State Department Avoids Calling Rohingya Crisis ‘Genocide’ in Report

The State Department quietly released a report Monday blaming Myanmar’s military for atrocities against the Muslim Rohingya minority but avoided using terms with legal ramifications like “genocide” or “crimes against humanity.” Politico reports that while Reuters exclusively obtained the report ahead of its release, there was no “public rollout” or department news release to accompany it. The report, based on more than 1,000 interviews with Rohingya survivors, called the military’s attacks “well-planned and coordinated” and “seemingly geared toward both terrorizing the population and driving out the Rohingya residents.” The report also details how witnesses saw “soldiers throwing infants and small children into open fires or burning huts,” along with others being murdered and raped. Thousands of Rohingya were killed and 700,000 fled to neighboring Bangladesh as refugees. In contrast to the U.S. report, a United Nations panel declared that the country’s military leaders should be tried for “crimes against humanity and genocide.”