Myanmar's attacks on Rohingya have been premeditated, according to a report

In the weeks and months leading up to the flight of hundreds of Rohingya civilians from Myanmar to Bangladesh, the authorities made "thorough and systematic preparations" for attacks against the Muslim minority, according to a group of human rights. Released Thursday by Bangkok-based Fortify Rights, he claims that there are "reasonable grounds" to believe that genocide and crimes against humanity were committed against the minority, involving 22 members of the group. the army and police of Myanmar in the chain of command. The group called on the United States Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for criminal investigation.

"Genocide does not happen spontaneously," said Matthew Smith, CEO of Fortify Rights. "Impunity for these crimes will pave the way for more violations and attacks in the future.The world can not remain inactive and watch another genocide unfold, but now, it is not the same. is exactly what is happening. "

A Rohingya village burned near the Maungdaw City, Rakhine State in western Myanmar, November 12, 2017.

Hein Htet-EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

The Rohingyas are a Muslim minority persecuted and mostly stateless of the United States. Rakhine state in western Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country. After an insurgent group known as the Salvation Army Arakan Rohingya (ARSA) attacked the state security forces on August 25, 2017, the Myanmar army exerted brutal reprisals against Rohingya civilians characterized by murder, rape and arson. The crackdown has forced more than 700,000 Rohingyas to flee across the border into neighboring Bangladesh

Fortify says the campaign to expel them was not just a response to the insurgents' attack, as the says the dominant narrative, but that it was premeditated. The attack of the ARSA in August was the second of its kind; the group's first deadly ambush took place in October 2016. The Myanmar military engaged in a violent campaign of rape and extrajudicial executions that forced tens of thousands of people to flee.

Fortify suggests that the failure of the international community violence may have encouraged the security forces, who appear to be about to wait for a second attack to trigger the violent expulsion of the group.

Read more: Crisis in Myanmar: Rohingya refugees await a miracle

The systematic preparations detailed in the report include the collection of sharp or blunt objects of Rohingya civilians , the training and arming of non-Rohingya local communities, the destruction of fences and other structures around Rohingya houses, deliberately depriving the Rohingyas of food and helping to save lives to weaken them before the attacks, and deploy an unnecessarily high number of state security forces. According to the group, these actions amount to "preparatory actions" for genocide and crimes against humanity such as as defined by the UN Framework for the Analysis of Crimes of Atrocity

. August 2017 were committed by at least 27 battalions of the Myanmar Army, comprising up to 11,000 soldiers and at least three battalions of the fighting police. He also identifies 22 military and police officials as responsible and suggests that they should face a criminal investigation and possibly prosecution.

This list includes Commander-in-Chief General Min Aung Hlaing, Deputy Chief Deputy Chief of Staff Soe Win, Last month, Amnesty International identified 13 Myanmar army and police officers playing a key role in violent crimes against the Rohingya. Just before, the US and Canada announced sanctions against seven senior Myanmar military officials accused of participating in the Rohingya campaign.