A/HRC/42/50 recur, and that Myanmar is failing in its obligation to prevent genocide, to investigate genocide and to enact effective legislation criminalizing and punishing genocide. Situation of the Rohingya in Bangladesh 91. The number of new Rohingya arrivals in Bangladesh decreased significantly in 2019. However, the future of the more than 1 million Rohingya refugees there remains uncertain. 92. The mission found that, while most refugees wish to return home, the vast majority are unwilling or unable to do so under the current circumstances. They are well aware of the continuing persecution of the remaining Rohingya in Rakhine and of the prevailing situation there. The vast majority are unlikely to return until and unless the gross violations of international human rights end and the Government of Myanmar implements effective guarantees to acknowledge or recognize their citizenship. 93. Nonetheless, the camps in Cox’s Bazaar are not a long-term solution. The absence of formal education and of livelihood opportunities raises serious human rights issues that are beyond the mission’s mandate. Trafficking and other forms of illicit activities have been reported to the mission. 94. The onus is on Myanmar to establish swiftly the necessary conditions for the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of refugees, including by providing guarantees of citizenship. VIII. Impunity and accountability A. Domestic accountability 95. The mission found a near complete absence of accountability at the domestic level for gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, in her request for authorization of an investigation pursuant to article 15, concluded much the same. 7 The Government of Myanmar is simply unwilling to end impunity for these violations, especially those committed by security forces. Impunity is also structural; it is built into the legal framework and the system of governance, including the Constitution, article 343 (b) of which stipulates that decisions of the Commander in Chief concerning military justice matters are “final and conclusive”, with no right of appeal. The Government’s outright rejection of the mission’s findings is also indicative of its unwillingness to pursue accountability at the domestic level. 96. There has been no effective criminal investigation into the violations documented by the mission in its previous report. Instead, of the six people publicly named by the mission, two highest-ranking military officials remain in their command positions. According to media reports quoting Commander in Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, MajorGeneral Maung Soe, Commander of Western Regional Military Command, was removed not for human rights violations but for “shortcomings in timely response to the early warnings of the use of force and lawless acts”. According to media reports, the Tatmadaw also announced that Lieutenant-General Aung Kyaw Zaw had resigned in mid-2018 due to poor health and “weakness in serving duty”. 97. The Government’s unwillingness to pursue accountability was demonstrated graphically by the release of seven Tatmadaw soldiers in November 2018. The seven had been convicted and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for the killing of 10 Rohingya civilians in Inn Din village, Maungdaw Township, on 2 September 2017. They were pardoned by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and released after less than a year in detention. By contrast, two Reuters journalists whose investigation of the incident had led to the 7 See www.icc-cpi.int/CourtRecords/CR2019_03510.PDF, para. 235. 15

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