A new report by the US Holocaust Museum and Fortify Rights says there is “mounting evidence” that Myanmar has committed genocide against its Rohingya minority.
“They Tried to Kill Us All: Atrocity Crimes against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, Myanmar” was released today after a year-long investigation of alleged atrocities committed by Myanmar security forces against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State following two separate attacks by the Rohingya insurgent group ARSA on Myanmar security outposts in October 2016 and August 2017.
More than 200 in-depth interviews with Rohingya victims and witnesses of violence led the report’s authors to conclude that Myanmar’s security forces carried out an “unprecedented, widespread, and systematic” campaign of violence against Rohingya civilians since October 2016.
“The army, police, and armed civilian perpetrators razed entire villages; killed men, women, and children; raped and gang-raped Rohingya women and girls; and arrested masses of Rohingya men and boys, many of whom remain missing,” the report reads.
This violence has displaced nearly a million Rohingya civilians from their homes, nearly 700,000 of whom have left Myanmar altogether to seek refuge in Bangladesh.
The UN referred to this campaign as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” but has not accused the Myanmar government of “genocide.” A formal accusation of genocide by the Security Council would require the international community to intervene in line with the UN Genocide Convention.
The legal definition of the crime of genocide are contained in the convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which list five actions that constitute genocide if committed by a state with the intention of destroying a religious, ethnic, racial, or national group, whether in whole or in part.
The full list of actions includes killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Today’s report says Myanmar security forces have already committed several of these actions against the Rohingya and points out that the Myanmar government has thwarted investigations that could reveal whether these actions were committed with the intent to destroy the Rohingya as a group.
“Regardless, the government of Myanmar and the international community should not wait for a formal legal determination of genocide to take immediate action. The Genocide Convention requires that all states take action to prevent and punish genocide but leaves the details on how to do so to the states. The evidence available thus far should serve as the highest of alarms to leaders within Myanmar and the international community to prevent genocide and to protect people who remain at risk,” the report reads.
On Monday, the Myanmar military released the results of an internal investigation that acquitted security forces of any wrongdoing during its operations in northern Rakhine State since August. Rights groups have slammed the report, calling it an attempt to “whitewash” atrocities.
Human Rights Watch called for Myanmar to be referred to the ICC in order to assure accountability for the perpetrators of criminal violence against Rohingya civilians.
In their report, Fortify Rights and the US Holocaust Museum added their voices to the same demand, calling for ICC proceedings against Myanmar and for targeted sanctions against Myanmar’s military leaders.
“These crimes thrive on impunity and inaction,” said Fortify Rights CEO Matthew Smith. “Condemnations aren’t enough. Without urgent international action towards accountability, more mass killings are likely.”
