77 lead to the slow death” of the protected group.330 While it is not necessary that the conditions actually destroy the group in whole or in part, the conditions must be inflicted deliberately.331 In as much as the NVC process serves as an administrative step in applying the 1982 Citizenship Law, which effectively denies Rohingya full citizenship rights and access to all the rights and protections guaranteed to full citizens, the NVC process may have created conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Rohingya in whole or in part. By requiring the NVC to engage in certain necessary activities, such as the ability to move freely and access livelihoods, the Myanmar government has deliberately designed a situation in which Rohingya must surrender their ethnic identity and future claims to full citizenship rights in order to access basic necessities and exercise basic functions of everyday life, including free movement and access to livelihoods.332 Moreover, the government requires Rohingya to disavow their ethnic identity and identify as “Bengali” or other foreign identities to obtain NVCs.333 This appears to be an attempt to destroy those Rohingya who insist on identifying as Rohingya. Moreover, from 2012 to 2015, more than 170,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar by sea to Thailand and Malaysia, many of whom were avoiding human rights violations relating to the denial of citizenship.334 In some cases, Myanmar authorities directly or indirectly pushed Rohingya out to sea to undertake a journey widely known to be deadly involving transnational human trafficking syndicates.335 The authorities’ willingness to push Rohingya out to sea, where they faced a wellknown risk of death, indicates possible intent to inflict conditions of life likely to result in the Rohingyas’ destruction. Crimes against Humanity Under Article 7 of the Rome Statute, crimes against humanity comprise the commission of one or more of 11 enumerated prohibited criminal acts committed in the context of a “widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population” by perpetrators with knowledge of the attack.336 For the purposes of establishing a crime against humanity, the military-led attacks on Rohingya civilians in northern Rakhine State that began in 2016 and 2017 qualify as a “widespread or systematic attack.”337 The acts documented in this report related to the NVC process and the denial of citizenship may contribute to finding prohibited criminal acts of “deportation” as well as “persecution.” Given that perpetrators committed these acts with knowledge of a broader attack on the Rohingya population, the Myanmar authorities may have committed the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution against Rohingya in 2016 and 2017. 330 Stakic, ICTY, Case No. ICTY-97-24-T, Judgment (Trial), para. 517 331 Brdanin, ICTY, Case No. IT-99-36-T, Judgement (Trial), paras. 691–92. 332 See, Fortify Rights interview with F.K., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, June 16, 2019; Fortify Rights interview with E.H., Kyauktaw Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, May 30, 2019; Fortify Rights interview with A.H., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, November 9, 2018; Fortify Rights interview with C.B., Sittwe Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, January 14, 2018. 333 See, Fortify Rights interview with C.B., Sittwe Township, Rakhine State, Myanmar, January 14, 2018; Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries, et al., “Announcement about Fishing,” 334 Fortify Rights and SUHAKAM, “Sold Like Fish.” 335 Ibid. 336 Rome Statute, Art. 7(1). 337 Fortify Rights, “They Gave Them Long Swords,” p. 102.