UN experts: 6,000 reasons reminding the international community that it is failing the people of Myanmar

In a joint statement issued on Monday, experts* said that there is now “6,000 reminders that the international community is failing the people of Myanmar,” They stressed that international action is making a difference, pointing to the significant decline in “the military junta’s ability to access the weapons it uses to attack civilians.”

The junta’s purchases of weapons, dual-use technologies and manufacturing equipment fell by a third after governments imposed targeted sanctions, but this remains “grossly insufficient” and lacks the coordination and strategic targeting necessary “to provide the support the people of Myanmar need and deserve,” according to experts. .

They added: “We can and must do better. Thousands of lives have been lost in indiscriminate attacks by the military, often targeting civilian homes and infrastructure. Unlawful killings by junta forces are common and characterized by their brutality and inhumanity. According to reliable reports, Nearly 2,000 people were killed in the custody of junta forces – including 365 people who were shot in the head, 215 people were burned alive, and many victims were tortured to death “Forced disappearance before execution. Beheadings, dismemberment and mutilation of bodies are shockingly common.”

Experts confirmed that more than 21,000 detainees remain in detention since the military coup in February 2021, many of whom are incommunicado, amid the military junta’s use of arbitrary detention and actions amounting to enforced disappearance to silence opponents.

He stressed the need for countries to deprive the military junta of the legitimacy it seeks, including rejecting its plans “To hold what they are trying to define as next year’s election.”

They said: “An election cannot be held when a democratically elected government has been overthrown in an unconstitutional coup, when arbitrary arrest, detention, disappearance, torture and execution of opposition leaders continue, and when it is illegal for journalists to report the truth. We urge UN Member States to call this measure what it is, a fraud.” “.

The experts called on governments and donors to increase assistance to civil society organizations that document human rights violations, protect civilian populations, and provide life-saving humanitarian assistance.

The experts are:

Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar;

Gabriela Citrone (Chair Rapporteur), Grazyna Baranowska (Vice-Chair), Awa Balde, Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez and Mohamed Al-Obaidi, Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances;

Matthew Gillette (Chair Rapporteur), Jana Yudkivska (Vice-Chair, Communications), Priya Gopalan (Vice-Chair, Monitoring), Miriam Estrada Castillo and Mumba Malila, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention;

and Maurice Tidball Baines, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

*It is noteworthy that special rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is an intergovernmental body responsible for promoting and protecting human rights around the world. Rapporteurs and experts are tasked with studying human rights situations and submitting reports on them to the Human Rights Council. It should be noted that this position is honorary, and these experts are not considered employees of the United Nations and do not receive compensation for their work.