BURMA Act of 2019

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3190 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 25, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations AN ACT To authorize humanitarian assistance and impose sanctions with respect to human rights abuses in Burma, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3190.RFS H3190 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 3190 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability 3 Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘BURMA Act of 2019’’. 4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 5 this Act is as follows: 6 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. Sec. 3. Findings. TITLE I—MATTERS RELATING TO THE CONFLICT IN BURMA Sec. 101. Statement of policy. Sec. 102. Sense of Congress with respect to humanitarian assistance, freedom of movement, and rights of returnees. Sec. 103. Sense of Congress on freedoms of press and association. Sec. 104. Imposition of sanctions for the violation of human rights. TITLE II—ASSISTANCE AND SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO BURMA Sec. 201. Authorization to provide humanitarian assistance. Sec. 202. Imposition of sanctions with respect to human rights abuses in Burma. TITLE III—GOVERNANCE OF THE BURMESE MINING AND GEMSTONE SECTORS Sec. 301. Sense of Congress on the mining sector of Burma. Sec. 302. Guidance relating to responsibility and transparency in the mining sector of Burma. TITLE IV—ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AND STRATEGY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH Sec. 401. Report on accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Burma. Sec. 402. Authorization to provide technical assistance for efforts against human rights abuses. Sec. 403. Strategy for promoting economic development in Burma. TITLE V—DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS Sec. 501. Determination of budgetary effects. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3190.RFS H3190 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 3190 RFS (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 1 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 2 mittees’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 4 Committee on Financial Services, and the Com- 5 mittee on Armed Services of the House of Rep- 6 resentatives; and 7 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 8 the Committee on Banking, and the Committee 9 on Armed Services of the Senate. 10 (2) CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.—The term 11 ‘‘crimes against humanity’’ includes, when com- 12 mitted as part of a widespread or systematic attack 13 directed against any civilian population, with knowl- 14 edge of the attack— 15 (A) murder; 16 (B) deportation or forcible transfer of pop- 17 ulation; 18 (C) torture; 19 (D) extermination; 20 (E) enslavement; 21 (F) rape, sexual slavery, or any other form 22 of sexual violence of comparable severity; 23 (G) persecution against any identifiable 24 group or collectivity on political, racial, na- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3190.RFS H3190 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 3190 RFS tional, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, or 1 other grounds that are universally recognized as 2 impermissible under international law; and 3 (H) enforced disappearance of persons. 4 (3) GENOCIDE.—The term ‘‘genocide’’ means 5 any offense described in section 1091(a) of title 18, 6 United States Code. 7 (4) TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE.—The term ‘‘tran- 8 sitional justice’’ means the range of judicial, non- 9 judicial, formal, informal, retributive, and restorative 10 measures employed by countries transitioning out of 11 armed conflict or repressive regimes to redress leg- 12 acies of atrocities and to promote long-term, sustain- 13 able peace. 14 (5) WAR CRIME.—The term ‘‘war crime’’ has 15 the meaning given the term in section 2441(c) of 16 title 18, United States Code. 17 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 18 Congress finds the following: 19 (1) On August 25, 2017, Burmese military and 20 security forces violently and disproportionately re- 21 sponded to an attack on security outposts, resulting 22 in a mass exodus of Rohingya from the Rakhine 23 State of Burma into Bangladesh, which the Inter- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3190.RFS H3190 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 3190 RFS national Organization of Migration called ‘‘unprece- 1 dented in terms of volume and speed’’. 