Myanmar

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) must immediately impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar to bring an end to the mass killing of largely peaceful protestors by the Myanmar security forces, said Amnesty International today in a joint call with over 200 civil society organizations.

“Mere condemnation by the international community has had no effect. It is time for the UN Security Council to use its unique powers to impose a comprehensive global arms embargo in order to try and end the military’s killing spree,” said Lawrence Moss, Senior UN Advocate for Amnesty International.

Since the 1 February coup, at least 769 protestors have reportedly been unlawfully killed by the military, and thousands more arbitrarily detained, including the country’s elected civilian leadership, human rights defenders, activists, journalists, and other critics of the military coup.

Since the widely disputed presidential election in August 2020, the Belarusian regime has engaged in a brutal crackdown on all forms of dissent, real or imaginary.

Last fall, a global petition against police brutality which saw 191,000 people from 144 countries and territories call for an end to police violence in Belarus. The visibility of that international action meant a great deal to people on the ground in Belarus struggling to defend human rights.

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Responding to reports that at least 91 people, including a five-year-old boy, were killed by Myanmar security forces across the country on 27 March in its ongoing brutal crackdown on protesters, Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns, said: 

“This is just the latest example of the military authorities’ determination to kill their way out of nationwide resistance to the coup. These abhorrent killings again show the generals’ brazen disregard for the inadequate pressure applied so far by the international community.

“This comes a day after the military announced that further protests would be met with shots to the head. 

“The cost of international inaction is being counted in bodies, including children shot dead in their homes. Amid the horrifying death toll is a nation of over 50 million held hostage, subjected to arbitrary arrest and sweeping surveillance, living in fear of death and torture.  

The Myanmar military is using increasingly lethal tactics and weapons normally seen on the battlefield against peaceful protesters and bystanders across the country, new research by Amnesty International has revealed.

By verifying more than 50 videos from the ongoing crackdown, Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab can confirm that security forces appear to be implementing planned, systematic strategies including the ramped-up use of lethal force. Many of the killings documented amount to extrajudicial executions.

 Responding to the reports that 18 people were killed and many more wounded as police and military forces confronted peaceful protesters across Myanmar, Emerlynne Gil, Deputy Regional Director for Research of Amnesty International said:

“It is shocking and deeply alarming that the police and military responded with lethal force against entirely peaceful protesters, leading to a surge in fatalities yesterday.

“These protesters must be allowed to exercise the right to gather peacefully to express their opinion about the country’s current situation.

“The duty of all law enforcement, whether police and military, is to facilitate and protect peaceful assemblies. They must not harm protesters and must certainly not apply lethal force. Any measure they take to restrict these peaceful assemblies must be legitimate, proportionate, and necessary.

“Amid this rapidly deteriorating situation, the Myanmar security forces must immediately cease the use of unnecessary force against peaceful protesters and release all those arbitrarily arrested.”

Responding to the arrest of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and others amid reports that a military coup is underway in Myanmar, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns, Ming Yu Hah, said:

“The arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, senior officials and other political figures is extremely alarming. Unless those detained can be charged with a recognizable criminal offence under international law, they must be immediately released.

“The Myanmar military must clarify on what legal basis they have been detained. They must also guarantee that the rights of those arrested are fully respected, including against ill-treatment, and that they have access to lawyers of their own choice and to their family. They must confirm their whereabouts and grant them access to medical care.

“This is an ominous moment for people in Myanmar, and threatens a severe worsening of military repression and impunity. The concurrent arrests of prominent political activists and human rights defenders sends a chilling message that the military authorities will not tolerate any dissent amid today’s unfolding events.

By Mohammed Tofail is a Rohingya refugee living in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Follow Mohammed on Twitter @MdTofaiL339

Almost half a million Rohingya children do not have access to formal education inside the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. When the children of other parts of the world are able to study online during the pandemic, the situation is pushing our children further behind. The world should not leave us behind, caged in a camp like this.

We are a scared community. Due to the spread of rumors about COVID-19 through word of mouth, people are now more scared about reporting illness and receiving treatment.

The internet blackout is keeping us in the dark about information related to COVID-19. Bangladesh has been so kind to us. Letting our people suffer in a pandemic by limiting access to essential information is against the country’s humanitarian goodwill.