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GENEVA: Myanmar’s military is likely committing “crimes against humanity,” the country’s top UN rights expert said on Thursday (March 11), adding that at least 70 people had been “killed” since the February 1 coup.
Thomas Andrews told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that Myanmar was currently “controlled by an illegal and murderous regime.”
“There is mounting evidence that (the) Myanmar military, led by the same senior leadership, is now likely committing crimes against humanity, including acts of murder, enforced disappearance, persecution and torture.”
While emphasizing that such crimes can only be determined in a court of law, he said there was clear evidence that the crimes of the military government were “widespread”, “systematic” and part of a “coordinated campaign.”
He also said that they were being carried out with “the knowledge of the top leadership,” including military leader Min Aung Hlaing.
The UN Special Rapporteur was presenting his latest report on the situation to the council, but regretted that since its publication last week, the number of people killed and detained by the military has increased significantly.
‘MAXIMUM RESTRICTION’
Diplomatic pressure has been mounting since the generals took power, sparking daily protests across the country that they have struggled to quell.
The army has defended his inauguration by citing voting irregularities in the November elections won by the party of the now-ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
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Chan Aye, permanent secretary of the Myanmar Foreign Ministry, told the UN Rights Council via video message on Thursday that the authorities “have been exercising the utmost restraint in dealing with the violent protests.”
But according to Andrews, “Myanmar’s security forces have killed at least 70 people” since February 1, most of them under the age of 25.
His comments came when nine protesters were shot and killed in Myanmar on Thursday.
And as of Wednesday night, the military government had arbitrarily arrested and detained more than 2,000 people, he said, while “violence against protesters, including violence against people who sit peacefully in their homes, is steadily increasing.” .
INTERNATIONAL ACTION NEEDED
Even before the coup, the current leadership in Myanmar faced charges of “heinous crimes” and “genocide” before the International Criminal Court for its treatment of Rohingya Muslims, Andrews recalled.
“Since the coup, the Myanmar military has attacked and forcibly displaced several thousand members of ethnic nationalities from their homes,” he said.
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Andrews said that in light of the evidence that “the Myanmar junta is engaged in heinous crimes against its own people at this time,” urgent action is needed.
Last week, the expert had urged the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo and targeted sanctions against the Myanmar military.
The Security Council, which includes Myanmar’s main traditional sponsor China, has not heeded that call, although it issued a statement on Wednesday expressing deep concern about the situation.
Andrews described the statement as “totally insufficient,” insisting that the people of Myanmar need not only words of support, but also actions of support. “
“They need the help of the international community, now,” he said.
PENALTIES, ARMS GARNISHMENT?
He suggested that countries should find a way to bypass the perpetually blocked Security Council and impose coordinated sanctions.
“The reluctance of some nations to act should not prohibit coordinated action by those that are,” he said.
He called for the creation of an emergency “Coalition for the People of Myanmar”, to coordinate sanctions and an arms embargo, and also try to try Myanmar’s top security officials under universal jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, a draft resolution on the situation in Myanmar was tabled on Thursday for consideration at the rights council later this month.
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Like a resolution adopted during a special council session last month, the text urges the military to reestablish civilian rule and immediately release Suu Kyi and others who have been arbitrarily detained.
It also calls for “full, unrestricted and unsupervised access” for all UN mandate holders, including Andrews and a task force that is already gathering evidence from the prosecution on crimes previously committed in the country, especially against the Rohingya.
And the text calls on the UN chief, Antonio Guterres, to provide those investigators with the greatest assistance and resources necessary to fully investigate the situation.
