ABSTRACT
The Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, have been persecuted since the 1970s, often by Myanmar state actors. However, widespread discussion of whether this persecution amounted to genocide, as defined by the United Nations’ 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, did not begin until after waves of mass violence in 2012 and 2017. Debate has centered on the Convention’s requirement that genocidal acts be committed with the intent to destroy the protected group. Law on the intent requirement has been primarily developed by courts determining individual criminal liability, such as the International Criminal Court and the international tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. However, initial assessments are typically made by human rights non-profits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which often face uncertainty about their authority and the standard of proof applicable to their analysis. This chapter will discuss the evolving understandings of whether genocide was occurring in Myanmar, focusing on non-judicial entities’ analysis of the intent requirement and the frequent focus on mass killings as evidence of intent.
