Home Politics US slaps sanctions on Myanmar for ‘atrocities’

The United States on Friday slapped sanctions on four Myanmar security officials and two of the country’s military units for human rights abuses, including ethnic cleansing against the country’s minority Muslim Rohingya population.

The announcement from the Treasury Department comes as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo deliberates on whether to declare what happened to the Rohingya a genocide. It also follows months of administration debate over how much to punish Myanmar, also known as Burma, where the U.S. has tried to nurture democratic reforms.

The sanctions were levied under the Global Magnitsky Act, which gives U.S. officials broad authority to target people for human rights abuses. U.S. officials noted the case of the Rohingya, but they also pointed out that Myanmar’s military leaders have waged violence against other ethnic groups in the country as well, including those in Kachin and Shan states.

“Burmese security forces have engaged in violent campaigns against ethnic minority communities across Burma, including ethnic cleansing, massacres, sexual assault, extrajudicial killings, and other serious human rights abuses,” said Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.

“There must be justice for the victims and those who work to uncover these atrocities, with those responsible held to account for these abhorrent crimes,” she added.

The sanctions target Myanmar military commanders Aung Kyaw Zaw, Khin Maung Soe and Khin Hlaing, as well as Border Guard Police Commander Thura San Lwin. The military units sanctioned are the 33rd Light Infantry Division and the and the 99th Light Infantry Division.

Myanmar has a young civilian-led government. But the civilians, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, still have no control over the country’s military, which ruled Myanmar for decades.

Rohingya Muslims have long been persecuted in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Starting last August 25, a military operation left thousands dead and spurred some 700,000 to flee to Bangladesh.

In the months afterward, the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on one Myanmar military leader. Since then, there has been a struggle within the bureaucracy on what else can be done, with some in the Treasury department arguing that other military officials who could be sanctioned have few assets in the U.S. or elsewhere that would be affected.

Earlier this week, POLITICO reported that the State Department’s own investigation into the atrocities committed against the Rohingya had found “premeditation and coordination” on the part of the military. Pompeo is mulling whether to call what happened a genocide, or to stick to the ethnic cleansing label that the U.S. has already placed on the case.

The sanctions imposed Friday mean that any assets the individuals or entities have within American jurisdiction have been blocked. Americans also are generally prohibited from engaging in financial transactions with the people being punished.


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