2 (2) Between August 2017 and March 2019, in 3 response to the violence perpetrated by the Burmese 4 military and security forces, the United Nations esti- 5 mates more than 740,000 Rohingya, approximately 6 75 percent of whom are women and children, have 7 fled to Bangladesh, fearing loss of life, livelihoods, 8 and shelter. Rohingya have continued to flee Burma 9 in significant numbers, including in 2019. According 10 to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refu- 11 gees, more than 1,400 Rohingya have arrived in 12 Bangladesh since January 1, 2019. 13 (3) Even after the Burmese military scaled 14 back attacks against Rohingya in late 2017, security 15 forces continued to impose restrictions on the basic 16 freedoms of Rohingya in Rakhine State, including on 17 freedom of movement. In November 2017, Amnesty 18 International determined that Rohingya remaining 19 in Rakhine are ‘‘trapped in a vicious system of state- 20 sponsored, institutionalized discrimination that 21 amounts to apartheid’’. 22 (4) Despite the steps taken toward democracy 23 in Burma, there exists limited control by the civilian 24 government over civilian agencies as well as military 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3190.RFS H3190 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 3190 RFS and security forces that carried out the violence in 1 Rakhine State. The military and security forces con- 2 tinue to engage in grave human rights abuses 3 against ethnic minorities throughout in the country. 4 (5) Both government- and military-initiated in- 5 vestigations into human rights abuses in Burma in- 6 volving violence between ethnic minorities and Bur- 7 mese security forces have failed to yield credible re- 8 sults or hold perpetrators accountable. 9 (6) In a public address on October 12, 2017, 10 State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi laid out the fol- 11 lowing goals for the State of Rakhine: 12 (A) Repatriation of those who have crossed 13 over to Bangladesh. 14 (B) Effective provision of humanitarian as- 15 sistance. 16 (C) Resettlement of displaced populations. 17 (D) Economic development and durable 18 peace. 19 (7) Due to restrictions enforced by the Rakhine 20 State government and the national military and se- 21 curity forces, there has been little progress made 22 since that time and limited ability for the inter- 23 national community to support, verify, or evaluate 24 the Government of Burma’s efforts. There are also 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3190.RFS H3190 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 3190 RFS credible reports of Burmese military and security 1 forces bulldozing numerous villages where violence 2 occurred, thus destroying physical evidence, and in 3 some cases, constructing new military installations 4 on top of the bulldozed villages. 5 (8) On November 22, 2017, former Secretary of 6 State Rex Tillerson stated that ‘‘After a careful and 7 thorough analysis of available facts, it is clear that 8 the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes 9 ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya. Those re- 10 sponsible for these atrocities must be held account- 11 able’’. He also said the violence ‘‘has a number of 12 characteristics of certainly crimes against human- 13 ity’’. Despite repeated requests from Members of 14 Congress, as well as the result of its own investiga- 15 tion (the executive summary of which was released 16 on September 17, 2018), the Department has de- 17 clined to make a determination if the atrocities in 18 Rakhine State constitute genocide or crimes against 19 humanity. 20 (9) On December 12, 2017, Wa Lone and 21 Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters reporters covering the 22 crisis in Rakhine State, were entrapped, arrested, 23 and charged with violating the Official Secrets Act, 24 continuing a trend of restricting media and free 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3190.RFS H3190 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 3190 RFS speech and attempting to thwart coverage of the 1 events in Rakhine State. 2 (10) Another barrier to the voluntary, safe, dig- 3 nified and sustainable return of the Rohingya to 4 Rakhine State is the refusal of the Government of 5 Burma to reinstate the full citizenship of the 6 Rohingya, as well as the Government’s unwillingness 7 to consider the repeal of or amendments to the Citi- 8 zenship Act of 1982 that stripped the Rohingya of 9 their full citizenship. 10 (11) During 2018, the ongoing conflict in 11 Burma escalated in Kachin and Shan States, re- 12 ignited in Karen (Kayin) State, and spread into 13 Chin and Rakhine States. Along with the increase in 14 fighting between Burma’s security forces and several 15 ethnic armed organizations, there was a rise in alle- 16 gations of human rights abuses perpetrated by Bur- 17 mese security forces in these conflict areas. 