UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, shared a report examining the first two years since the takeover of Myanmar’s military during the recent Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
He called the situation a “festering catastrophe”, and added that the military was operating with “complete impunity,” reported Dawn.
According to the report, at least 2,940 people had been verified as killed, of which nearly 30 per cent had died in detention since 1 February 2021.
The report documented that nearly 80pc of the country’s 330 townships have been affected by armed clashes as air power and artillery have been the main ways the military has relied on in fighting around 13 different fronts.
James Rodehaver, head of the UN rights office’s Myanmar team said that:
“There has never been a time and a situation in which a crisis in Myanmar has reached this far, this wide throughout the country, — Now it’s reaching even the Bamar heartland.”
In addition, nearly 39,000 houses nationwide have been burnt or destroyed in military operations since Feb 2022, indicated the UN report.
The military and its affiliates have made 17,572 arrests in the first two years since the coup, it added.
“They (Myanmar junta) have really created a crisis that’s resulted in a loss, a regression in every human right, and that includes the basic ability to live and to have an economic future,” Volker Turk said.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1740289/myanmar-junta-at-war-with-the-nation-says-un
