7-7-2023 (BANGKOK) The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has reported that up to 40 aid workers have been killed and 200 have been arrested by the military junta in Myanmar since the military coup in 2021. Turk deplored the direct attacks on humanitarian staff, explaining that local organisations, which provide the majority of humanitarian aid, are at the greatest risk in carrying out their work.
Turk’s report, presented during a regular session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, stated that it was almost impossible to imagine the suffering of the people of Myanmar, where civilians bear the devastating brunt of the “grotesque violence” carried out by “a reckless military” that relies on tactics of systematic control and fear. He said that the country continues its deadly freefall into even deeper violence and heartbreak, adding that the situation has become untenable.
The commissioner alleged that the voices of civil society and journalists were being strangled, and arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture continued unabated in Myanmar. He also stated that the military junta’s continued atrocities and brutal attacks against ethnic minorities Rohingyas had forced more people to cross international frontiers in search of protection, particularly to neighbouring Bangladesh where more than one million members of the community live in refugee camps in deplorable conditions.
According to the commissioner, since seizing power in 2021, the Myanmar military has killed 3,747 people and arrested another 23,747. As collective punishment, the military has allegedly razed or burned around 70,000 homes, depriving villagers of shelter, food, water, and life-saving aid.
Turk elaborated further by stating that his office also continues to document repeated violations of the most brutal forms: sexual violence, mass killings, extra-judicial executions, beheadings, dismemberments, and mutilations. Indiscriminate airstrikes and artillery attacks by the junta have increased by 33% and 80% respectively in the first six months of 2023 compared to the last year. Most of these attacks targeted civilian areas, including villages, schools, hospitals, and places of worship.
The Myanmar military has been “systematically denying and blocking humanitarian access” to the most deprived regions, where 15.2 million people are in need of urgent food and nutrition support, according to Turk. The official called this a “calculated denial of fundamental rights and freedoms for large swathes of the population.”
Turk urged the Myanmar military to release the 19,377 political prisoners, including the ousted democratic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. He also called on all countries to cease and prevent the supply of arms to the military junta, which enables attacks on Myanmar’s people. Additionally, he urged the Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.
