UN: Myanmar military should be investigated:
(CNN)Violence against the Rohingya in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State was "extreme, large-scale, widespread, and seemingly geared toward both terrorizing the population and driving out the Rohingya residents," a US State Department investigation found. However, the report stopped short of calling the violence "genocide." https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/286063.htm
The results of the investigation, which were quietly
released on Monday, suggested that Myanmar's security forces engaged in a
"well planned and coordinated" campaign of violence against the
Muslim minority.
The State Department worked with human rights
investigators in the spring of 2018 to conduct surveys with more than 1,000
Rohingya refugees in camps in Bangladesh. Their testimonies paint a shocking
portrait of the atrocities committed over the past two years.
"I had to choose between my children and my
mother... I had only two hands and two children," a 35-year-old male
refugee described.
According to the report, most of the refugees witnessed a
killing, two-thirds witnessed an injury, and half witnessed sexual violence.
One-fifth of the refugees in the survey witnessed a mass-casualty event with
more than 100 people. Seventy-five percent said they saw members of the army
kill someone. That same percentage said they saw the army destroy huts and
villages.
"The military and BGP (Border Guard Police)
slaughtered my son, who was 5 years old. When military came, I was pregnant.
The situation was very horrific. I could not get all of my children. I could
not go to my son. He was killed," a 25-year-old female said.
Forty-five percent of refugees witnessed a rape, and most
were committed by a member of the army.
"About 100 women were rounded up and raped in the
hills, on the road, in front of their homes, wherever they could find
them," a 60-year-old female described.
Although the report describes the violence as
"atrocities," it does not go as far as to label them
"genocide" or "crimes against humanity."
An
independent UN investigation released in late August
called for Myanmar's military leaders to be investigated and prosecuted for
genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Following the release of that
report, UN Secretary General António Guterres said the Myanmar government
should be held accountable for "one of the world's worst humanitarian and
human rights crises." https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/28/asia/un-myanmar-genocide-investigation-intl/index.html
The release of the State Department report came on the
same day that UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that the US would provide
more than $185M in humanitarian aid to Myanmar's Rakhine State.
"We continue to call on the Burmese government to do
more to hold those who have engaged in ethnic cleansing accountable for their
atrocities, end the violence, and allow full
humanitarian and free press access. And we greatly appreciate Bangladesh's
unwavering generosity in hosting and caring for the refugees," Haley said
in a statement.