CSW welcomes UN High Commissioner’s call to action on human rights in Myanmar/Burma

CSW welcomes the latest report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk on the human rights crisis in Myanmar/Burma, especially his call for action to end ‘an unspeakable tragedy’ and his repeated calls to bring the regime before the International Criminal Court.

In his remarks to the UN Human Rights Council on 26 September, the High Commissioner described the human rights violations committed on a daily basis by Myanmar’s military regime as ‘inhumanity in its vilest form’. He called for ‘new thinking’ in order to ‘bring this unspeakable tragedy to an end’.

‘Each day,’ he said, ‘the people of Myanmar are enduring horrifying attacks, flagrant human rights violations and the crumbling of their livelihoods and hopes’. In particular, he described three specific aspects of the brutal campaign by Myanmar’s military regime: ‘airstrikes, mass killings and burning of villages’.

The High Commissioner cited 22 documented massacres, in which the junta’s troops ‘used unimaginable pain on their victims, including burning them alive, dismembering, raping, beheading, bludgeoning, and using abducted villagers to shield themselves against attacks and landmines.’

He reported at least 687 airstrikes between the start of April 2022 and the end of July 2023 – a 15-month period – and ‘a minimum’ of 4,108 deaths. Over 75,000 structures – including homes and food storage facilities – have been destroyed. Hundreds of places of worship have been bombed.

Mr Turk also reported that since the coup in 2021, at least 24,836 people have been arrested, 19,264 of whom remain in detention, and 150 have been sentenced to death ‘by military-controlled courts that lack any independence or adherence to due process or fair trial rights’.

He also drew attention to the systematic prevention of life-saving medical care, shelter and clean water by the junta which has further contributed to a major humanitarian catastrophe. This has especially been compounded by the blocking of aid to areas affected by May’s Cyclone Mocha.

Mr Turk challenged the international community to rethink and respond, describing how the junta’s ‘increasing use of air power, along with heavy weaponry and other material, can only be purchased from foreign sources’. The military, he added, ‘is relying on access to foreign currency to purchase military hardware, support services, and aviation fuel.’

The High Commissioner concluded: ‘People in Myanmar have long suffered with insufficient attention being paid by the international community to their plight. This must change’.

CSW’s Senior Analyst for East Asia Benedict Rogers said: ‘We warmly welcome the High Commissioner’s remarks and salute his courage. Mr Turk was spot-on in his conclusions. The world must listen to his analysis, consider his recommendations and heed his warning that there is no time to lose.’