UN calls for action against Myanmar for civil abuses Myanmar

Amnesty International has called on the UN Security Council to take urgent action against Myanmar before the International Criminal Court amid growing evidence of military abuse, including indiscriminate shooting of civilians in the ongoing conflict with armed Arakan rebels. .

In a report released Monday, Amnesty said first-hand evidence, photos and video evidence obtained by the group show that Myanmar’s military does not fully respect civilian suffering in areas at the epicenter of the fighting.

There are no signs of conflict between the Arakan Army and the humiliating Myanmar army and civilians continue to carry the heavy burden, said Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns.

Ming Yu Nah said the violations were growing more shocking and more brazen day by day.

Several incidents involving civilians injured or killed by landmines and bombings have been reported in Chin and Rakhine states in recent weeks.

One of the most recent cases was on September 18, when a 44-year-old Chin woman was killed after stepping on a landmine while collecting bamboo shoots near a Myanmar military base in Paletwa.

In another incident on September 8 in Rakhine, a worker in the Myebon settlement reported hearing fierce fighting that killed their wife and daughter.

The Myanmar Armed Forces, also known as the Tatmadaw, have fought the Arakan Army, a rebel group seeking greater autonomy for the country’s western region, including the states of Rakhine and Chin.

Rakhine is also home to tens of thousands of predominantly Rohingya Muslims, many of whom were forced to flee to Bangladesh following a separate military coup in 2017.

Military labeled in attack

The witness, whose wife and child were killed in September, told Amnesty that there were no Arakan Army rebels in the area where the attack took place. Villagers believe the heavy weaponry was fired from a Myanmar military base in a nearby town.

Three other Rakhine ethnic civilians were also killed, including two seven-year-old children.

According to an estimate by local civil society groups, the number of civilians already killed in this conflict since December 2018 in Rakhine and Chin states stands at 289, with 641 injured, Amnesty said. Tens of thousands more have been displaced.

As of December 2018, there have been at least 289 people killed and 641 injured in fighting in Chin and Rakhine states, according to Amnesty [File: Nyunt Win/EPA]

Both the Myanmar army and the rebels use anti-personnel equipment in combat and as such, the final determination of the origin of the attacks is not possible at all times, Amnesty noted.

Current access restrictions also preclude field documentation efforts, he added.

A closure of the mobile internet and government crackdown on media reporting also make it difficult to independently verify witness allegations.

But according to Amnesty, in July 2020 it was able to document indiscriminate airstrikes and bombings by the military, which also left fatalities and injuries, including to minors.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also told the Human Rights Council in recent months that in Rakhine State, civilians appear to have been indiscriminately targeted or attacked, which could constitute further war crimes or even crimes against humanity.

Sexual abuse

In another incident on September 11, the Myanmar military admitted that three of its soldiers had raped an ethnic Rakhine woman during operations in the town of Rathedaung in June.

In a statement on the incident, the military later publicly named the victim, but not the perpetrators.

Even when the Myanmar military is forced to admit wrongdoing, their handling of this horrific issue of sexual violence shows a complete neglect of responsibility, said Ming Yu Hah of Amnesty.

Amnesty said Monday that children were among those killed in a suspected indiscriminate attack by the military against ethnic minorities in Rakhine and Chin states in recent weeks. [File: Hein Htet/EPA]

These shocking events speak volumes about Tatmadaw, and how deeply the assumption of impunity fits within his ranks.

According to Amnesty, satellite analysis and new witness testimony also suggested that Myanmar soldiers burned a village in central Rakhine in early September.

A witness also told Amnesty that soldiers launched an attack on another village, Hpa Yar Paung in Rakhine, on 3 September.

A Myanmar army spokesman, Major General Zaw Min Tun, told reporters that a police vehicle was attacked by the Arakan Army with a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) near the village.

According to Amnesty, the army was also seen arresting two Rakhine men from the village that evening. Their bodies were later found near the river with gunshot wounds the next morning.

The international community should raise the alarm about the situation in Rakhine state now, or face questions later as to why they failed to act again, Ming Yu Hah said.