This is a modal window.
The Myanmar junta’s brutal response to peaceful protests likely meets the legal threshold for crimes against humanity, an UN-appointed independent rights expert told the Human rights Council on Thursday.
Calling for a united global response, Special Rapporteur Thomas H. Andrews said that “the people of Myanmar need not only words of support but supportive action. They need the help of the international community, now”.
According to Andrews, an independent expert appointed by the Council for a three-year mandate, a UN security council statement expressing their deep concern about developments in Myanmar are welcome words, but “they are wholly insufficient.”
Andrews stressed that a growing body of reporting indicates that the junta’s security forces are committing acts of murder, imprisonment, persecution and other crimes as part of a coordinated campaign, directed against a civilian population, in a widespread and systematic manner, with the knowledge of the junta’s leadership - thereby likely meeting the legal threshold for crimes against humanity.
“Credible reports indicate that, as of today, Myanmar security forces have murdered at least 70 people”, he said.
“The junta is detaining dozens, sometimes hundreds, every day. As of last night, the total number of arbitrary arrests and detentions since 1 February had risen beyond 2,000, and the violence against protesters, including violence against people sitting peacefully in their homes, is steadily increasing,” Andrews added.
According to Andrews, “the people of Myanmar are desperate. They are upholding and defending the highest principles of this body and the United Nations, including their commitment to non-violence. But these principles, and their very lives, are under vicious attack”.
In a report to the Human Rights Council, Andrews details how the Myanmar military illegally overthrew the civilian government last month and proceeded to attack the people of Myanmar by committing the crimes of murder, assault and arbitrary detention. He also details human rights violations preceding the coup in an annex to the report.
With the UN Security Council seemingly unwilling to invoke its Chapter VII authority, Andrews said Member States must rally together to take action.
Andrews outlined five options that such a coalition could take immediately among which are: to stop the flow of funds to the junta, including by imposing targeted sanctions on the junta’s business enterprises and on Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, the single largest source of revenue to the State of Myanmar; impose an international arms embargo; ensure accountability for the crimes, through national courts using universal jurisdiction if the Security Council is unwilling to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court; work directly with local civil society and aid organizations to provide humanitarian assistance whenever possible; and deny recognition of the military junta as the legitimate government representing the people of Myanmar.
In response to the report, Mr. Chan Aye, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, said that the State Administration Council (SAC) “did not abolish the State Constitution and it has made its commitment to consolidate the genuine, disciplined multi-party democratic system that suits the prevailing situation of the country as aspired to by the people of Myanmar.
He added that “in the recent days, the authorities concerned have been paying attention to maintaining law and order in the country. The authorities have been exercising utmost restraint to deal with violent protests. The authorities have tried to handle the violent protests in line with riot control manual in accordance with domestic laws, rules and applicable international standards.”
- ENDS-
1
1
1
Edited News | ITU
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) commemorated 160 years dedicated to connecting the world on Saturday, 17 May in Geneva, Switzerland, during the annual World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , OCHA
Gazans ‘in terror’ after another night of deadly strikes and siege
Amid reports that Israeli strikes across Gaza into Friday killed at least 64 people, aid teams once again pushed back strongly at allegations that aid is being diverted to Hamas and pleaded for the blockade to end.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Deportations over recent months of large numbers of non-nationals from the United States of America, especially to countries other than those of their origin, raise a number of human rights concerns, the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Over 50 child malnutrition deaths amid aid blockade; entire generation will be ‘permanently affected’ - WHO
In the aid desert of Gaza, malnourished children are dying while survivors can expect a lifetime of dire health problems, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF , UNRWA
Israel’s aid plan will force Gaza families to choose ‘between displacement and death’ – UN humanitarians
Israel’s plan to take control of relief assistance in Gaza risks increasing the suffering of families already exhausted by 18 months of war by putting their lives in danger and inciting more displacement, using aid as “bait”, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
UN Humanitarians reject Israeli plan to take over aid delivery
The reported Israeli proposal to deliver humanitarian supplies through hubs controlled by the military would be a breach of the core principles of neutral, impartial and independent aid delivery, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News , B-roll | OCHA
Gaza: ‘Worst-case scenario’ unfolds as two-month aid blockade deepens suffering - OCHA
Two months into a devastating aid blockade of Gaza food has run out and people are fighting over water amid relentless bombing, the UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday.
/Includes OCHA footage from Gaza City/
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Children in Gaza are going to bed starving, says aid agency
The biggest UN aid agency in Gaza on Tuesday condemned the two-month Israeli blockade on Gaza that has left families sharing a single tin of food at mealtime and the sick and injured without lifesaving medical help, amid daily bombardment.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine force frontline areas to empty: UNHCR
With Ukrainian cities still reeling from this week’s deadly Russian missile and drone attacks, communities on the front line continue to be targeted too, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday. “We also see attacks on frontline regions increasing and it's, as always, civilians that are bearing the highest cost of the war,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Funding and supply shortfalls for the UN World Food Programme (WFP)'s work in Ethiopia will halt lifesaving treatment for 650,000 malnourished women and children at the end of the month. “We are at the breaking point,” it said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue to kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure, raising concerns regarding the protection of civilians, the UN Human Rights Office warned today.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNWOMEN , UNDP
Sudan: Aid teams report massive displacement after latest Darfur atrocity; women’s bodies ‘turned into battlegrounds’
In Sudan’s North Darfur, tens of thousands of people have fled a displacement camp following the massacre of civilians and aid workers as the country enters the third year of a conflict marked by horrific levels of sexual violence, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.