Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability Act of 2019

Short title— This Act may be cited as the “Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability Act of 2019” or the “BURMA Act of 2019”.

Table of contents— The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Appropriate congressional committees— The term appropriate congressional committees means—

Crimes against humanity— The term crimes against humanity includes, when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack—

Genocide— The term genocide means any offense described in section 1091(a) of title 18, United States Code.

Transitional justice— The term transitional justice means the range of judicial, nonjudicial, formal, informal, retributive, and restorative measures employed by countries transitioning out of armed conflict or repressive regimes to redress legacies of atrocities and to promote long-term, sustainable peace.

War crime— The term war crime has the meaning given the term in section 2441(c) of title 18, United States Code.

On August 25, 2017, Burmese military and security forces violently and disproportionately responded to an attack on security outposts, resulting in a mass exodus of Rohingya from the Rakhine State of Burma into Bangladesh, which the International Organization of Migration called “unprecedented in terms of volume and speed”.

Between August 2017 and March 2019, in response to the violence perpetrated by the Burmese military and security forces, the United Nations estimates more than 740,000 Rohingya, approximately 75 percent of whom are women and children, have fled to Bangladesh, fearing loss of life, livelihoods, and shelter. Rohingya have continued to flee Burma in significant numbers, including in 2019. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 1,400 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh since January 1, 2019.

Even after the Burmese military scaled back attacks against Rohingya in late 2017, security forces continued to impose restrictions on the basic freedoms of Rohingya in Rakhine State, including on freedom of movement. In November 2017, Amnesty International determined that Rohingya remaining in Rakhine are “trapped in a vicious system of state-sponsored, institutionalized discrimination that amounts to apartheid”.

Despite the steps taken toward democracy in Burma, there exists limited control by the civilian government over civilian agencies as well as military and security forces that carried out the violence in Rakhine State. The military and security forces continue to engage in grave human rights abuses against ethnic minorities throughout in the country.

Both government- and military-initiated investigations into human rights abuses in Burma involving violence between ethnic minorities and Burmese security forces have failed to yield credible results or hold perpetrators accountable.

In a public address on October 12, 2017, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi laid out the following goals for the State of Rakhine:

Due to restrictions enforced by the Rakhine State government and the national military and security forces, there has been little progress made since that time and limited ability for the international community to support, verify, or evaluate the Government of Burma’s efforts. There are also credible reports of Burmese military and security forces bulldozing numerous villages where violence occurred, thus destroying physical evidence, and in some cases, constructing new military installations on top of the bulldozed villages.

On November 22, 2017, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated that “After a careful and thorough analysis of available facts, it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya. Those responsible for these atrocities must be held accountable”. He also said the violence “has a number of characteristics of certainly crimes against humanity”. Despite repeated requests from Members of Congress, as well as the result of its own investigation (the executive summary of which was released on September 17, 2018), the Department has declined to make a determination if the atrocities in Rakhine State constitute genocide or crimes against humanity.

On December 12, 2017, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters reporters covering the crisis in Rakhine State, were entrapped, arrested, and charged with violating the Official Secrets Act, continuing a trend of restricting media and free speech and attempting to thwart coverage of the events in Rakhine State.

Another barrier to the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of the Rohingya to Rakhine State is the refusal of the Government of Burma to reinstate the full citizenship of the Rohingya, as well as the Government’s unwillingness to consider the repeal of or amendments to the Citizenship Act of 1982 that stripped the Rohingya of their full citizenship.

During 2018, the ongoing conflict in Burma escalated in Kachin and Shan States, reignited in Karen (Kayin) State, and spread into Chin and Rakhine States. Along with the increase in fighting between Burma’s security forces and several ethnic armed organizations, there was a rise in allegations of human rights abuses perpetrated by Burmese security forces in these conflict areas.

In April 2018, thousands of civilians fled fighting between the military and ethnic armed groups in Kachin State, prompting peaceful demonstrations. In December 2018, three prominent activist in Kachin State, Lum Zawng, Nang Pu and Zau Jet were convicted and sentenced to 6 months imprisonment for defaming the military.

