NPR

'There Must Be Justice': U.S. Sanctions Myanmar Soldiers For Rohingya Killings

The sanctions target four mid-level commanders and two units — but they failed to satisfy senators and activists alike, who say the U.S. has a ways to go to hold Myanmar accountable for its crimes.
A member of the Myanmar security forces stands guard near a military transport helicopter in Rakhine state last September, about a month into the bloody crackdown on the country's Rohingya Muslim population.

Nearly a year since Myanmar began its bloody crackdown on the Rohingya, driving more than 700,00 members of the Muslim minority group to flee, the U.S. is sanctioning several high-level commanders and units in the country's armed forces.

The Treasury Department announced the penalties Friday, saying they're part of a "strategy to hold accountable those responsible for such wide scale human suffering."

"Burmese security forces have engaged in violent campaigns against ethnic minority communities across Burma, including ethnic cleansing,, , extrajudicial killings, and other serious ," the Treasury's Under Secretary said in a statement that also referred to the country by its former name.

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