[ad_1]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A US government investigation into Myanmar's campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority was not aimed at determining whether genocide or crimes against humanity had been committed, but officials could still be held accountable. said Thursday.
FILE PHOTO: Smoke is seen on the Myanmar border as Rohingya refugees walk on the shore after crossing the Bangladesh-Myanmar border by boat into the Bay of Bengal at Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh.
The US State Department report released on Monday said the Myanmar army had conducted a "well-planned and coordinated" campaign of mass killings, gang rapes and other atrocities against the Rohingya.
But she failed to describe the repression as genocide or a crime against humanity, an issue that other US officials believe has been the subject of intense internal debate that has delayed the deployment of report for almost a month.
"There were no legal judgments cast because this was not the purpose of the report," said US Assistant Secretary of State John Sullivan at a press conference in New York, when asked why the report did not use the words "genocide". "crimes against humanity."
He added: "We are working to hold those responsible, including judgments like the one you have proposed, calling it a crime against humanity or genocide."
Sullivan spoke on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, shortly before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Kyaw Tint Swe, Minister of the Office of the State Councilor and representative at the session of the United Nations UN. there had been genocide in Myanmar.
US officials told Reuters earlier this week that the State Department's report could be used to justify new US sanctions or other punitive measures against the Myanmar authorities.
The report, reported for the first time by Reuters, is the result of more than 1,000 Rohingya men and women in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh, where nearly 700,000 Rohingya fled the year last.
The survivors described in detail what they had witnessed, including soldiers killing infants and young children, firing on unarmed men and victims buried alive or thrown into mass graves. They spoke of large-scale sexual assaults perpetrated by the Myanmar army against Rohingya women, often carried out in public.
Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay declined to comment when he arrived on Tuesday and said he was unable to answer questions over the phone. The calls to the military spokesman, Major General Tun Tun Nyi, remained unanswered.
Human rights groups and Rohingya activists have claimed thousands of lives as a result of attacks by Rohingya insurgents against security forces in Rakhine State in August 2017.
The results of the US investigation were quietly published – published on the State Department's website – nearly a month after UN investigators published their own report accusing Myanmar's military of acting as chief. and five generals to prosecute in international law.
The Myanmar army, formerly known as Burma, where Buddhism is the main religion, has denied accusations of ethnic cleansing and claims that its actions are part of a fight against terrorism.
Senior State Department officials said the purpose of the report was to guide US policy to empower perpetrators. The report does not propose any new steps.
An official said it would be up to Pompeo to make such a "legal" designation in the future and did not rule out the possibility.
Report by David Brunnstrom; edited by Jonathan Oatis
