Fri 11 June 2021:
The UN rights chief said Friday that violence was escalating across Myanmar, warning that the country had plunged into a “human rights catastrophe” since a February 1 coup.
“In just over four months, Myanmar has gone from being a fragile democracy to a human rights catastrophe,” Michelle Bachelet said in a statement, saying the military leadership was “singularly responsible” for the crisis.
“As I had feared, armed conflict and other violence are intensifying in many parts of Myanmar, including Kayah State, Chin State and Kachin State, with the violence particularly intense in areas with significant ethnic and religious minority groups”, Ms. Bachelet said in a statement released in Geneva.
“State security forces have continued to use heavy weaponry, including airstrikes, against armed groups and against civilians and civilian objects, including Christian churches.” The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights cited credible reports that security forces had used civilians as human shields, shelled civilian homes and churches in Loikaw, Phekon and Demoso, in Kayah State.
Since the military takeover, a minimum of 860 people have been killed by security forces, mostly in the context of protests, the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) noted.
More than 100 self-styled “people’s defence forces” and opposition armed groups also operate across the country, OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said, although there was “little centralised command”.
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