US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Burmese army has officially decided to genocide the Rohingya in a “broad and systematic” way.
Blinken speech At the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Beyond the Holocaust, the United States has concluded that genocide has taken place seven times.”
“Today is the eighth time since I have determined that a member of the Burmese army has committed crimes against humanity against the Rohingya,” he said.
Brinken said the Burmese military decision “is based on fact-finding and legal analysis prepared by the State Department and includes documents from a variety of independent and equitable sources, including human rights groups.” Said it was based.
“The attacks on the Rohingya are widespread and systematic, which is important for reaching a crime against humanity decision,” he said.
“Evidence also shows the clear intention behind these massive atrocities, the intent to destroy the Rohingya in whole or in part.”
Rohingya have been denied citizenship in the country since the enactment of the Burmese Citizenship Act in 1982. United Nations More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh due to the 2017 military crackdown.
In February 2021, the military government expelled an elected civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup, causing widespread anti-coup protests in Burma, also known as Myanmar.
Citing a 2018 State Department report investigating more than 1,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, Brinken said the findings show that the Rohingya abuse by the Burmese army was “not an isolated case.” Stated.
Three-quarters of the respondents claimed to have witnessed the military killing someone, and more than half claimed to have witnessed sexual violence. One in five witnessed a large number of casualties, killing or injuring more than 100 in a single incident.
“For those who did not recognize it before the coup, the brutal violence that followed revealed that no one would not come to the Burmese army. Those who are safe from atrocities under its control There is no one. “
Blinken alleged that the junta committed murder, rape, and other atrocities against members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Burma for decades.
“Reports of these abuses are widespread. They are well documented. They occurred in states throughout Burma. Its history and the determination we are making today is Burma. It’s the basis for understanding the current crisis in Myanmar, “he added.
Blinken also announced a donation of “about $ 1 million in additional funding” to Burma’s independent investigative mechanism, which has been collecting evidence of Burma’s most serious international crime since 2011.
He said the United States is also sharing information with The Gambia in connection with a proceeding against Burma in the International Court of Justice over the atrocities committed against the Rohingya.
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Aldgra Fredly is a Malaysia-based freelance writer featuring the Epoch Times Asia Pacific News.