Myanmar military atrocities may amount to war crimes: Report

By Al Mayadeen Net
Source: The Guardian
15 Feb 2022 13:11

A human rights group report says the Myanmar military has carried out massacres and used civilians as human shields.

The Fortify Rights human rights group report warned that recent "atrocities in eastern Myanmar may amount to war crimes."

A recently published report by the Myanmar-founded human rights group Fortify Rights revealed that Myanmar's army kidnapped civilians and forcefully used them as human shields, attacked their homes, and carried out massacres against them, The Guardian reported.

The report documents Myanmar's military abuses in the states of Chin and Karenni -- areas that witnessed violent clashes between the army and groups opposing the country's last year's military coup.

Atrocities may amount to war crimes

According to the newspaper, the report warned that recent "atrocities in eastern Myanmar may amount to war crimes."

The Guardian also mentioned that an interviewee claimed he was forced to work as an army-equipment porter after being captured by the military.

The ongoing atrocities in Karenni have caught the attention of several international organizations.

It is noteworthy that Myanmar's army committed a massacre against 40 civilians near the village of Moso in Hpruso township on Christmas Eve, including a child and two humanitarian workers.

About 170,000 civilians have been displaced from their homes in the state of Karenni since the military took control last year, according to the Karenni's Civil Society Network, as the UN found that about "91,900 have been forced to flee their homes," The Guardian pointed out.

In addition, the military targeted the camps and churches of those who are displayed, mentioned Fortify Rights.

Collapse of socio-economic conditions

The Director of the non-profit Karenni Human Rights Group, Banyar Khun Naung, said he is not optimistic about the reduction of the intensity of the ongoing violence and its negative impact on the citizens of the state.

“In Karenni we can see that our socio-economic condition has collapsed," he stressed, indicating that the military has blocked food and medicine supply from entering the state.

According to Fortify Rights, Myanmar's military junta has failed to respect a plan developed last year by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which called on all conflicting sides to exercise “utmost restraint," as well as the “immediate cessation of violence.”

Ismail Wolff, Regional Director at Fortify Rights, underlined that “the Myanmar junta is murdering people with weapons procured on the global market, and that must stop."

“The UN security council must urgently impose a global arms embargo on the Myanmar military, and it would be strategic and sensible for Asean to support it," he affirmed.