US bans four top Myanmar military officials
THE US on Tuesday banned v isit s by Mya n mar’s a r my ch ief a nd t h ree ot her top officers due to their role in the “et h n ic c le a n si ng ” of t he Rohi ng ya minor it y, u rg i ng accountability for their brutal campaign.
The State Department said it took action against army chief Min Aung Hlaing and the others after finding credible evidence they were involved in the violence two years ago that led to around 740,000 Rohingya fleeing into Bangladesh.
“With this announcement, the US is the first government to publicly take action with respect to the most senior leadership of the Burmese military,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
“We remain concerned that the Burmese government has t a ken no ac t ion s to hold accountable those responsible for human r ig hts v iolations and abuses, and t here are continued reports of the Bur mese mil ita r y committing human rights v iolations a n d a b u s e s t h r o u g h o u t t he cou nt r y,” he sa id i n a statement.
The sa nct ions a re t he most v isible sign of US disappointment w it h Mya n ma r, f ormerly known as Burma, since it lau nched polit ica l refor ms i n 2011, w it h t he mi l it a r y j u n t a r e c o n c i l i n g w i t h Washing ton a nd eventua l ly a l low i ng a n elected polit ica l leadership.
Also sanctioned were Deputy Commander-in-Chief Soe Win, Brigadier General Than Oo and Brigadier General Aung Aung, as well as the families of all four officers.
Budd hist-major it y Myanma r r ef u s e s to g r a nt t he most l y Musl i m Roh i ng y a cit i z ensh ip or ba sic r ig ht s and refers to them as “Bengal i s ”, i n f e r r i n g t h a t t h e Rohing ya a re i l lega l i mmigrants from Bangladesh.
UN investigators say the violence warrants the prosecution of top generals for “genocide” and the International Criminal Court has started a preliminary probe.
Pompeo, issuing a statement during a major meeting at the State Department on religious freedom, repeated the 2017 finding of his predecessor Rex Tillerson that the killings amounted to “ethnic cleansing” – while stopping short of using the term genocide.
The sanctions notably do not impact Aung San Suu Kyi, the former political prisoner who has risen to be the top civilian official.
The Nobel laureate has dismayed her one-time legions of Wester n admirers by not
s peaki ng abuses.
US of f ic ia l s voiced hope that the sanctions would help the civ ilian leaders exert control over the army, which the State Depa r t ment sa id was alone responsible for the antiRohing ya campaign.
“Our hope i s t hat t hese act ions wi l l st reng t hen t he hand of t he civ ilian government [a nd] wil l help to f urt her delegitimise t he current milita r y leadership,” an of f ic i a l s a id on c ond it ion of anonymity.
Erin Murphy, a former State Depart ment of f icia l closely involved in the thaw in US ties with Myanmar, said the ban would affect not so much the genera l s d i rec t ly but t hei r ch i ld ren or g r a ndch i ld ren who want to come to the US as tourists or students. o ut a bout
‘Universally despised’
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While saying the travel ban provided a tool to encourage change, she doubted it would change attitudes toward the Rohingya, who are“almost a universally despised population.”
“You’re talking about changing deeply held xenophobic a nd racist at t it udes a nd a travel ban alone isn’t going to cha nge t hat,” sa id Murphy, founder and principal of the Inle Adv isor y Group, which specialises in Myanmar.
“You need a lot more tools – both punitive and positive rei nforcement – to sta r t to tack le what is a ver y complex and dif f icult issue,” she said.
The US last yea r imposed sa nc t ions on more ju n ior Myanmar secu r it y of f icia ls a lt houg h t he i mpact wa s more s weepi ng, w it h economic restrictions.
A State Department study released last yea r descr ibed t he v i ol e nc e a g a i n s t t he Rohing ya as “extreme, la rgesca le, widespread a nd seemi ng l y ge a re d t owa rd bot h ter ror i z i ng t he popu lat ion and driv ing out the Rohing ya resident s,” i nclud i ng w idespread rape a nd burning of v i l lages.
Doctors Wit hout Borders has est i mated t hat at lea st 6,700 Rohingya Muslims were killed in the first month of the crackdow n.
Myanmar’s army has denied virtually any wrongdoing and s a id it was respond i ng to Rohing ya insurgents.
Pompeo voiced part icu la r outrage that Myanmar in May ordered t he release of seven soldiers conv icted of k i l ling Rohing ya v i l lagers, ser v i ng less t i me t ha n t wo Reuters jou r na l i st s ja i le d for more than 500 days after exposing t he deaths.