Maung Maung Soe (general)

For other people named Maung Maung Soe, see Maung Maung Soe (disambiguation).

In this Burmese name, the given name is Maung Maung Soe. There is no family name.

Maung Maung Soe (Burmese: မောင်မောင်စိုး, born 1964^[1]) is a Burmese military officer who is a major general in the Myanmar Army.^[2]

Maung Maung Soe was formerly the commander of Western Regional Military Command, overseeing Myanmar's campaign against the Rohingya, which has been characterized by brutality and atrocities.^[2][3] The U.S. government imposed Global Magnitsky Act sanctions against the general in December 2017, citing "credible evidence" that he commanded forces involved in violence, sexual assaults, extrajudicial killings and the burning of villages of the Rohingya minority.^[4][5] The Government of Myanmar released a statement that said the accusations are based on unreliable sources.^[6] In February 2018, the Canadian government sanctioned Maung Maung Soe under the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, stating that he was "responsible for, or complicit in, gross violations of internationally recognized human rights" (specifically, ethnic cleansing).^[7][8] He has also been sanctioned by Australia and the European Union (EU).^[9]

In 2018, the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, led by Marzuki Darusman, determined that Maung Maung Soe and other Myanmar military generals oversaw atrocities against the Rohingya in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states; that the generals did so with genocidal intent; and that the country's civilian government under Aung San Suu Kyi allowed it to happen.^[2] The UN investigative panel said that Maung Maung Soe, along with four other commanders (Soe Win, Aung Kyaw Zaw, Min Aung Hlaing, and Than Oo) should be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity (including mass killings, gang rapes, and genocide) in the International Criminal Court or an ad hoc international tribunal.^[2]

In 2018, after the EU imposed sanctions against Maung Maung Soe and six other military officers, the Burmese government dismissed him from the armed forces, a rare step for the government. The government did not mention the sanctions in its statement dismissing Maung Maung Soe, instead blaming him for weak management and an insufficient response to Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacks in 2016 and 2017.^[3][10]

References

1. "Sanctions List Search". Office of Foreign Assets Control. 2023-02-10. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
2. Nebehay, Stephanie (August 27, 2018). "Myanmar generals had "genocidal intent" against Rohingya, must face justice - UN". Reuters.
3. Hannah Ellis-Petersen, Myanmar fires general who led violence against Rohingya, The Guardian (June 26, 2018).
4. Bengali, Shashank (December 21, 2017). "U.S. blacklists Myanmar army general who it says oversaw atrocities against Rohingya Muslims". Los Angeles Times.
5. U.S. Imposes Sanctions on 52 People and Entities for Abuse and Corruption, New York Times (December 21, 2017).
6. Naing, Shoon; Lewis, Simon (December 27, 2017). "Myanmar says U.S. sanctions against general based on 'unreliable accusations'". Reuters.
7. Levon Sevunts, Canada imposes sanctions on Myanmar general over Rohingya abuses, Radio Canada International (February 16, 2018).
8. "Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Regulations". Department of Justice (Canada). 29 November 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
9. Michael F. Martin. Burmese Security Forces and Personnel Implicated in Serious Human Rights Abuses and Accountability Options, Congressional Research Service (March 5, 2019).
10. Jon Emont, Myanmar Dismisses Rohingya-Crisis General Amid EU Sanctions Wall Street Journal (June 25, 2018).