WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday stiffened sanctions against Myanmar’s army chief over the mass killings of Rohingya, as his country defended itself against genocide charges before the top UN court. The United States in July banned military chief Min Aung Hlaing from visiting, but Tuesday’s move goes further by freezing any US assets and criminalising financial transactions with him by anyone in the United States. The Treasury Department imposed the same sanctions on three other senior Myanmar commanders, as well as 14 individuals from other countries, to observe International Human Rights Day. The United States said there were “credible reports” of mass-scale rape and other sexual violence by soldiers under the command of Min Aung Hlaing. The Treasury Department slapped sanctions on the group’s leader, Musa Baluku, as well as five other people accused of supporting the group.

Source: Libya Today December 10, 2019 18:45 UTC