War crime raps filed vs Myanmar military

MANILA, Philippines — Natives of Myanmar, particularly of the Chin State, yesterday accused some members of the Southeast Asian country’s military of war crimes amid an ongoing civil war there.

Five Myanmar natives, represented by Filipino counsels, filed a complaint of violations of Republic Act 9851, or the Philippine Act on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity, against 10 officers of the country’s military.

Gilbert Andres, one of the lawyers of the complainants, said the crimes involved the killing of a Christian pastor and two church elders, the burning of buildings dedicated to religion and the intentional targeting and starvation of Chin State civilians.

The charges constitute violations of the humanitarian law, according to Andres.

Romel Bagares, another of the complainants’ lawyers, said the citizens of the former Burma were prompted to file their complaint before the Philippines’ Department of Justice (DOJ) since they have no access to justice in their country because it is their government itself that are targeting them.

Bagares noted that the killings and the burning of their churches and houses are rooted on the denial of their religious freedom, saying 90 percent of the residents in Chin State are Christians while Buddhism is the prevalent religion in Myanmar.