'War crimes': Myanmar junta depriving civilians of lifesaving aid, says rights group

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – The global community must immediately respond to the mounting humanitarian needs of civilians as Myanmar’s military junta continues to carry out “heinous” acts “that may constitute war crimes,” an international rights watchdog said on Wednesday.

“The Myanmar military junta blocked lifesaving humanitarian aid for forcibly displaced civilians … by arbitrarily arresting aid workers, destroying food stocks, confiscating aid, and other ongoing acts that may constitute war crimes,” according to a report by Fortify Rights.

It urged the governments of Thailand, India, China, and Bangladesh to “immediately authorize humanitarian agencies to provide cross-border aid to growing numbers of civilians in need in Myanmar.”

Since the Feb. 1 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, the Myanmar military has “killed, tortured, and arbitrarily arrested civilians with impunity, while also using forced labor, including human shielding,” the report said, adding that more than 223,000 have been displaced in the country.

The report detailed several incidents of arbitrary arrests and rights violations by the Myanmar army, including an attack on June 9 in which soldiers “destroyed and burned stockpiles of rice stored at a school” in a village in Shan State.

It also cited residents’ accounts of “how the Myanmar junta forces looted civilian possessions, carried out arson attacks, and destroyed civilian property, including food, medicine, and aid supplies intended for displaced civilians.”

“Blocking aid and targeting humanitarian workers in the context of armed conflict are war crimes,” said Ismail Wolff, the group’s regional director.

Warning that the “Myanmar junta poses a threat to regional peace and security,” he called on the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) “to urgently support emergency cross-border aid for the displaced and ensure accountability for the junta’s heinous crimes.”