41 authorities did not accept the term Rohingya and required Rohingya to register as “Bengali” or other foreign identities.77 In addition to replacing the White Cards—which allowed Rohingya voting rights in the 2010 elections—with ICNVs, the government also preemptively excluded Rohingya in Myanmar from voting in national elections in 2015, barred them from running for office, and prevented Rohingyaled political parties, including the Democracy and Human Rights Party and the National Democratic Party for Development, from taking part in the elections.78 The NLD, which fielded no Muslim candidates for office, won in a landslide victory and transitioned to power in February 2016.79 In 2016, the NLD government slightly revised the process, rebranding the ICNVs as National Verification Cards (NVCs) and establishing the Rakhine State Peace and Development Central Committee for the purpose of issuing NVCs.80 In 2016, the government began issuing the NVCs to former White Card holders and White Card receipt holders, as well as a limited number of holders of the FRC, which the government issued in the 1970s.81 In addition to the Rohingya, the Myanmar authorities also reportedly issued NVCs to other communities in Shan and Karen states.82 According to the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, led by the late Kofi Annan, by August 2017, the Government of Myanmar issued an estimated 10,000 NVCs to Muslims in Rakhine State.83 to the said group.”) Prosecutor v. Stakic, ICTY, Case No. IT-97-24-T, Judgment (Trial), July 31, 2003, para. 25 (noting that the jurisprudence does not allow for the consideration of subjective definitions alone without reference to objective elements). Moreover, tribunals typically refer to the subjective perceptions of the perpetrators, though some have left room for perceptions of the survivors or others in society. See, for example, Jelisić, ICTY, Case No. ICTY95-10-T, Judgment (Trial), para. 70 (referring to the “stigmatisation of the group as a distinct national, ethnical or racial unit” and the propriety of evaluating groups “from the point of view of those persons who wish to single that group out from the rest of the community”); Prosecutor v. Kayishema and Ruzindana, ICTR, Case No. ICTR-951-T, Judgment (Trial), May 21, 1999, para. 98 (defining an ethnic group as “one whose members share a common language and culture; or, a group which distinguishes itself, as such (self identification); or, a group identified as such by others, including perpetrators of the crimes (identification by others)”), quoted in Fortify Rights, “They Gave Them Long Swords,” p. 87. 77 Fortify Rights interviews with Rohingya refugees, Cox’s Bazar District Bangladesh, 2018 and 2019. See also, Human Rights Council, Report of the Detailed Findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, para. 484; Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, Towards a Peaceful, Fair, and Prosperous Future for the People of Rakhine, Final Report of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, August 2017, p. 27, http://www.rakhinecommission.org/ app/uploads/2017/08/FinalReport_Eng.pdf (accessed August 23, 2019). 78 For decades, the government has also denied Rohingya local-level representation by preventing them from being Village Tract Administrators or village heads in Rakhine State. Rohingya villages are typically represented by ethnic Rakhine or Burman administrators and village heads, while Rohingya appoint yar ein hmu or “persons-in-charge” to liaise with local administrators and represent their interests. On the exclusion of Rohingya in the lead-up to the 2015 elections, see, Clayton Swisher, “America in Myanmar: Jim Crow-Style Democracy,” Huffington Post, October 30, 2015, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/america-in-myanmar-jim-cr_b_8425872 (accessed August 23, 2019). 79 Matthew Smith and David Baulk, “Ethnic minorities in Myanmar Denied Vote as Aung San Suu Kyi Claims Power,” The Guardian, November 26, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/ nov/26/myanmar-millions-of-ethnic-minorities-denied-vote-as-aung-san-suu-kyi-claims-power-rohingya (accessed August 23, 2019). 80 Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Office of the President, “Formation of the Steering Committee for Issuance of National Verification Card (NVC) in Rakhine State for Those Who Will Undergo Verification for Citizenship,” Notification No. 21/2017, February 8, 2017, https://www.moi.gov.mm/moi:eng/?q=announcement/14/11/2018/id-9873. 81 As of February 2017, the Rakhine State Peace and Development Central Committee has seven members. Ibid. According to Human Rights Watch, in 1974, Rohingya were offered FRCs, which many refused to accept. FRCs are white in color and many Rohingya at the time used “family lists,” as proof of residence in the country. See, Human Rights Watch, Burma: Rohingya Muslims. 82 The FFM noted, “[a]s of January 2017, over 16,000 NVCs had been issued in Shan State and 3,500 in Kayin. In both states, more than a quarter of the population do not have identity documents.” Human Rights Council, Report of the Detailed Findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, p. 117, fn. 1082. 83 Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, Towards a Peaceful, Fair, and Prosperous Future, p. 26.