BANGKOK: Myanmar’s army and allied militias are committing increasingly shameless war crimes, including bombings targeting the civilian population, a group of investigators constituted by the UN said Tuesday.
UN Investigators Say Myanmar’s Army is Committing Increasingly Shameless War Crimes
According to IIMM, it found solid evidence during the 12 months ending in June that the military and militias extensively and excessively targeted civilian populations with bombs, mass executions of people arrested during operations, and burning of civilian homes.
The United Nations established the Human Rights Council in 2018 in order to monitor violations of global rules and law in Myanmar; it said it is making efforts to collect evidence that can be utilized in future prosecutions against the culprits.
Nicholas Koumjian, chief of the group, said, “The destruction caused to the entire communities via aerial bombardments and village torching is shocking”. Nicholas Koumjian said that their evidence shows to a dramatic surge in war crimes, with extensive and systematic assaults against civilian populations, and we are making case files that can be utilized by courts to hold perpetrators accountable.”
Myanmar has been in chaos since February 2021, triggering protests which were repressed with deadly force. Opponents of army rule then took up weapons, and large parts of the state are now involved in the conflict.
The group said it is continuing to probe the violence, including gender-based crimes, committed by the army against the Rohingya Muslims in 2017. Over 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since August 2017 to escape a brutal army crackdown against them.