On June 6, 2018, the United Nations Refugee Agency and the United Nations Development Programme signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding with Burma. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and various international human rights and international relief agencies agreed that conditions in Rakhine State are not sufficient for the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of the Rohingya.

The United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, the Department of State, and more than a dozen human rights organizations have reported and documented a campaign of violence perpetrated by the security forces of Burma, which indiscriminately fired on and killed civilians, raped women and girls, and arrested Rohingya men without any cause or charges. Satellite images obtained by Amnesty International reveal that, out of the approximately 470 villages in northern Rakhine State, nearly 300 were partially or completely destroyed by fire since August 25, 2017, most of which were completely or partially populated by Rohingya Muslims.

In its report of September 17, 2018, the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar determined that there was sufficient evidence of “genocidal intent” in the attacks against the Rohingya in Rakhine State, and probable “crimes against humanity” and “war crimes” in Burmese security forces assaults on ethnic minorities in Kachin and Shan States. The Mission recommended that the United Nations Security Council “should ensure accountability for crimes under international law committed in Myanmar, preferably by referring the situation to the International Criminal Court or alternatively by creating an ad hoc international criminal tribunal”. The Mission also recommended the imposition of targeted economic sanctions, including an arms embargo on Burma.

On September 3, 2018, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison and released as an act of Presidential amnesty on May 6, 2019, after over 500 days in jail. Time Magazine included pictures the two reporters on the cover of its “Person of the Year” issue on December 10, 2018, as two of the “Guardians and the War on Truth”.

According to the free-speech organization Athan, 44 journalists and 142 activists have faced trial since 2016 charged with colonial-era laws used to stifle dissent, while tightening restrictions on activist groups.

On September 28, 2018, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution that calls for an independent mechanism to collect and analyze evidence in regard to the serious international crimes committed in Burma against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities since 2011. The resolution requests that the independent mechanism “prepare files in order to facilitate and expedite fair and independent criminal proceedings, in accordance with international law standards, in national, regional or international courts or tribunals that have or may in the future have jurisdiction over these crimes”.

On November 15, 2018, the Government of Bangladesh and the Government of Burma abandoned plans to return more than 2,000 Rohingya to Rakhine State after it was determined that none were willing to voluntarily return given the current conditions in Rakhine State, as well as the Government of Burma’s failure to ensure the returnees’ safety, dignity, or sustainability of their livelihoods.

A December 2018 report by the Public Law Interest & Policy group noted that “the destruction of their villages, crops, and virtually all infrastructure clearly points to a strategy of ensuring the Rohingya’s permanent removal. The mass killings and accompanying brutality, including against children, women, pregnant women, the elderly, and those crossing the border to Bangladesh further suggest, however, that, at least in the minds of some perpetrators, the goal was not only to expel, but also to exterminate the Rohingya * * *” and that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes have been committed against the Rohingya in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State”.

Despite substantial evidence of widespread and systematic atrocities committed by Burmese security forces in Rakhine State, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing continue to maintain that no such widespread and systematic atrocities occurred.

On December 13, 2018, the United States House of Representatives passed House Resolution 1091 (115th Congress) which expressed the sense of the House that “the atrocities committed against the Rohingya by the Burmese military and security forces since August 2017 constitute crimes against humanity and genocide” and called upon the Secretary of State to review the available evidence and make a similar determination.

On December 19, 2018, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator requested $202,000,000 for the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for Burma.

The 2019 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis asks the international community to provide $20,500,000 in assistance to meet needs in Bangladesh.

On May 14, 2019, the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar urged all countries to cut off economic ties to Burma’s military-owned businesses, stating “* * * due to the gravity of past and continuing violations, attention must be given to the political, economic and financial ties of the Myanmar military * * * so we can cut off the money supply as a means of increasing pressure and reducing the violence.”.