, key prosecution witnesses, including the deceased's mother, father, brother, uncle and grandmother, did not support the allegations in the court.
They consistently stated that Shivali was living a "peaceful and happy" married life and denied any dowry demand or harassment by the accused.
The witnesses further attributed her death to depression caused by her child's serious medical condition.
The court noted that the testimonies of close relatives, considered the most material witnesses, revealed no evidence of cruelty or dowry-related harassment “soon before her death,” a crucial requirement to establish an offence under Section 304B IPC.
The court observed that the medical evidence confirmed death due to asphyxia caused by hanging.
Giving the benefit of the doubt, the court said this alone was insufficient to implicate the accused without corroborative evidence of cruelty.
