Beheadings, rapes, torture: Myanmar’s junta unleashes violence on rebel-held areas

Thomas Andrews, a former US congressman from Maine, said in the report to the UN General Assembly circulated on Friday that the junta has responded to military defeats and the loss of territory by using sophisticated weapons against civilians and seeking to destroy towns that it cannot control.

Calling Myanmar “an invisible crisis” because the world’s attention is focused elsewhere, he said, “Escalating atrocities against the people of Myanmar are being enabled by governments that allow, or actively support, the transfer of weapons, weapons materials, and jet fuel to junta forces.”

The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar lamented, however, that their actions remain an exception.

He called on all countries to address Myanmar’s “devastating human rights and humanitarian crisis” by stopping the flow of weapons to the junta, stepping up humanitarian aid to millions in need, and supporting efforts to hold perpetrators accountable for human rights violations.