WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2018) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo should release a US government report detailing Myanmar's mistreatment of the Rohingya people during the United Nations General Assembly, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez said in a letter on Friday.
"As you prepare your agenda next week for the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), we strongly urge you to publicly release the State Department's report on the atrocities committed against the Rohingya since August 2017," the letter said. "Releasing the report will demonstrate our strong commitment for accountability for the actions of the Burmese military in what appears to have been a well-orchestrated, brutal, and sustained campaign to cleanse Myanmar of a religious and ethnic minority, the Rohingya."
Menendez said publicly releasing the report would send a message to Burmese authorities and the international community that the United States will pursue accountability for the crimes.
A press release from Menendez's office said the senator would like Pompeo to "refer the findings of the report for appropriate legal determination and action."
The release added that last week the UN Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar released a full report on human rights abuses in Myanmar that said the actions taken against the Rohingya constituted crimes against humanity.
Myanmar's Rakhine state has witnessed mass killings and atrocities against the Rohingya since August 2017. According to UN Human Rights Council, "gross human rights violations" happened in the region while State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi failed to use her position as de facto head of government to stem or prevent the violence against civilian populations.
