Tillerson is right to call for justice for the Rohingya. He’s naive to think Burma will deliver.

washingtonpost.com

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson shakes hands with Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (Aung Shine Oo/AP)

By Editorial Board November 17 at 6:29 PM

Excerpt:

SECRETARY OF STATE Rex Tillerson too often has shown a disregard for human rights issues, especially in his public diplomacy. So his news conference in Burma on Wednesday was a welcome departure. Standing next to the country’s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mr. Tillerson spoke forcefully about “credible reports of widespread atrocities committed by [Burma’s] security forces” against the Rohingya ethnic minority. He said the campaign, which has driven more than 600,000 peopleacross the border to Bangladesh, “has a number of characteristics of certainly crimes against humanity.” ...

Mr. Tillerson is understandably seeking to preserve the U.S. relationship with Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who courageously opposed military rule for decades. The alternative could be a regime that would reverse the democratic opening and ally itself with China. But critics’ skepticism is well founded: It is highly doubtful that Aung San Suu Kyi’s government will or can carry out the credible investigation the United States, along with much of the rest of the world, asks for. In the absence of prompt action to create conditions for the voluntary return of the Rohingya and for steps to identify and hold accountable those responsible for atrocities, the Trump administration should proceed with sanctions against senior military leaders, support an international embargo on arms sales and explicitly back the U.N. investigation.