US Secretary of State Antony Blinken formally declared Monday that the Myanmar military's attacks on the Rohingya in 2016 and 2017 was "genocide", saying there was "clear intent" to destroy the Muslim minority.
"I have determined that members of the Burmese military committed genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya," Blinken said.
The evidence shows "a clear intent behind these mass atrocities -- the intent to destroy Rohingya, in whole or in part," he said at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Based on internal findings within the State Department and outside documentation from rights groups, Blinken said he "determined that members of the Burmese military committed genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya."
Additional sanctions are expected to be applied under the U.S. determination on the already heavily-blacklisted Myanmar junta.
The US determination comes as the UN's top court resumed in February its proceedings to determine if Myanmar is responsible for genocide.
The International Court of Justice has been hearing the case, which accuses Myanmar of violating the Genocide Convention in its brutal crackdown on the Rohingya community, for over two years.
In January 2020, the ICJ imposed "provisional measures," ordering the end to genocidal practices against the Rohingya.
Myanmar was being represented in the case by former State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi, who was overthrown in the Tatmadaw's February 2021 coup, and has been jailed by the junta on various charges.
The military takeover has triggered mass protests in Myanmar in which junta forces have killed more than 1,500 people in a crackdown on dissent, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a local monitoring group.