18 (12) In April 2018, thousands of civilians fled 19 fighting between the military and ethnic armed 20 groups in Kachin State, prompting peaceful dem- 21 onstrations. In December 2018, three prominent ac- 22 tivist in Kachin State, Lum Zawng, Nang Pu and 23 Zau Jet were convicted and sentenced to 6 months 24 imprisonment for defaming the military. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3190.RFS H3190 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 HR 3190 RFS (13) On June 6, 2018, the United Nations Ref- 1 ugee Agency and the United Nations Development 2 Programme signed a tripartite Memorandum of Un- 3 derstanding with Burma. The Office of the United 4 Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and var- 5 ious international human rights and international re- 6 lief agencies agreed that conditions in Rakhine State 7 are not sufficient for the voluntary, safe, dignified, 8 and sustainable return of the Rohingya. 9 (14) The United Nations Independent Inter- 10 national Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, the De- 11 partment of State, and more than a dozen human 12 rights organizations have reported and documented 13 a campaign of violence perpetrated by the security 14 forces of Burma, which indiscriminately fired on and 15 killed civilians, raped women and girls, and arrested 16 Rohingya men without any cause or charges. Sat- 17 ellite images obtained by Amnesty International re- 18 veal that, out of the approximately 470 villages in 19 northern Rakhine State, nearly 300 were partially or 20 completely destroyed by fire since August 25, 2017, 21 most of which were completely or partially populated 22 by Rohingya Muslims. 23 (15) In its report of September 17, 2018, the 24 United Nations Independent International Fact- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3190.RFS H3190 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 HR 3190 RFS Finding Mission on Myanmar determined that there 1 was sufficient evidence of ‘‘genocidal intent’’ in the 2 attacks against the Rohingya in Rakhine State, and 3 probable ‘‘crimes against humanity’’ and ‘‘war 4 crimes’’ in Burmese security forces assaults on eth- 5 nic minorities in Kachin and Shan States. The Mis- 6 sion recommended that the United Nations Security 7 Council ‘‘should ensure accountability for crimes 8 under international law committed in Myanmar, 9 preferably by referring the situation to the Inter- 10 national Criminal Court or alternatively by creating 11 an ad hoc international criminal tribunal’’. The Mis- 12 sion also recommended the imposition of targeted 13 economic sanctions, including an arms embargo on 14 Burma. 15 (16) On September 3, 2018, Wa Lone and 16 Kyaw Soe Oo were convicted and sentenced to seven 17 years in prison and released as an act of Presi- 18 dential amnesty on May 6, 2019, after over 500 19 days in jail. Time Magazine included pictures the 20 two reporters on the cover of its ‘‘Person of the 21 Year’’ issue on December 10, 2018, as two of the 22 ‘‘Guardians and the War on Truth’’. 23 (17) According to the free-speech organization 24 Athan, 44 journalists and 142 activists have faced 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3190.RFS H3190 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 HR 3190 RFS trial since 2016 charged with colonial-era laws used 1 to stifle dissent, while tightening restrictions on ac- 2 tivist groups. 3 (18) On September 28, 2018, the United Na- 4 tions Human Rights Council passed a resolution 5 that calls for an independent mechanism to collect 6 and analyze evidence in regard to the serious inter- 7 national crimes committed in Burma against 8 Rohingya Muslims and other minorities since 2011. 9 The resolution requests that the independent mecha- 10 nism ‘‘prepare files in order to facilitate and expe- 11 dite fair and independent criminal proceedings, in 12 accordance with international law standards, in na- 13 tional, regional or international courts or tribunals 14 that have or may in the future have jurisdiction over 15 these crimes’’. 16 (19) On November 15, 2018, the Government 17 of Bangladesh and the Government of Burma aban- 18 doned plans to return more than 2,000 Rohingya to 19 Rakhine State after it was determined that none 20 were willing to voluntarily return given the current 21 conditions in Rakhine State, as well as the Govern- 22 ment of Burma’s failure to ensure the returnees’ 23 safety, dignity, or sustainability of their livelihoods. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3190.RFS H3190 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 HR 3190 RFS (20) A December 2018 report by the Public 1 Law Interest & Policy group noted that ‘‘the de- 2 struction of their villages, crops, and virtually all in- 3 frastructure clearly points to a strategy of ensuring 4 the Rohingya’s permanent removal. 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