Washington announces new sanctions against the Burmese army accused of genocide
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday March 21 when the United States accused the Burmese army of genocide © Kevin Lamarque/AP
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The US administration announced on Friday that it had taken new sanctions against Burma, a few days after having officially accused the junta of genocide against the Rohingya minority.
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In a statement, the Treasury Department "
designated five individuals and five entities linked to the Burmese military regime
".
These sanctions are part of a series of sanctions already taken against Burmese leaders and military or security officials.
Among the entities targeted by the new US sanctions is the 66th Light Infantry Division (66 LID), a military unit based in the canton of Pyay in southern Burma.
The Treasury considers her "
responsible or complicit in having directly or indirectly used torture in Burma
".
Members of this division are accused
of “perpetrating the 2021 Christmas Eve Massacre, in which civilians from Pyay and Hpruso townships in Kayah State were captured, tortured and killed,
” the Treasury said. including women, children and aid workers.
Freeze of assets
Washington has also taken sanctions against leaders or officials of Burma's military or security forces, including "
Ko Ko Oo, commander of the central command and the head of the technology department of the Ministry of Defense, and Major General Zaw Huh, Nay Pyi Taw command manager
”.
The Treasury also targeted people accused of supplying weapons and equipment to the Burmese military regime, including Naing Htut Aung, an arms dealer who procured equipment from Chinese companies.
In concrete terms, the new US Treasury sanctions provide for the freezing of any assets in the United States and prevent any transaction with US nationals.
In coordination with the United States and Canada, the United Kingdom has taken similar sanctions, the British government announced in a separate statement.
London has sanctioned two individuals and three companies accused of supporting the Burmese military regime by supplying armaments as well as the head of the Burmese air force Htun Aung.
Before the coup, in 2016 and 2017, the Burmese army forced into exile more than 740,000 Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority who found refuge in Bangladesh.
On Monday March 21, the United States for the first time formally accused the military of
committing genocide
, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya.
Proceedings are also underway before the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations, to determine whether the Burmese government is guilty of such a crime.
Bloody repression
But since the military coup in February 2021, the country has been plunged into chaos with several rebellions against the junta.
And the repression of the Burmese junta has caused the death of 1,700 civilians in just over a year, 13,000 people have been arrested.
Citizen militias backed by rebel groups have taken up arms in several regions of the country.
Last week alone, the Burmese army set fire to dozens of houses in three villages in the Sagaing region in the north of the country.
Crimes, almost daily and far from the radar, are systematically listed by NGOs with a view to one day bringing those responsible to justice.
►Also read: Burma: the UN denounces "crimes against humanity" since the coup
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Burma
Rohingya
Defense
United States