Nicholas Koumjian, Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), based in Geneva, addressed the European Parliament on human rights violations in Myanmar on 17 February 2025. The European Union (EU) and its Member States have been strong supporters of the Mechanism’s mandate and activities.
The IIMM was created by the United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR) in 2018 to collect and analyse evidence of the most serious international crimes committed in Myanmar since 2011. It aims to facilitate justice and accountability by preparing case files that can be used by authorities, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), to prosecute individuals in national, regional and international courts.
In August 2017, a wave of violence by Myanmar’s security forces drove about 750,000 Rohingya, a Muslim minority who is denied citizenship, to flee their homes in Rakhine State and seek safety in Bangladesh.
In February 2021, the Myanmar military, led by Min Aung Hlaing, seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD). Peaceful protests were suppressed using lethal force, and thousands of perceived opponents of the military junta have been arrested, with many tortured or killed in detention.
As Nicholas Koumjian told us in this interview, the situation is worsening on the human rights front.
How is the situation in Myanmar evolving four years since the military takeover?
Nicholas Koumjian: There are clear indications that the fighting is getting worse as opposition to military rule grows. As the authorities lose control of border areas, pushed out by ethnic armies across the country, it has increased its use of airpower, resulting in more civilian casualties. A recent report by Airstrikes Report for Myanmar indicates that the military launched 2,155 airstrikes between June and September 2024.
Thousands of people remain in detention. The biggest cities are still under the firm control of the junta, and there is a lot of fear among the population because of conscription. The military is enrolling young men into the army, and many have fled the country. Neighbouring states such as Thailand and Bangladesh are burdened with tens of thousands of refugees. The education and health systems, as well as the economy, have significantly deteriorated since the coup.
What are the consequences of the current crisis in Rakhine state?
Rakhine State is an area that we are particularly concerned about. There was intense fighting in 2024, and the main ethnic group there, the Arakan people, have seized most of the State, except for the capital city and areas in the far South. The Arakan Army controls 15 of the 17 townships; now, it has to govern.
In the fighting, many people suffered, including the remaining Rohingyas, often caught between the two forces. We are very concerned about how Rakhine State will survive the current situation.
Will there be humanitarian aid allowed to come in? Will the Arakan army be considered a responsible actor that the international community and other States can interact with? That remains to be seen. There are allegations of war crimes by all sides. We need to see that those who control territories can responsibly govern, and hopefully, there can be cooperation with them to address this critical humanitarian situation.
Are you investigating the alleged crimes committed by the Arakan army?
We investigate crimes committed by any group that rise to the level of serious international crime as defined in our mandate – genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. There are allegations of crimes by all sides in Rakhine State. We have sent requests for information to both the junta and the Arakan army. The junta has consistently ignored us. The Arakan army said it’s working on a response, but we haven’t received it.
An arrest warrant was issued in November by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court against Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the Myanmar military regime, for crimes against humanity committed against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Has this put some pressure on the authorities?
Any time there is an international institution like the ICC issuing an arrest warrant, it puts pressure. You see that often in the response of those who are the subject of the warrant. I have been told by those who have spoken with the commander-in-chief that he is very upset with the arrest warrant.
What are the main difficulties you are facing in your investigation task?
We have several challenges. One is just the massive crimes that are recurring. We were created largely in response to the “clearance operations” against the Rohingyas in 2017. Since the military coup in February 2021, every month that goes by, we receive many reports of massive rights violations: torture, sexual assault against people in custody, aerial bombings, attacks, and killing of prisoners of war. The amount of work is undoubtedly a challenge.
The difficulty is also that we don’t have access to the country. We’re not a police force. We can’t force anyone to talk to us. We rely on the cooperation of many brave individuals willing to provide us with information, witnesses and victims willing to talk to us, and defectors who tell us what happens within the military. We’re using modern techniques. There is so much information available on the Internet, so many people have videos of what occurred.
Are you hopeful that one day, the perpetrators will be brought to justice?
There are several purposes to our work. Our mandate is to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse pieces of evidence and share those with judicial authorities. Cases often take a very long time, but it’s important to preserve the evidence now and make sure it’s available when it can be used.
We have three ongoing processes with which we are sharing evidence. First, there is an ICC investigation. The Prosecutor also announced the ICC is working on further arrest warrants linked to the Rohingyas situation in 2017.
Second, we have a case in Argentina investigating complaints of victims about what happened to the Rohingyas in 2017.
Finally, there is the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest UN court, with the dispute “The Gambia versus Myanmar”, launched in 2019. The Gambia, a predominantly Muslim country in Africa, has alleged that Myanmar failed to fulfil its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. We expect the hearings to begin this year. That will be very interesting.
We don’t, currently, have any court process dealing with other issues related to the post-coup violence. We hope that one day, there will be cases in Myanmar.
Our work also sends the message to the perpetrators that someone is watching and collecting evidence. Criminal investigations are usually confidential, but we can publicise what we’re doing without putting anyone at risk. We published two reports, one about sexual violence against the Rohingyas and another on hate speech against the Rohingyas in March 2024.
We also have told states that if sanctions are related to serious crimes in Myanmar, we can help by providing information. Several countries or regional organisations have taken sanctions against Myanmar – such as the EU, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
© United Nations 2025.