Violent repression of the predominantly Muslim Rohingya population in Myanmar amounts to genocide, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday, a statement aimed at both generating international pressure and laying the groundwork for possible legal action.
The authorities made the determination based on the confirmed accounts of mass atrocities against civilians by the Myanmar army in a widespread and systematic campaign against the ethnic minority, Blinken announced Monday in a speech at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Blinken said the evidence showed that “the attack on the Rohingya was widespread and systematic, which is crucial in reaching a determination of crimes against humanity.”
“The day will come when those responsible for these horrific events will have to answer for them,” Blinken said.
The government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been subject to various layers of U.S. sanctions since a military coup overthrew the democratically elected government in February 2021. Thousands of civilians across the country have been killed. murdered and imprisoned as part of the ongoing repression of anyone. contrary to the governing board. More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar to refugee camps in Bangladesh since August 2017, when the army launched an operation to move them away from the country following attacks by a rebel group.
This is the eighth time since the Holocaust that the United States has concluded that genocide has taken place.
“It is a decision I made based on the review of a fact-finding and legal analysis prepared by the State Department, which included detailed documentation from a number of independent and impartial sources, including rights organizations. such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as our own rigorous fact-finding, “Blinken said.
The Secretary of State announced that the US would provide $ 1 million in new funding for the Independent Investigation Mechanism for Myanmar, which continues to examine reports of atrocities.
Following Blinken’s announcement, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the designation “emphasizes, especially to the victims and survivors, that the United States recognizes the seriousness of these crimes.”
“Our view is that shedding light on the crimes of the Burmese army will increase international pressure and make it more difficult for them to commit more abuses,” he said.
Blinken noted the importance of drawing attention to inhumanity even when horrific attacks occur elsewhere in the world. including Ukraineand made the crisis in Ukraine a central part of his speech.
“While we are together, the Russian government continues to wage its brutal and unprovoked war in Ukraine,” Blinken said. “Every day there are more terrible attacks, more innocent murdered men, women and children. This includes the five people who died in a strike on March 1, in a TV tower and the surroundings on the outskirts of Kyiv, the same place “Where, just over 80 years ago, 33,771 Jews were killed by the Nazis in just two days.”
Blinken also pointed to atrocities elsewhere, including in Xinjiang, where the Chinese government continues to commit genocide against Muslims and ethnic minorities.
– CBS News Camilla Shick contributed to this report
- In:
- antony blink
Add Comment