Joint Statement: Rohingya Groups Call on U.S. Government to Ensure International Accountability for Myanmar Military-Planned Genocide

(Photo: Reuters)

Joint Statement: Rohingya Groups Call on U.S. Government to Ensure International Accountability for Myanmar Military-Planned Genocide

December 17, 2018 

We, the undersigned Rohingya organizations worldwide, call for accountability for genocide and crimes against humanity in Myanmar and for the United States government to take urgent action. We urge the U.S. government to urgently act to hold Myanmar military official’s accountable for genocide. 

The U.S. government has referred to what happened to our people as "ethnic cleansing,” which is partially accurate; however, the U.S. should make a clear legal determination of the facts which amount to the crime of genocide. The Myanmar military and authorities made systematic preparations to commit mass atrocity crimes against our Rohingya community - with the intent to destroy us. 

United States House passed Resolution 1091 stating that atrocities against the Rohingya as crimes against humanity and genocide. The Resolution is calling for “all those responsible for these crimes against humanity and genocide should be tracked, sanctioned, arrested, prosecuted, and punished under applicable international criminal statutes and conventions.” 

On December 3, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum came to the conclusion that there is compelling evidence that the Myanmar military committed crimes against humanity and genocide against the Rohingya of Rakhine State, Myanmar. On the same day, the international law firm Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG) hired by the United States State Department to investigate the august 25, 2017 military “clearance operations” on the Rohingya in Myanmar, said it found evidence of genocide based on interviews with over 1,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. 

Many of the undersigned organizations have documented how Myanmar authorities are responsible for human rights violations in Rakhine State including killings, rape, destruction of property, and burning of villages. The Government of Myanmar denies Rohingya citizenship and denies the very existence of our ethnicity. 

On September 24, the U.S. Department of State released its report documenting mass human rights violations against our Rohingya people. The report shows that the campaign was "well-planned and coordinated." However, the report makes no determination that the violence amounts to genocide or crimes against humanity. 

We, the undersigned Rohingya organizations worldwide, are deeply concerned by international inaction, including from the U.S. government. We urge the U.S. government to make a clear genocide determination and to pursue other policies and responses. 

On September 18, the United Nations independent international Fact-Finding-Mission on the situation in Myanmar released its final report concluding that Myanmar’s top military generals should be prosecuted for genocide against Rohingya in Rakhine State as well as for crimes against humanity. 

In July, human rights group Fortify Rights published an extensive report exposing how the Myanmar authorities made “extensive and systematic preparations” for attacks against Rohingya civilians during the weeks and months before Rohingya militants attacked police on August 25, 2017. 

We, the undersigned Rohingya organizations call on the administration of President Trump and all people of conscience within the U.S. government to ensure the United Nations Security Council imposes an arms embargo on Myanmar and refers the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC should investigate and prosecute the military’s crimes against our Rohingya people as well as the Kachin, Shan, and others. 

Signatories:

1. Arakan Rohingya Development Association – Australia (ARDA)

2. Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO)

3. British Rohingya Community in UK

4. Burmese Rohingya Association in Queensland-Australia (BRAQA)

5. Burmese Rohingya Association Japan (BRAJ)

6. Burmese Rohingya Community Australia (BRCA)

7. Burmese Rohingya Community in Denmark

8. Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)

9. Canadian Burmese Rohingya Organisation

10. Canadian Rohingya Development Initiative

11. Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation in Malaysia (MERHROM)

12. Rohingya Advocacy Network in Japan

13. Rohingya American Society

14. Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee

15. Rohingya Association of Canada

16. Rohingya Community in Finland

17. Rohingya Community in Germany

18. Rohingya Community in Sweden

19. Rohingya Community in Switzerland

20. Rohingya Organisation Norway

21. Rohingya Society Malaysia (RSM)

22. Rohingya Society Netherlands

23. Rohingya Women Development Network (RDWN)

For more information, please contact: 

Tun Khin (Mobile): +44 7888714866 

Nay San Lwin (Mobile): +49 176 62139138