“Tools of Genocide” I. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND NATIONAL VERIFICATION CARDS Through the application of the 1982 Citizenship Law and the implementation of the various “citizenship scrutiny” processes, the Government of Myanmar effectively stripped more than one million Rohingya Muslims of citizenship status and continues to deny Rohingya equal access to citizenship.86 The NVC, which requires Rohingya to identify as “Bengali” or other foreign identities, is the latest iteration of these processes. This chapter documents how the Myanmar authorities are using NVCs to deny Rohingya the right to nationality and all other rights.87 This chapter also documents how the Myanmar authorities force Rohingya to accept the NVC, including through the use of torture, and rely on the NVC to further restrict the rights of Rohingya to move freely and access livelihoods. Rohingya believe the NVC is a tool to erase their identity. “The NVC is a tool of genocide,” a Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh stated in English, later adding, “We want our citizenship restored first, and there should be equality, safety, and security in our motherland.”88 86 The government excluded Rohingya from the 2014 national census. The government’s report on the census in Rakhine State “estimated that a population of 1,090,000 was likely not to have been counted during the enumeration.” Department of Population, Ministry of Immigration and Population, The 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census: Rakhine State, p. 8, https://myanmar.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Rakhine%20State%20 Census%20Report%20-%20ENGLISH-3.pdf (accessed August 26, 2019). See, Todd Pitman, “AP Exclusive: Myanmar Verifying Muslim Citizenship,” Associated Press, November 30, 2012, https://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-myanmar-verifying-muslim-citizenship-072224996. html; Fortify Rights, Policies of Persecution; Human Rights Watch, “All You Can Do Is Pray.” 87 The International Court of Justice defined nationality as a legal bond between a State and an individual, which has as its basis “a social fact of attachment, a genuine connection of existence, interests and sentiments.” Liechtenstein v. Guatemala, (Second Phase), International Court of Justice, Judgment, April 6, 1955, p. 4. See also, Human Rights Council, Human Rights and Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/25/28, December 19, 2013. The terms “citizenship” and “nationality” under international law are used interchangeably. Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNHCR, Nationality and Statelessness: A Handbook for Parliamentarians, No. 11, 2005, p. 3, https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/files/Nationality%20 and%20Statelessness.pdf (accessed August 23, 2019). 88 Fortify Rights interview with E.C.A., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, January 22, 2019; Fortify Rights interview with E.C.B., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, June 20, 2019.