Human rights group releases scathing report documenting junta abuses 

By DMG 14 Dec 2021

DMG Newsroom
14 December 2021, Yangon 

The Network for Human Rights Documentation Burma (ND-Burma) released a report on Tuesday calling on Myanmar’s military regime to take responsibility for human rights violations in the country. 

The lives and livelihoods of Myanmar’s people are deteriorating due to the State Administration Council’s systematic crimes against them since February 1, when the military seized power, ND-Burma said. 

The military committed systematic and widespread human rights violations against innocent civilians, ND-Burma said, calling for an immediate end to the violence. 

“On average, between 35 and 43 cases of human rights violations amounting to war crimes were committed in each state/region: Chin State, Kayah (Karenni) State and Sagaing Region,” ND-Burma said in its report. “The human rights violations being perpetrated by the junta are considered to be grave breaches of the Geneva Convention and amount to war crimes including murder, torture, sexual violence, rape, enforced disappearances and the destruction of property.” 

The report noted that tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced by military operations in the months since the coup, with significant property destruction blamed on Tatmadaw forces, including several cases of arson. 

“The voices of people of various ethnicities, genders, religion and socio-economic backgrounds persist and they continue to demand accountability from a regime who has sabotaged their survival,” ND-Burma said. 

The rights group called on the international community to “refuse under all circumstances to engage with the military junta or else risk legitimizing the regime as the legitimate government of Myanmar. All efforts to engage with the country’s leadership must be with the National Unity Government.” 

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), another human rights group closely documenting military abuses since the coup, said that as of December 14, at least 1,339 people had been killed and 10,946 arrested by the regime since it seized power. 

“With 60% of those killed by state forces around the world in 2021, Myanmar is currently the deadliest country in the world for demonstrators,” the ND-Burma report said.