US Targets Myanmar Military Leaders Over Rohingya Killings

 

The United States has announced restrictions¹ on Myanmar’s military Commander-in-Chief and other military leaders over the killings³ of Rohingya Muslims in 2017.

The sanctions are the strongest measures the U.S. has taken to answer the killings of minority Rohingyas in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

The sanctions target military Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, his deputy, Soe Win and two other top military leaders and their families. They were identified as commanders Than Oo and Aung Aung.

The officials are barred from entering the United States.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed the restrictions Tuesday in a statement. He said Myanmar had “taken no actions to hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations⁴ and abuses, and there are continued reports of the Burmese military committing human rights violations and abuses throughout the country."

New information has been reported that Min Aung Hlaing ordered the release of soldiers found guilty of carrying out killings outside of the justice system. The killings took place at the village of Inn Din⁵ during the ethnic⁶ cleansing⁷ of the Rohingya in 2017.

Pompeo said the information was an "egregious⁸ example of the continued and severe lack of accountability for the military and its senior leadership."

The U.S. Secretary of State said, “The Commander-in-Chief released these criminals after only months in prison, while the journalists who told the world about the killings in Inn Din were jailed for more than 500 days."

The Inn Din killings were uncovered by two Reuters reporters, Wa Lone⁹ and Kyaw Soe Oo. The men spent more than 16 months in prison on charges of possessing state secrets. The two were released on May 6.

The U.S. announcement came on the first day of an international conference of government ministers on religious freedom. The event at the U.S. State Department in Washington also was attended by Rohingya representatives.

Pompeo said that the U.S. “is the first government to publicly take action with respect to the most senior leadership of the Burmese military.”

He said the individuals were chosen because of their “involvement in gross violations of human rights.”

A 2017 military attack in Myanmar led to more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh. U.N. investigators¹¹ have said that Myanmar's operation included mass killings, rapes¹² and destruction of property. They said that the actions were carried out with "genocidal intent."

A United Nations investigator¹⁰ said this month that fighters and security forces of Myanmar were committing human rights violations against civilians¹³ that may be considered additional war crimes.

Myanmar denounces the sanctions

A spokesman for the Myanmar military, Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, told Reuters by phone that the military had not ignored the accusations¹⁴. He said one army-led investigation¹⁵ in 2017 cleared security forces of all wrongdoing. Another is continuing.

“Right now we have an investigative committee ... to conduct a detailed¹⁶ investigation,” he said. “They should value these facts.”

He said the soldiers had been lawfully¹⁷ released.

A spokesman for the ruling National League for Democracy Party, criticized the decision to place sanctions on the country.

“This kind of action happened because they don’t understand the real situation of Myanmar,” he said, adding, Myanmar’s leaders had not ignored human rights concerns.

I’m Anne Ball.

Words in This Story

sanction – n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country, — usually plural¹⁸

accountable – adj. required to explain actions or decisions to someone — usually + to

commit – v. to do (something that is illegal or harmful)

ethnic cleansing – n. the practice of removing or killing² people who belong to an ethnic group that is different from the ruling group in a country or region

egregious – adj. very bad and easily noticed

journalist – n. a person whose job is to collect, write and edit news stories for newspapers, magazines, television or radio

gross – adj. very large and offensive

intent – n. the thing that you plan to do or achieve : an aim or purpose

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

4 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

5 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

8 egregious   

adj.非常的，过分的

参考例句：

• When it comes to blatant lies,there are none more egregious than budget figures.谈到公众谎言，没有比预算数字更令人震惊的。
• What an egregious example was here!现摆着一个多么触目惊心的例子啊。

9 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

10 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

11 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

13 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

14 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

15 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

16 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

17 lawfully   

adv.守法地，合法地；合理地

参考例句：

• Lawfully established contracts shall be protected by law. 依法成立的合同应受法律保护。 来自口语例句
• As my lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, till death parts us. 当成是我的合法丈夫，无论疾病灾难，直到死亡把我们分开。 来自电影对白

18 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。