The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar has urged immediate measures to stop the flow of weapons that the military regime is using to “commit probable war crimes and crimes against humanity”.
Rapporteur Tom Andrews added that urgent action is needed to save lives threatened by the intensifying military conflict in Myanmar.
Faced with mounting losses of territory and troops to an ongoing resistance offensive launched on Oct. 27, Myanmar’s junta has responded with escalating artillery, air and other attacks against civilians.
At least 309 civilians were killed and 403 wounded by targeted junta attacks across seven states and five regions between Oct. 27 and November 30, according to the parallel National Unity Government (NUG).
Hundreds of thousands of people have also fled their homes to escape the escalating fighting.
The Myanmar junta has imported over US$ 1 billion worth of weapons and other military hardware since the 2021 coup, according to a UN report. The junta’s main arms suppliers are Russia and China.
“There is no time to waste. In just the past few weeks more than a quarter of a million have been displaced throughout Myanmar,” Andrews said.
“These developments should lay to rest any notion that the military can act as a stabilizing or unifying force. The opposite is true. The junta is an agent of chaos and violence. Its relentless attacks and rampant human rights violations are unifying the country in opposition.”
The resistance offensive has driven out junta forces from scores of camps, seizing strategic positions and wresting control of key crossings on the border with China, Andrews noted.
The military’s control over the country, already tenuous before the launch of the offensive, appears to be seriously diminished, he added.
“The junta has responded to military losses in the same way it always has: by attacking civilians and obstructing humanitarian relief.”
The special rapporteur said countries must act now to ground junta jets and helicopter gunships that are attacking villages, schools, hospitals, and camps for internally displaced people (IDPs).
He urged the international community to cut off the junta’s access to jet fuel and take all available measures to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to displaced and vulnerable populations.
“The writing is on the wall for the illegal military junta of Myanmar. Governments, donors, and UN agencies must look to the future and proactively engage the National Unity Government, ethnic resistance organizations, and Myanmar civil society,” Andrews said.
“Now, more than ever, the international community should be working with them to help lay the foundation for a democratic and rights-respecting country,” he added.
