Mawlamyine, June (18)
The regime troops have targeted civilians and carried out violent attacks in southern Myanmar that have devastating consequences for local communities, said the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG).
The KHRG released a report titled ” Why would they target us? : Exploring patterns of the Burma Army’s retaliatory abuses against villagers across Southeast Burma”.
The report stated that the junta army has carried out violent assaults in rural villages throughout Southeast Myanmar, targeting civilians instead of armed groups, since the 2021 military coup.
It also mentioned that these deliberate attacks, including killings, air strikes, indiscriminate shelling, shootings, arbitrary arrests, and property destruction, have devastating consequences for local communities.
The military council’s violent attacks targeting civilians have resulted in serious human rights abuses and war crimes against humanity, said Saw Nanda Suu, the organizer of KHRG.
He added, “Civilians in southeastern Myanmar have been facing this situation since the previous military rule. Especially when there is fighting, the army arrests villagers, tortures them, kills them, and burns villages. Even after the 2021 coup, these incidents continue to happen”.
There are currently around 600,000 displaced people fleeing from their homes in Karen State due to the fierce attacks of the military regime, and they are in need of humanitarian aid every day, according to the statement.
Cooperation with the military council for humanitarian assistance is the main obstacle to providing support to those who really need it, Saw Nanda Suu pointed out that ASEAN should work directly with humanitarian organizations on the ground.
In the report released on June 16, the KHRG called for international communities to suspend exports of aviation fuel and all arms transfers to Myanmar, including weapons, munitions, surveillance technologies, and other military and security equipment, and refrain from giving any legitimacy to the junta.
Moreover, the KHRG called for the international community, ASEAN, NGOs, funding agencies, and individual governments to increase financial support for and collaboration with local human rights organizations and actors operating on the ground to ensure that the widest representation of voices and experiences of oppressed peoples in Myanmar.
News-Than Lwin Times
Photo-KHRG