Since seizing power in February, Myanmar’s military has committed crimes against humanity, according to a senior UN rights expert, who slammed the international community for failing to “stop this nightmare.”
Thomas Andrews, the special rapporteur on Myanmar’s human rights situation, spoke out against the “widespread, systematic attacks on the people” since the coup five months ago before the UN Human Rights Council.
Since the coup that deposed Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, Myanmar has seen enormous demonstrations and a harsh military reaction.
The situation in the nation has “developed from a political crisis to a multi-dimensional human rights tragedy,” UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet told the council on Tuesday.
“Suffering and violence across the country pose grave threats to long-term development, raising the risk of state failure or a wider civil war,” she said.
According to UN estimates, almost 900 people have been killed and 200,000 have been forced to abandon their homes since the coup.
At the same time, at least 5,200 individuals, including more than 90 journalists, had been unlawfully detained.
Andrews accused the military of abusing individuals in detention, “even torturing them to death.”
