UN High Commissioner condemns two years of military rule in Myanmar
Geneva (epd). The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has sharply condemned the tyranny of the military in Myanmar. Two years after the military coup, the Southeast Asian country was in a deeper crisis than ever, Türk emphasized in Geneva on Friday.
According to credible sources, at least 2,890 people have been killed by the military and its supporters since the coup on February 1, 2021. Another 1.2 million people have been displaced within Myanmar. More than 70,000 people have fled the country.
Türk also recalled the brutal persecution of the Muslim Rohingya population in the predominantly Buddhist country. In every area of human rights, economic, social, cultural, civil and political, Myanmar has profoundly reversed development, Türk said.
Those responsible for the daily attacks on civilians and human rights violations must be held accountable. The military should be placed under effective civilian control.
Since the fall of the government under Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the military has been brutally cracking down on members of the opposition and resistance groups. Again and again there are reports of massacres of the civilian population.
Around 800,000 Rohingya were displaced into Bangladesh during an army offensive in late August 2017. UN investigators and human rights activists accuse Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya. Last Tuesday, the human rights organization “Fortify Rights” together with those affected filed a criminal complaint in Germany against members of the Myanmar military. They invoke the so-called principle of universal jurisdiction, which enables the prosecution of serious crimes abroad.