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TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE FOR THE PERSECUTION OF THE ROHINGYA
Elliot Higgins — He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Anthropology from the University of Iowa in 2012
The Rohingyas are widely considered to be the most persecuted people in the world. Though they have lived in what is nowsouthwestern Myanmar for hundreds of years, the Burmese government denied the Rohingyas citizenship at the country’s independence from Britain.3 This statelessness, and the bigotry underlying it, has led to waves of violence, forced labor, rape, and murder. In August 2017, the persecution reached a fevered pitch. After a Rohingya separatist group—the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (“ARSA”)—killed twelve members of Myanmar’s security forces, the military retaliated with disproportionate brutality—razing villages, raping women, and murdering thousands of innocent people. During this campaign, more than 725,000 of the 1.2 million Burmese Rohingyas fled across the border into Bangladesh. At least 6,700 Rohingyas, including at least 730 children under the age of five, were killed in the month after the violence broke out. The exact scale of the violence remains unknown because Myanmar has limited access to the affected areas.
The international community has condemned the Burmese military’s brutal campaign against the Rohingyas. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called it an “ethnic cleansing.” Similarly, a top United Nations official said the action bears “the hallmarks of a genocide.” But where the international community sees the Rohingyas as victims of abject persecution, the Burmese political authorities portray them as dangerous foreigners influenced by Islamist extremism who are intent on overtaking the homeland. These competing narratives will make resolution of the conflict exceedingly difficult. It proceeds in five parts. Part I provides an overview of the political history of Myanmar. The first Section of this Part presents a general history of the nation-state, focusing on its periods of colonization, military junta control, and post-2008 transition to democracy. The second Section of this Part describes the Rohingya people, their history of persecution, and how their current condition became so precarious.
The first Section of this Part focuses on the two domestic authorities of Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian-led government and the military. It analyzes what interest each authority may have in transitional justice and surveys the available options that each may be disposed to employ. The second Section considers transitional justice options that may be undertaken by international actors, such as the International Criminal Court (“ICC”), the United Nations (“UN”), and third-party states. Finally, the third Section of this Part considers whether Myanmar’s neighboring countries may intervene in the crisis. Part IV concludes by summarizing this Essay’s findings and calling for justice for the Rohingyas.
