Harvard probe says Myanmar's home minister, generals could be linked to 'war crimes'

Military activities carried out by Myanmar's powerful minister of home affairs when the country was under dictatorship could constitute war crimes, a new study charges, saying there is evidence that he and two other generals were responsible for the executions, torture and enslavement of civilians by troops during a large-scale offensive against ethnic rebels.

Human rights researchers at Harvard Law School said in the report released on Friday that they spent three years collecting information about the government's 2005-2006 counter-insurgency efforts in Myanmar's Karen state along the country's eastern border.

They said there was enough to justify the issuance of an International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Home Affairs Minister Ko Ko, who was head of the army's Southern Command during that offensive, and his two high-ranking colleagues.

The government responded by saying much of what happens during times of conflict is unavoidable and this is a time to look forward, not back.

"We are going through a democratic transition," said Nay Zin Latt, one of the president's political advisers and an ex-army officer. "Everyone should be encouraging the reform process rather than putting further obstacles along the way."

The Harvard findings come at an especially sensitive time, as a civilian government - which is still dominated by the military - that took power in 2011 grapples with a transition to full democracy after nearly five decades of military rule.