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

A UN expert said the situation was most ‘desperate and dangerous’ in Rakhine where thousands of people were threatened by starvation

Reading Time:3 minutes

An explosion occurs during a bombardment carried out by Myanmar’s military in Shan state’s Lashio on September 24. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:33am, 23 Nov 2024

Myanmar’s desperate military junta is ramping up attacks on villages that have fallen to opposition groups, carrying out beheadings, gang rapes and torture, with women, children and the elderly among the victims, the UN independent human rights investigator for Myanmar said in a new report.

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.”

Andrews did not name the governments. But he praised Singapore for cracking down on weapons transfers that has led to a 90 per cent reduction by Singapore-registered companies, and said sanctions imposed by the United States on junta-controlled, state-owned banks have disrupted military supply chains.

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.