UN calls on international community to cut Myanmar army's funds

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – The UN said Friday that a fact-finding mission has recommended financial sanctions and cutting funding to Myanmar's military due to severe abrogation of human rights in the Asian country since the military seized power in its February 2021 military coup.

"Our office issued a report on Myanmar, which had been requested by the Human Rights Council," UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said at a UN press conference.

"The report reiterates that fact-finding mission's recommendations to impose targeted financial sanctions on the Tatmadaw and its economic interests, as well as arms embargoes," he added.

Human rights defenders documenting and responding to atrocities by Myanmar's military junta urgently need comprehensive support, including financial, said UN experts in the report.

They called on the international community to end apparent indifference to the violence targeting the country's population.

- ‘International inaction’

"In the face of inaction by the international community, and with human rights violations continuing to be perpetrated daily by the military junta, human rights defenders are persisting in their support for those targeted," said Mary Lawlor, UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders.

Along with Tom Andrews, special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Lawlor highlighted the grave risks defenders face and the specific challenges confronting women human rights defenders.

"Defenders have been murdered and disappeared by the military since the coup. They now risk arrest, detention, torture, including sexual violence and death when going about their work and fear having their documents seized at military checkpoints," the experts said.

Lawlor and Andrews said they had publicly expressed concerns for the safety of defenders in the country just over a year ago.

"What's needed is concrete support for Myanmar human rights defenders, including those who have had to flee the country: stronger, coordinated pressure on the junta, timely and responsive direct financial support for defenders on the ground, and visas or resettlement for those fleeing the country," the experts said.

The Myanmar military junta seized power on Feb. 1, 2021.

They have detained many officials and ruling party leaders, including the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and declared a state of emergency.

More than 2,000 people have lost their lives due to military intervention against anti-coup protesters and rebel groups. Some 13,000 people have been detained since the coup, and more than 10,000 remain detained, according to UN estimates.

The military courts have issued death sentences on 114 political prisoners, two of whom were children, the UN added.

On July 25, four people, including a deputy from the former ruling party National Democracy Union (NLD), were executed after orders by a military court that tried them.