In a landmark move, the United States (US) formally declared on Monday that violence committed by Myanmar’s military against the country’s Rohingya Muslims amounts to genocide. The Biden administration argued that there is “compelling evidence” of an attempt to “destroy” the Muslim minority.
While speaking at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum on Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had “determined that members of the Burmese military committed genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya.”
It’s a decision that I reached based on reviewing a factual assessment and legal analysis prepared by the State Department, which included documentation by a range of independent, impartial sources, as well as our own rigorous fact-finding.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) March 21, 2022
Blinken added that the decision was reached “based on reviewing a factual assessment and legal analysis prepared by the State Department, which included detailed documentation by a range of independent, impartial sources, including human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.”
He justified the decision by citing the Biden administration’s “own analysis of the facts and the law,” which is compiled in a report that surveyed “more than 1,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh, all of whom were displaced by the violence in 2016 or 2017.” It lists instances of the military targeting the community with tactics such as “the razing of villages, killing, rape, torture, and other horrific abuses.”
Explaining the major findings of the government report, Blinken said that “the military’s attacks in 2016 forced nearly 100,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. In 2017, attacks killed more than 9,000 Rohingya, and forced more than 740,000 to seek refuge in Bangladesh.”
.@SecBlinken discusses U.S. support to help meet the immediate humanitarian needs of Rohingya. We are working alongside allies and partners to promote accountability for those responsible for these atrocities. pic.twitter.com/cATwSPqpJZ
— Department of State (@StateDept) March 21, 2022
He further argued that the decision was necessary, as “three-quarters of those interviewed said that they personally witnessed members of the military kill someone. More than half witnessed acts of sexual violence. One in five witnessed a mass-casualty event – that is, the killing or injuring of more than 100 people in a single incident.”
Following multiple reports of the military’s violence, the Gambia, a Muslim-majority African nation, had filed a case against the Myanmar military at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague in November 2019. According to the Gambia, the Myanmar military’s atrocities during this period constituted violations of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s democratically-elected leader at the time, denied all allegations of genocide and stressed that the military had carried out legitimate counter-terrorism operations. In fact, Myanmar authorities have consistently maintained that the military did not commit genocide or systematically use “disproportionate force” against innocent civilians. Instead, they contend that the forces embarked on an admittedly “haphazard” campaign to root out militants and insurgents.
.@SecBlinken: The U.S. reaffirms its broader commitment to helping Rohingya on this path out of genocide—toward truth, toward accountability & toward a home that will welcome them as equal members, and respect their human rights and dignity, alongside that of all people in Burma. pic.twitter.com/C1T4yTACy1
— Department of State (@StateDept) March 21, 2022
The US’ decision comes as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s Special Envoy to Myanmar, Prak Sokhonn, reached Myanmar on Sunday to negotiate a path to peace. The envoy met junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to discuss ending hostilities in Myanmar.
Alluding to the bloc’s efforts to restore stability in the country since the military coup last February, Blinken concluded that the US is “supporting ASEAN’s efforts to end the regime’s violence and seek a peaceful resolution to the crisis through its Five-Point Consensus” and that it “appreciates the work of ASEAN’s special envoy.”