Myanmar Army Chief Senior General, Min Aung Hlaing, said that the UN has no right to interfere in the country’s sovereignty, after UN investigators had called for him and other generals to be prosecuted for ‘genocide’ against the alleged ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas, IANS reported.
This is his first reaction after the experts recommended that the military chief and other senior officers of the Myanmar Army be investigated over the rapes and killings of Rohingyas in Rakhine state, reports Efe news.
Hlaing said, during a speech in the northeastern city of Lashio on Sunday, that the military’s first duty was to defend the independence and sovereignty of the country and added that no group had the right to interfere in Myanmar’s internal matters, military-owned newspaper Myawady Daily reported on Monday.
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The UN report said that at least 10,000 people were killed and around 725,000 sought refuge in Bangladesh due to military operations in Rakhine, which began on August 25, 2017.
The investigators had disclosed “genocidal intent” in the campaign against the Rohingya people in Rakhine as well as evidence of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the states of Rakhine, Kachin and Shan.
ALSO READ: Top Myanmar military officers should be prosecuted for genocide against Rohingyas: UN Report
The International Criminal Court has opened a preliminary probe into the matter.
Meanwhile, the Myanmar government, led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, rejected the recommendations and said it had formed an independent commission to investigate the incidents in Rakhine.
![Hundreds of houses, churches, temples, and vehicles were either vandalised or set ablaze across Manipur. [Photo: Twitter/MC Mary Kom]](https://freepresskashmir.news/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/f01f3276-4fce-46b2-a7c3-7da05921850d-300x180.jpg)
![Hundreds of houses, churches, temples, and vehicles were either vandalised or set ablaze across Manipur. [Photo: Twitter/MC Mary Kom]](https://freepresskashmir.news/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/f01f3276-4fce-46b2-a7c3-7da05921850d-80x80.jpg)