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UNITED NATIONS – A US government investigation revealed that the Myanmar army targeted Rohingya civilians without discrimination and with "extreme brutality" in a coordinated campaign to oust the country's Muslim minority.
The State Department's hard-hitting report released on Monday is based on a survey conducted this spring by more than 1,000 refugees among the hundreds of thousands who fled the crackdown on neighboring Bangladesh in the last two years.
The 20-page report does not say whether the abuses constitute genocide and crimes against humanity, as the US investigators have presumed.
But the US's findings are dismal and should reinforce calls for the Trump administration to take that decision and tighten sanctions against the Southeast Asian nation.
Most of the interviewees witnessed a murder and half of them witnessed sexual violence. Rohingya identified the army as the author in 84% of the murders or injuries they witnessed.
"The investigation reveals that the recent violence in northern Rakhine State was extreme, large-scale, widespread and appeared to be aimed at terrorizing the population and driving out Rohingya residents," the report said.
The scope and scale of military operations indicate that they have been well planned and coordinated. In some areas, the perpetrators have used tactics that have resulted in many casualties, for example, locking people up in houses to burn them, fencing entire villages before firing into the crowd, or sinking ships filled with hundreds of Rohingya's. leak.
The bloodshed propelled Myanmar, also known as Burma, into the ranks of the renegade nations, where it stagnated for years while it was ruled by a military junta. The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court also announced last week that she is launching a preliminary investigation into the deportations of Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
Amnesty International USA said that the State Department had missed an opportunity to legally determine crimes against humanity, sending a disturbing message about Washington's willingness to seek justice for atrocities committed under international law.
"The words of the United States mean nothing if they fail to seek genuine accountability for the victims and their families," said Francisco Bencosme, Advocacy Officer.
British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt on Monday organized a meeting of more than a dozen Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the US General Assembly to discuss the Rohingya crisis.
He said in a statement that Myanmar's military leaders "must face all the atrocities committed" and that if conditions do not improve for the one million people affected by the repression in Rakhine State an international community . "
US Ambassador Nikki Haley has announced $ 185 million in new humanitarian aid, mainly for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. She called on the Myanmar government to "do more to hold those engaged in ethnic cleansing responsible for their atrocities".
Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation now officially under civil rule, has denied abuses committed by its military.
But the US report, which follows a major US fact-finding mission that recommended that military leaders be prosecuted for genocide, will make it increasingly difficult for the government to refute international criticism.
The report found that in the two months following August 2017 – when attacks by Rohingya militants against security forces triggered massive retaliation – satellite images show that more than 38,000 buildings were destroyed by a fire in the city. Rakhine State. In many areas, the refugees reported that security forces used flamethrowers or incendiaries to burn houses and kill and injure Rohingya. Sexual violence has also been widespread.
"Two police officers in my village have raped me," quotes the report quoting an unnamed 23-year-old woman. "I know these men on sight, but not their names. After they finished, they told me to leave the country, it is not your country.
Among the litanies of violations, the refugees claimed to have witnessed:
Soldiers burn or urinate on the Koran.
Victims of violence beheaded or dismembered.
Children and children are beaten or killed
– Soldiers attack women and their children during or just after childbirth.
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