Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar are seen at a refugee facility in Shahparirdwip, Bangladesh. | Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP Photo Foreign Policy U.S. steers clear of ‘genocide’ label in quietly releasing report on Rohingya

The State Department on Monday quietly released the results of its investigation into Myanmar’s military campaign against Rohingya Muslims, detailing a slew of atrocities but stopping short of calling the crackdown either a “genocide” or “crimes against humanity” — two designations that carry legal ramifications.

The department posted its report online, but it did not issue a news release or hold a public rollout of any kind to unveil its findings, although Reuters obtained an exclusive story ahead of time.


It was a strikingly low-key release for a report that lawmakers and activists have been anticipating for months and that had spurred intense debate among various factions in the State Department, and it raised questions about why the Trump administration would downplay its findings.

A United Nations panel has already declared that Myanmar’s military leaders should be tried for crimes against humanity and genocide over their brutality against Rohingya Muslims, a long-persecuted minority in the Buddhist-dominated country, which is also known as Burma.

The persecution hit a peak during late summer of 2017, when Myanmar security forces — insisting they were responding to a Rohingya insurgent attack — killed thousands of Rohingya and forced some 700,000 more to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

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The State Department investigation, whose findings were first reported by POLITICO in mid-August, declared that the Myanmar military’s operations were “well-planned and coordinated,” suggesting the insurgent strike was little more than an excuse.

The report, which was based on interviews with more than 1,000 Rohingya survivors, found that the recent violence was “extreme, large-scale, widespread, and seemingly geared toward both terrorizing the population and driving out the Rohingya residents.” Rohingya were often shot, hacked or burned to death, while many of the women were raped.

“Multiple witnesses report soldiers throwing infants and small children into open fires or burning huts,” the report states. “Witnesses also report seeing soldiers throw children into rivers and seeing children’s bodies that had been thrown into a village well. One refugee reported seeing a police officer throw an infant in a river, then shooting the mother when she ran into the water to save her child.”

Human rights activists on Monday were stunned at the Trump administration’s unwillingness to take a stand on whether what had happened was “genocide” or “crimes against humanity.” Both terms carry weight in international law, with “genocide” having the higher legal bar to meet.

According to administration officials, the report’s release was delayed in part because of intense wrangling among various State Department factions advising Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on what the conclusion should be. The legal team and the East Asia bureau of the department were most resistant to labeling the atrocities genocide.

Last fall, the secretary of state at the time, Rex Tillerson, declared that Myanmar had carried out “ethnic cleansing” against the Rohingya. But that term has relatively little meaning in international law.

“It’s clear these facts, which have been ably documented by the U.N. and many independent organizations, speak for themselves,” said Sarah Margon, Washington director for Human Rights Watch. “What’s missing now is a clear indication of whether the U.S. government intends to pursue meaningful accountability and help ensure justice for so many victims.”

Pressed on the subject, a State Department spokesman said: “The U.S. government has previously characterized the events described in the report as ‘ethnic cleansing.’ We believe the findings of this report fully support that conclusion.”

The spokesman added: “U.S. efforts have been and remain focused on addressing the underlying conduct, encouraging steps that will improve the situation for all people in Burma and those displaced from Burma, and promoting accountability for those responsible for these crimes.”

In theory, declaring a genocide could place an obligation on the U.S. to somehow intervene to protect the afflicted population. But government lawyers have found ways to interpret that obligation in different ways. In any case, the large-scale violence against the Rohingya ended last year, though Rohingya still in Myanmar continue to face various perils.

The Trump administration has not hesitated to use the term genocide before.

After taking office, Tillerson and Vice President Mike Pence publicly declared that the Trump team agreed with the Obama administration’s determination that the Islamic State had committed genocide against Christians, Yazidis and others in Iraq and Syria.

That statement cheered many Christian evangelicals who are key to President Donald Trump’s political base in the Republican Party.

State Department officials did not answer questions late Monday about why the situation involving Rohingya Muslims did not merit the same consideration.

The report’s release comes days after Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, delivered a speech in which he declared that the United States would in no way cooperate with the International Criminal Court. The court has made some recent moves aimed at holding Myanmar accountable for how it treats the Rohingya.

Asked whether Bolton influenced the report’s lack of a stand on the question of genocide or crimes against humanity, a State Department spokesman said, “The secretary’s report is unrelated to Ambassador Bolton’s speech.”

