A/HRC/42/CRP.5 The report received widespread international and domestic media attention. It has been posted on the Mission’s webpage since its release. 527 The Mission also issued a shorter but official version of the report in Myanmar language.528 229. Statements by the Government of Myanmar claiming that the Government had established effective investigation mechanisms and has undertaken effective investigations are further indications of the Government’s knowledge of possible crimes. In August 2019, the Government of Myanmar wrote to the President of the UN Security Council objecting to a meeting on the topic of “mass atrocities” and accountability in Myanmar, saying that the Government “is addressing the issue of accountability by setting up the Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICoE). The Myanmar Armed Forces has also established its own Court of Inquiry to address the allegation of human rights violations in northern Rakhine”.529 230. The Government’s accountability efforts are woefully inadequate. In its 2019 report to the Human Rights Council, 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.530 The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), in her Request for authorisation of an investigation pursuant to article 15, concluded much the same.531 231. The Myanmar Government’s ICOE does not constitute an effective independent investigations mechanism. The ICOE lacks a clear mandate. Its chairperson has said that it is not an accountability mechanism. Its methodology is opaque. Its operating procedures are questionable. It is dependent on the Myanmar Government. There is no possibility that its investigations will identify perpetrators, promote accountability and justice, and provide redress to victims.532 232. The Government’s unwillingness to pursue accountability was demonstrated vividly by the release of seven Tatmadaw soldiers in November 2018. The seven soldiers had been convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the killings of 10 Rohingya civilians in the village of Inn Din, Maungdaw Township, on 2 September 2017. The Commander in Chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, pardoned them, releasing them after less than one year in detention.533 By contrast, two Reuters journalists, whose investigation of this 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 74 interfere-myanmar-army-chief (accessed 17 May 2019). Article 343(b) of the Constitution makes decisions of the Commander-in-Chief concerning military justice matters “final and conclusive”, with no right of appeal. For example, on 22 February 2019, the Parliament formally agreed to discuss a motion calling for a “united approach to counter efforts of the OIC, EU and Human Rights Council”, when the Mission’s report was discussed. Photos of the presentation are on file with the Mission: FFFGEN-1-79937; FFFGEN-1-79931 ; FFFGEN-1-79933 United Nations Human Rights Council, Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, Webpage, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/MyanmarFFM/Pages/Index.aspx (accessed 17 May 2019). United Nations Human Rights Council, Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, Webpage, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/MyanmarFFM/Pages/Index.aspx (accessed 17 May 2019). Letter from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations, New York to President of the Security Council, 22 August 2019. Letter on file with the Mission. A/HRC/42/50, paras. 95-101. See Office of the Prosecutor to the ICC, Request for authorisation of an investigation pursuant to article 15, ICC-01/19, 4 July 2019, para. 235. Available at https://www.icccpi.int/CourtRecords/CR2019_03510.PDF. A/HRC/39/CRP.2, para. 1619; A/HRC/42/50, paras. 98-101. See, Shoon Naing and Simon Lewis, “Exclusive: Myanmar soldiers jailed for Rohingya killings freed after less than a year”, Reuters, 27 May 2019. Available at https://www.reuters.com/article/usmyanmar-rohingya-soldiers-exclusive/exclusive-myanmar-soldiers-jailed-for-rohingya-killings-freedafter-less-than-a-year-idUSKCN1SX007; Htet Naing Zaw, “Military Chief Pardoned Soldiers Involved in Rohingya Massacre”, Irrawaddy, 29 May 2019. Available at https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/military-chief-pardoned-soldiers-involved-rohingyamassacre.html; and Htoot Thant, “Tatmadaw defends release of soldiers jailed for Inn Din killings”,