ရိုဟင်ဂျာများအပေါ် ကျူးလွန်မှုဆိုင်ရာ အမေရိကန်အစိုးရ၏ သတ်မှတ်ချက်နှင့်စပ်လျဥ်းသည့် ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်

Announcement No. (5/ 2022)
March 22, 2022
Statement on the determination by the United States Government
of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya

The National Unity Government (NUG) strongly supports the determination by the United States Government that the Myanmar military’s 2017 attacks against the Rohingya in Rakhine State amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity.

This finding follows longstanding calls, including by the Rohingya community and the United Nations (UN) Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar for the military leadership to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Rohingya.

The UN Fact-Finding Mission determined that the Myanmar military had perpetrated extreme acts of violence in ‘clearance operations’ against Rohingya communities. Thousands of civilians were killed and disappeared and close to a million were forcibly displaced. Rape and sexual violence, including mass gang rape, were used as part of a deliberate strategy to intimidate, terrorise or punish the Rohingya as a tactic of war. Hundreds of villages were razed.[1]

The NUG acknowledges that exclusionary and discriminatory policies, practices and rhetoric against the Rohingya also laid the ground for these atrocities. The impunity enjoyed by the military’s leadership has since enabled their direction of countrywide crimes at the helm of an illegal military junta.

The NUG stands by its ‘Policy Position on the Rohingya in Rakhine State’ issued in June 2021.[2] The Policy commits to the safe, voluntary, dignified, and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees and internally displaced persons, and to comprehensive legislative and policy reform in support of full Rohingya citizenship, equality in rights and opportunity, and justice and reparations.

While delayed, the expected announcement by the United States is timely as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The Human Rights Council will next week adopt a new resolution on Myanmar.

As the Secretary of State Blinken indicated, the military escalated their terror campaign against the civilian population since last year’s February 1^st attempted coup. As many as over 1,600 individuals have been killed, many were burnt to death, and hundreds of villages were burned down in circumstances that could qualify as crimes against humanity or war crimes. The security forces have arbitrary detained over 13,000 of civilians. They were tortured, faced sexual violence and even killed while in detention.

The NUG continues to strongly encourage the United States to use its permanent membership of the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In July 2021, the NUG lodged an Article 12(3) Declaration with the Registrar of the ICC on behalf of Myanmar, accepting the Court’s jurisdiction with respect to international crimes committed in the country since 1 July 2002.

Justice and accountability must follow this long-awaited determination.

[1] See https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2018/09/myanmar-un-fact-finding-mission-releases-its-full-account-massive-violations?LangID=E&NewsID=23575.

[2] https://gov.nugmyanmar.org/2021/06/03/policy-position-on-the-rohingya-in-rakhine-state/