Official: US would consider individual sanctions for Myanmar

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that the U.S. is deeply concerned by "credible reports" of atrocities committed by Myanmar's security forces and called for an independent investigation into a humanitarian crisis in which hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh.

Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, shakes hands with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after their press conference at the Foreign Ministry office in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi, right, shakes hands with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after their press conference at the Foreign Ministry office in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

Speaking at a joint news conference with leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar's capital, Tillerson said the U.S. would consider individual sanctions against people found responsible for the violence, but he would not advise "broad-based economic sanctions" against the entire country.

"All of that has to be evidence-based," Tillerson said. "If we have credible information that we believe to be very reliable that certain individuals were responsible for certain acts that we find unacceptable, then targeted sanctions on individuals very well may be appropriate," he said.

Rohingya Muslim children, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, wait squashed against each other to receive food handouts distributed to children and women by a Turkish aid agency at the Thaingkhali refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

Tillerson's one-day visit comes as a new report said there is "mounting evidence" of genocide against the Rohingya in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where a government security operation has caused nearly 620,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.

Tillerson also met with Myanmar's powerful military chief, Min Aung Hlaing, who is in charge of operations in Rakhine.

Rohingya Muslim children, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, wait squashed against each other to receive food handouts distributed to children and women.(AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

A senior U.S. State Department official said Tuesday that Tillerson would use the visit to "express concerns over the displacement and violence and insecurity affecting Rohingya populations and other local populations and discuss ways to help Burma stakeholders implement commitments aimed at ending the crisis and charting productive ways forward."

Myanmar was formerly known as Burma.

Though Suu Kyi has been the de facto head of Myanmar's civilian government since her party swept elections in 2015, she is limited in her control of the country by a constitution written under the military junta that ruled Myanmar for decades. The military is in charge of the operations in northern Rakhine, and ending them is not up to Suu Kyi.

Still, Suu Kyi has faced widespread criticism for not speaking out in defense of the Rohingya. At Wednesday's news conference Suu Kyi denied she had been silent on the issue, saying she had personally commented on the situation as well as issued statements through her office.

A Rohingya Muslim girl cries as she waits squashed against other children to receive food handouts distributed to children and women by a Turkish aid agency at Thaingkhali refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

"I haven't been silent," she said. "What people mean is what I say is not interesting enough. But what I say is not meant to be exciting. It's meant to be accurate. And it's aimed at creating more harmony and a better future for everybody. Not setting people against each other."

But U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said he was "hugely disappointed" in Suu Kyi, noting that he appealed to her after a smaller scale flight of Rohingya last October "to use all her emotional standing and moral standing inside the country to confront the military and put an end to this."

"Evidently, she was unable to do that and now she speaks in compassionate terms," he said in response to a question after a lecture at Columbia University on Tuesday.

But Zeid said he fears the Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh since Aug. 25 won't be able to return "because the operations were so systematic, so organized, so well-planned, that . there was intent involved."

Rohingya Muslim children, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, wait in queues to receive food handouts distributed to children and women by a Turkish aid agency at the Thaingkhali refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017.  (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

"I believe it rises to the threshold of very serious violations . international crimes," he said.

U.S. congressional pressure is mounting on the Trump administration to take punitive steps against Myanmar. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution Wednesday condemning "murderous ethnic cleansing and atrocities against civilians." It called on President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on those responsible for human rights abuses, including members of Myanmar's military and security services.

Rohingya Muslim children, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, run to break the queue, as they wait to receive food handouts distributed to children and women by a Turkish aid agency at Thaingkhali refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

The report by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the advocacy group Fortify Rights found there is "mounting evidence" of genocide against the Rohinyga. It accused security forces and civilians of mass killings — including burning victims alive including infants — rape and other abuses, and called on the international community to take action.

"These crimes thrive on impunity and inaction," said Matthew Smith, the head of Fortify Rights. "Condemnations aren't enough. Without urgent international action towards accountability, more mass killings are likely."

Myanmar's military has denied the accusations, most recently with a statement Monday. The military said it had interviewed thousands of people during a monthlong investigation into the conduct of troops in Rakhine after Rohingya insurgents launched a series of deadly attacks there on Aug. 25.

A Rohingya Muslim child, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, gets a haircut at Thaingkhali refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017.  (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

While the report acknowledged that battles against militants from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army had left 376 "terrorists" dead, it also claimed security forces had "never shot at the innocent Bengalis" and "there was no death of innocent people."

Myanmar's government and most of the Buddhist majority say the members of the Muslim minority are "Bengalis" who migrated illegally from Bangladesh, and do not acknowledge the Rohingya as a local ethnic group even though they have lived in Myanmar for generations.

A Rohingya Muslim woman rocks a cradle with her one-month-old son Mahafuzur Rahman at Thaingkhali refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

Zeid, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said he was also "very unhappy" that the communique from the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Philippines didn't even use the word Rohingya.

"How much more do they need to suffer before they are recognized by some of these leaders?", he asked.

