Legal Analysis Related to Sanction Designations on Members of Northwestern Command of the State Administrative Council (SAC)
Introduction
This briefing outlines the key legal arguments pertaining to crimes against humanity and war crimes carried out by the State Administrative Council (SAC) in the context of the ongoing non-international armed conflict (NIAC) in Chin State and Western Burma. Select cases, compiled as part of the CHRO’s ongoing documentation activities, are used as reference points from across geographical locations which the CHRO has been closely monitoring and gathering first-hand information. Where required, information from credible secondary sources has been used. Within it are details of grave human rights violations having taken place in Matupi, Mindat and Thantlang townships of Chin State, and Magway and Sagaing Regions of Western Burma.
The objective of this briefer is to outline, and, where possible name the key decision-makers ordering the crimes outlined within this document. The CHRO has mapped the Tatmadaw hierarchy and command structure operating in Chin State and Western Burma for contextual reference for the initiation of appropriate individual and targeted sanction designations. The data has been compiled through access to leaked documents and interviews with defectors and eyewitnesses conducted by CHRO’s team of field workers. The primary objective of this briefer is to highlight why senior individuals within the below command structures and the specific battalions – that have designed and carried out attacks against the civilian population by targeting homes, livelihoods and lives – need to be considered for sanctions. It is also hoped that ongoing advocacy toward sanctioning regimes, such as those pertaining to aviation fuel and arms embargos will be supported by the following information within the report.
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This report details human rights abuses that took place in Mindat Township, Chin State from the period of April to December 2021. In May 2021, Martial Law was imposed on Mindat Town, pre-empting a large-scale assault by air and on the ground in order to engage with the Chin Defense Force – Mindat (CDF-M) and establish military control of the town. During a three-day siege, indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure took place, hospital premises were stormed, and widespread instances of war crimes committed by Tatmadaw forces were reported. 
CHRO’s new report “‘Threats to Our Existence’: Persecution of Ethnic Chin Christians in Burma” exposes a decades-long pattern of religious freedom violations that persist today under the new government, and documents other serious human rights abuses such as forced labour, torture, and other cruel and inhuman treatment, forcing thousands of Chin to flee their homeland.
