{"id":1781,"date":"2017-11-15T04:20:39","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T04:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/?p=1781"},"modified":"2017-11-15T04:20:39","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T04:20:39","slug":"new-report-mounting-evidence-of-genocide-of-rohingya-muslims-in-myanmar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/new-report-mounting-evidence-of-genocide-of-rohingya-muslims-in-myanmar\/","title":{"rendered":"New Report: Mounting Evidence of Genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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International cooperation needed to halt killing and seek justice<\/em><\/h2>\n

(WASHINGTON D.C. and COX\u2019S BAZAR, November 15, 2017)\u2014There is \u201cmounting evidence\u201d of genocide against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, according to a new report published today by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Fortify Rights. The government of Myanmar has a responsibility to halt atrocities being perpetrated by Myanmar security forces, civilian perpetrators, and militants and hold perpetrators accountable. The international community should develop and implement a shared strategy to ensure the cessation of atrocities and advance accountability. Full report:\u00a0THEY_TRIED_TO_KILL_US_ALL_Atrocity_Crimes_against_Rohingya_Muslims_Nov_2017<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Rohingya have suffered attacks and systematic violations for decades, and the international community must not fail them now when their very existence in Myanmar is threatened\u201d said Cameron Hudson, Director of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. \u201cWithout urgent action, there\u2019s a high risk of more mass atrocities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey Tried to Kill Us All\u201d: Atrocity Crimes against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, Myanmar<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u00a0is based on one year of research conducted by Fortify Rights and the United States Holocaust Museum in Myanmar and Bangladesh. More than 200 in-depth, in-person interviews\u2014documented primarily by Fortify Rights in Myanmar and on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border\u2014with Rohingya survivors and eyewitnesses of atrocity crimes, as well as international aid workers, inform\"\"<\/a>ed the report.<\/p>\n

It documents widespread and systematic attacks on Rohingya civilians from October 9 – December 2016 and from August 25, 2017 to the present day committed by Myanmar Army soldiers, police, and civilians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey tried to kill us all,\u201d said \u201cMohammed Rafiq,\u201d 25, from Min Gyi village in Maungdaw Township, recalling how soldiers corralled villagers in a group and opened fire on them on August 30, 2017. \u201cThere was nothing left. People were shot in the chest, stomach, legs, face, head, everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The report reveals how Myanmar state security forces and civilian perpetrators committed mass killings in dozens of villages in Maungdaw Township in the first wave of violence in 2016 and in villages throughout all three townships of northern Rakhine State since August 25, 2017. Myanmar Army soldiers and civilian perpetrators slit throats; burned victims alive, including infants and children; beat civilians to death; raped and gang raped women and children. State security forces opened fire on men, women, and children at close range and at a distance and from land and helicopters, killing untold numbers. Survivors from some villages described how perpetrators slashed women\u2019s breasts, hacked bodies to pieces, and beheaded victims, including children.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese crimes thrive on impunity and inaction,\u201d said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Fortify Rights. \u201cCondemnations aren\u2019t enough. Without urgent international action towards accountability, more mass killings are likely.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than half of Myanmar\u2019s one million Rohinyga have fled the country in the past nine weeks and over 700,000 Rohingya are now living as refugees in Bangladesh. Thousands are still arriving in Bangladesh weekly. Since 2012, the Government of Myanmar has confined more than 120,000 Rohingya to more than 35 internment camps throughout Rakhine State.<\/p>\n

The Myanmar Army-led assault on Rohingya civilians comes in response to attacks by the Rohingya militant group, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on three police outposts on October 9, 2016 that left nine dead and another attack on 30 police outposts and one army base on August 25, 2017 that left at least 12 dead. Members of ARSA are also responsible for human rights violations.<\/p>\n

The government of Myanmar has enforced strict restrictions on Rohingya freedom of movement, marriage, childbirth, and other aspects of daily life for decades. The authorities deny Rohingya Myanmar citizenship by law and deny their ethnic identity, claiming they are interlopers from Bangladesh and casting them as an existential threat to Buddhist culture. The government continues to deny the delivery of essential humanitarian aid, including food and nutrition, to affected areas of northern Rakhine State.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese crimes won\u2019t end on their own,\u201d said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Fortify Rights. \u201cPeople of conscience in Myanmar need to do everything possible to end the abuses and culture of impunity in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with recommendations for the Government of Myanmar, the report details options for the international community, such as: enacting targeted sanctions on the individuals responsible for crimes in Rakhine State, instituting an arms embargo on Myanmar, and referring the situation to the International Criminal Court, which was established to investigate, try, and prosecute those responsible for atrocity crimes when the State is unwilling or unable to do so.<\/p>\n

For more information, please contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Laura Green, Communications Manager, Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (in the U.S.),\u00a0+1.202.210.6890,\u00a0lgreen@ushmm.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Fortify Rights (in Bangladesh),\u00a0+66.85.028.0044,matthew.smith@fortifyrights.org<\/a>; Twitter\u00a0@matthewfsmith<\/a>,\u00a0@FortifyRights<\/a><\/p>\n

Andrea Gittleman, Program Manager, Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (in the U.S.),\u00a0+1.202.488.6562,\u00a0agittleman@ushmm.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Amy Smith, Executive Director, Fortify Rights (in the U.S.), +1.207.322.2939,Amy.Smith@FortifyRights.org<\/a>; Twitter\u00a0@AmyAlexSmith<\/a>,\u00a0@FortifyRights<\/a><\/p>\n

Kate Vigneswaran, Legal Director, Fortify Rights (in Thailand), +66.94.940.8057,kate.vigneswaran@fortifyrights.org<\/a>; Twitter\u00a0@KateVigneswaran<\/a>,\u00a0@FortifyRights<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n
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International cooperation needed to halt killing and seek justice (WASHINGTON D.C. and COX\u2019S BAZAR, November 15, 2017)\u2014There is \u201cmounting evidence\u201d of genocide against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, according to a new report published today by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Fortify Rights. The government of Myanmar has a responsibility to halt atrocities being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,4,37,49,17,12,9,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1784,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1781\/revisions\/1784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}