Myanmar: “Possible crimes against humanity by the military”

Myanmar junta ‘commits crimes against humanity’ since taking power on February 1, said Thomas Andrews, the UN special rapporteur for the Asian country, on Thursday (11/3).

“There is growing evidence that the military and its top executives are” likely to commit crimes against humanity, including murder, enforced disappearances, persecution, torture and imprisonment in violation of fundamental human rights law, ” of the UN in Geneva.

Based on his estimates, Class forces have “killed” 70 people to date, in the violent repression of protesters demanding a return to democracy.

“Look at the facts,” he said. In order for there to be a crime against humanity, criminal acts “must be committed in the context of a large-scale or systematic attack on any civilian population with full knowledge,” he recalled.

According to him, the crimes committed against the population in Myanmar are part of a coordinated campaign, targeting civilians, are widespread with around 2,000 people arrested in at least 28 cities across the country, are well organized and are ordered “with the full knowledge” of the leaders.

The UN Special Rapporteur acknowledged that it was up to the court to decide, however, noting that evidence was currently being gathered from the Myanmar Independent Inquiry Mechanism set up in 2018 by the Human Rights Council.

He called for sanctions

Alongside, called for multilateral sanctions to the detriment of the leaders of the military junta and the Myanmar oil and gas company – owned by the army – whose revenues are expected to reach $ 1 billion this year.

Referring to the plight of the Rohingya Muslim minority, Andrews stressed that “Myanmar is controlled by a murderous and illegitimate regime whose current leaders have committed atrocities that are the subject of genocide allegations being investigated by the International Criminal Court.”

Myanmar’s representative Chan Ai, for his part, rejected the very principle of a special rapporteur for a particular country before justifying the February 1 military coup, which led to the arrest of many politicians, including the democratically elected A San Su Chi.

The repression of the demonstrations continues throughout the country and is severe.

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