A Rohingya Muslim, who crossed over from Myanmar into Bangladesh, carries commodities and walks at Thaingkhali refugee camp in Ukhiya, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/A.M. Ahad)

"If we allow this to happen at zero cost ... how many other countries with minorities would be only too willing, if they want to remove a so-called "problem" from their society, to follow suit in similar ways?", Zeid asked.

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military has begun basic training at military bases and schools across the country for draftees called up under the country’s recently activated conscription law, state-run media reported on Tuesday.

The authorities activated the conscription law in February in a bid to to replenish the ranks that have been depleted in nationwide battles against ethnic minority armed groups and armed pro-democracy resistance forces opposed to military rule. The struggle began when the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

Over the past five months, the army has lost territory in northern Shan state and in Rakhine state in the west, and is under growing attack elsewhere. It appeared this week that it may also lose the important trading town of Myawaddy, in Kayin state on the border with Thailand.

Opening ceremonies for training were held in various regional commands and military schools in Mon and Shan states and Tanintharyi, Magway and Mandalay regions, as well as in the capital, Naypyitaw, the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper reported Tuesday.

It said the first batch of trainees were those who voluntarily reported to the army after the military government sent letters summoning them.

The conscription law’s activation has created fear, anxiety and defiance among young people and their parents. Some are leaving the country, while others are fleeing into border areas controlled by ethnic minorities or joining resistance groups.

Independent Myanmar media reported Tuesday that a few young people staged brief protests against conscription at three locations in Yangon, the country’s largest city. The protests on Monday were carried out as flash mobs to evade attacks or arrests by the authorities.

Under the law, men aged 18 to 35 and women 18 to 27 can be drafted into the armed forces for two years. The military has said about 14 million men and women of the total 56 million population of the country are eligible for military service and it will draft 5,000 people at a time and up to 60,000 people a year. Evading conscription is punishable by three to five years in prison and a fine.

Myanmar’s military is also reportedly tapping an unlikely source to fill its depleted ranks, turning to members of the the Muslim Rohingya minority, who seven years ago were the targets of a brutal counterinsurgency campaign incorporating rape and murder that saw an estimated 740,000 flee to neighboring Bangladesh as their villages were burned down.

Analysts say the move is meant not only to counter the army’s attrition though deaths, desertions and defections, but also constitutes a divide and conquers strategy meant to reignite tensions between ethnic groups in Rakhine.

Rohingya have lived especially in Rakhine for generations, but they are not officially recognized as an indigenous ethnic minority, instead being called Bengalis and described as illegal immigrants. They have been denied citizenship and other basic rights including freedom of movement, and are the targets of widespread social discrimination. The U.N. has estimated that 600,000 Rohingya are still living in Myanmar.

The main anti-military resistance force in Rakhine state is the Arakan Army, which is part of the movement seeking greater autonomy for the Rakhine ethnic group that dominates the area. Rakhine nationalists were among the leading persecutors of the Rohingya minority, but now the Arakan Army and the Rohingya have a common enemy in the military government to took power in 2021, making them uneasy allies.

Aung Kyaw Moe, a Rohingya who is deputy minister for human rights in the shadow National Unity Government, said last month that the military is creating a conflict between the Rohingya and Rakhine ethnic groups in hopes of regaining the military advantage in Rakhine.

“The military council is losing the battles nationwide. Especially in Rakhine, military camps are being abandoned almost every day, and the towns controlled by the military council are falling. In Rakhine, the military council is in need of a lot of human resources due to the depletion of the army. It seems that they have calculated that only by creating a conflict between Rakhine and Rohingya can the current situation be changed,” Aung Kyaw Moe said.

In this undated photo released on April 8, 2024 by The Military True News Information Team, trainees of first batch of military service attend an opening ceremony for their training session at a military compound in Mandalay, Myanmar. Myanmar’s military has begun basic training at military bases and schools across the country for draftees called up under the country’s recently activated conscription law, state-run media reported on Tuesday, April 9.(The Military True News Information Team via AP)

In this undated photo released on April 8, 2024, by The Military True News Information Team, trainees of first batch of military service have meals as an opening ceremony for their training session was held at a military compound in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar’s military has begun basic training at military bases and schools across the country for draftees called up under the country’s recently activated conscription law, state-run media reported on Tuesday, April 9.(The Military True News Information Team via AP)

Members of the Karen National Liberation Army and People’s Defense Force collect weapons after they captured an army outpost, in the southern part of Myawaddy township in Kayin state, Myanmar, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/METRO)

Members of the Karen National Liberation Army and People’s Defense Force collect weapons after they captured an army outpost, in the southern part of Myawaddy township in Kayin state, Myanmar, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/METRO)

Myanmar military begins basic training for draftees as resistance forces keep the pressure on

Members of the Karen National Liberation Army and People’s Defense Force examine two arrested soldiers after they captured an army outpost, in the southern part of Myawaddy township in Kayin state, Myanmar, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/METRO)

Myanmar military begins basic training for draftees as resistance forces keep the pressure on