More than a year after the coup in Burma, the UN on Tuesday March 15 accused the Burmese army of “crimes against humanity”. In its latest report, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reports very serious abuses committed against civilian populations since February 1, 2021 and calls on the international community to take stock of this tragedy that has been ignored since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
” The appalling scale and scope of violations of international law suffered by the people of Burma demand a firm, unified and resolute international response said the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, in a statement.
The High Commission accuses the Burmese army of having surrendered ” systematic and widespread violations and abuses of human rights “, and to share a ” blatant disregard for human life “. Some of these violations could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity “, estimates the UN, which has a habit of leave it to the courts to decide.
According to the spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, We have really been able to identify the existence of a modus operandi over the past year, which shows that these are systematic, coordinated and planned attacks, and that there are clear indications that could be war crimes and crimes against humanity » :
The Burmese army continues its massive and systematic violations of human rights and we believe that some of these abuses can be qualified as war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Burmese military bombard residential areas and target civilians, who are deliberately shot, sometimes burned alive, arbitrarily detained, tortured or used as human shields. We are also aware of very heavy artillery fire, particularly in Kayah State, in the east of the country. The international community must take immediate action to hold the perpetrators of these atrocities accountable and to bring the violence to an end. These immediate measures can take the form of targeted sanctions, including the halting of arms deliveries to the Burmese army, until those responsible are held to account, including before the International Criminal Court.
“The Burmese army continues” to commit “war crimes and crimes against humanity”, according to the spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani
The UN had already denounced the crimes against humanity vis-à-vis the Rohingyas
More than a year after the February 1, 2021 coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi and ended a 10-year democratic parenthesis, Burma remains in chaos. Anti-junta militias have taken up arms against the generals who are stifling protest in blood.
Ravina Shamdasani also pointed out that before the coup, the High Commission had already ” talked about the fact that the Tatmadaw (Burma Armed Forces) had committed crimes against humanity in relation to the treatment of Rohingya », Muslim minority of the country.
► Read also : Burma: one year after the military coup, the resistance does not weaken