Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 7th July. Head of the UN human rights office Mr. Volker Türk on Thursday told the Human Rights Council that the Myanmar regime’s brutal violence against civilians and its denial of life-saving humanitarian aid, reflect “utter contempt for humanity,” must end.
Mr. Türk said that repeated, horrific violations have been recorded by the UN human rights office, including mass killings, extra-judicial executions and beheadings.
He added that the military regime has continued to carry out atrocities in Rakhine state where the Rohingya minority are denied citizenship.
Top officials called for an end to impunity by the ruling junta who overthrew the democratically elected Government in February 2021.
“I encourage States to consider a referral of the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. We also need to ensure accountability for possible crimes committed by different armed groups.”
He said the country was continuing a “deadly freefall into even deeper violence and heartbreak.”
Turk stressed that once there had been optimism and hopes of a more peaceful and prosperous future, civilians were now living “at the whim of a reckless military authority that relies on systematic control tactics, fear and terror.”
He said the economy was spiralling with the generals exploiting natural resources there “at dangerous rates, causing irreversible environmental harm.”
He reiterated that voices of civil society and journalists have been strangled, which arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and torture continue.
He said credible sources indicate that 3,747 people have died at the hands of the regime since taking power with close to 24,000 arrested.
Mr. Türk’s report focuses on the systematic denial of life-saving aid for civilians and he accused the military of putting in place “a raft of legal, financial and bureaucratic barriers”.
He noted a third of the population is in need, the obstruction constituted a deliberate, targeted and calculated denial of fundamental human rights.
The OHCHR Commissioner called for an immediate end to the “senseless violence” and for the release of over 19,000 political prisoners detained, including the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Mynt.
Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Thomas Andrews advocated for less rhetoric and more action by UN Member States to support the “heroic” people of Myanmar, asked them to “deny the junta the three things that it needs to sustain its brutality and oppression – weapons, money, and legitimacy”.
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