Last week, two years after the junta seized power from the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the UN human rights agency OHCHR issued a report scathingly criticizing the treatment of people in Myanmar.
At least 2,940 people have been killed under the regime’s rule, based on information that OHCHR has been able to confirm. The number is believed to be higher and the situation is described as an ongoing, “rotting” disaster.
The Air Force has targeted opposition and civilians in more than 300 bombing raids over the past year. Hospitals and schools have been met. About 39,000 homes have been destroyed by the military.
These are all “sweeping accusations against the government and its security forces,” the junta’s foreign ministry said in a Facebook post.
“Myanmar therefore maintains its firm objection to the irrelevant recommendations made by the High Commissioner (OHCHR),” the post said.
Last December, after much debate, the UN Security Council passed a resolution on Myanmar calling on the junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and prisoners held arbitrarily. Permanent members China and Russia abstained, after securing some reformulations under threat of veto. India, which has good relations with the junta, also abstained.