The Arakan Army has publicly confessed to executing two junta soldiers in February 2024, claiming the killings were in retaliation for abuses by Myanmar military forces against AA fighters’ families, though the group admits the act violated military discipline.
BY PC Bureau
Fortify Rights has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to immediately investigate the Arakan Army’s (AA) war crimes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The organization made the request after newly leaked footage surfaced showing extrajudicial killings carried out by AA soldiers. Fortify Rights has been at the forefront of highlighting the need for international justice mechanisms to hold all parties to account in Myanmar’s ongoing conflict.
This call for accountability gained urgency after the AA publicly confessed to the killings of two Myanmar junta soldiers in Kyauktaw Township on February 7, 2024. The confessions came after the rights group’s revelations about the brutal treatment of the prisoners and the implications of the video evidence.
Arakan Army soldiers
Leaked Video Evidence Shows Chilling Executions by AA Troops
Fortify Rights analyzed two leaked video recordings showing the executions of two detainees, believed to be Myanmar junta soldiers, by AA forces. The videos, released online in late December 2024 and again in January 2025, depict disturbing scenes of torture, beatings, and execution in a remote area of Kyauktaw Township.
In the videos, several AA soldiers, some in full military uniform and others in civilian attire, are seen standing over the victims, who are restrained and beaten. One detainee is stripped to his underwear and kicked repeatedly while the other is taunted by captors. The execution takes place next to a shallow pit, where the captives are forced to kneel before their throats are hacked and cut open by the perpetrators. These gruesome acts are accompanied by disturbing dialogue, as the attackers mock their victims and prolong their suffering, instructing their comrades on how to carry out the killings “one by one.”
The AA Confession and Retaliation Claims
In response to the exposure of these videos, AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha admitted that the two victims were junta soldiers, killed during the AA’s assault on the Myanmar military’s 9th Military Operations Command in Kyauktaw. Khaing Thukha explained that the killings were an act of retaliation, as the AA forces had lost family members to Myanmar junta soldiers who allegedly arrested, tortured, and killed their relatives.
ALSO READ: Myanmar Military Killed 478 Women in 2024
“We cannot deny the anger that was felt by our militias when they captured these soldiers,” Khaing Thukha said in a statement. He emphasized that the killings were in violation of military discipline, and the AA had taken steps to punish those responsible, including junior commanders. However, he did not provide specifics about the punishment or whether the perpetrators faced any significant consequences.
Fortify Rights’ Call for International Investigation
Fortify Rights has strongly condemned the executions and urged the ICC to take immediate action. The organization argued that the extrajudicial killings and torture documented in the video evidence clearly violate international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions. Under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, captured soldiers and civilians must be treated with dignity, and summary executions and torture are prohibited as war crimes. The ICC’s Rome Statute explicitly criminalizes such acts under its provisions on war crimes, including in non-international armed conflicts like the one in Myanmar.
Ejaz Min Khant, Human Rights Associate at Fortify Rights, emphasized that these atrocities cannot be ignored. “Torturing and summarily executing civilians or captured enemy soldiers are clear war crimes,” he said. “Captured soldiers should be treated with dignity as prisoners of war, and those responsible for such crimes must be held accountable.”
Fortify Rights has pointed to the AA’s admission of responsibility for the killings as evidence that the group is not only involved in the commission of war crimes but also that it has failed to adequately address these violations within its own ranks. The organization has called on the ICC to investigate the incident using its existing jurisdiction, which has already been granted through Myanmar’s National Unity Government’s (NUG) 12(3) declaration.
Broader Context: A Pattern of Abuses by Both Sides
The extrajudicial killings documented in the AA videos are not isolated incidents. Fortify Rights has noted that they are part of a broader pattern of atrocities committed by both the AA and the Myanmar military junta in Rakhine State and beyond. For instance, the AA was implicated in the August 2024 massacre of Rohingya civilians trying to cross the Naf River, where drones, artillery, and gunfire killed over 100 men, women, and children. The AA has publicly denied responsibility for this massacre, but the scale and brutality of the attack are part of an ongoing human rights crisis in the region.
In addition to the AA’s actions, Myanmar’s military junta has faced ongoing international condemnation for its use of violence against civilians, especially following the coup in February 2021. According to reports from the U.N. and human rights groups, the junta has carried out systematic attacks on civilians, including executions, arbitrary detentions, and the displacement of tens of thousands of people.
The Role of the ICC and International Justice
Fortify Rights is calling for a coordinated international response to the atrocities committed by all parties in Myanmar, particularly the AA and the Myanmar military. The ICC, which has jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity, can play a pivotal role in ensuring accountability for these crimes. The organization urged ICC member states to refer the situation in Myanmar to the Chief Prosecutor under Article 14 of the Rome Statute, which would allow for an investigation into the war crimes committed by both sides in the ongoing conflict.
In addition, Fortify Rights has called on the Arakan Army and all other armed factions in Myanmar to cooperate with international mechanisms such as the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), which has been collecting evidence of atrocities since its establishment in 2018. This cooperation is essential for ensuring that the perpetrators of war crimes and human rights abuses are held to account.
Conclusion: The Need for Urgent Action
The international community has a crucial role to play in ensuring justice for the victims of these atrocities. “These types of atrocity crimes will continue as long as impunity prevails,” said Ejaz Min Khant of Fortify Rights. “ICC member states should act now and refer the situation to the court, sending a clear message that war crimes and atrocities will not go unpunished.”
Fortify Rights continues to call for urgent and coordinated action by international bodies to address the violations committed by all parties in Myanmar’s armed conflict, ensuring that those responsible are held accountable and that justice is served for the victims.
