The Jakarta Post
Tuesday October 23, 2018
Agence France-Presse
Myanmar's Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar armed forces, saluting to pay his respects to Myanmar independence hero General Aung San and eight others assassinated in 1947, during a ceremony to mark the 71th anniversary of Martyrs' Day in Yangon. United Nations investigators on August 27, 2018 called for an international probe and prosecution of Myanmar's army chief Min Aung Hlaing and five other top military commanders for genocide against the country's Rohingya minority. YE AUNG THU / AFP (AFP/Ye Aung Thu)
Australia's government on Tuesday unveiled sanctions against five officers in Myanmar's powerful military who are accused of overseeing barbaric violence against members of the Rohingya ethnic group.
Following similar actions by the United States and the European Union, Australia announced it would freeze the assets of officers including a Lieutenant General who commanded a special operations group believed to be behind atrocities.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the officers -- Aung Kyaw Zaw, Maung Maung Soe, Aung Aung, Than Oo and Khin Maung Soe were "responsible for human rights violations committed by units under their command".
The five, some of whom are since believed to have stepped down from their posts, will also be banned from travelling to Australia.
Around 700,000 Rohingya have been driven from their homes in Rakhine state, in southwest Myanmar, since 2016.
The campaign has been marked by numerous extrajudicial killings, mass rape and the burning of villages by security forces.