OHCHR warns Tatmadaw army ‘scorched earth’ policy killed thousand civilians

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau

UNITED NATIONS, 4th March. UN human rights office report in Geneva on Friday warned that the generals’ “scorched earth” policy had left thousands of civilians dead, 80 percent of townships impacted by fighting and the army “stretched so thin” on the ground that it resorted to airstrikes.

OHCHR’s James Rodehaver said “Continuous” violence, including the killing, arbitrary arrest, torture and enforced disappearance of opponents in Myanmar between 1 February 2022 and 31 January 2023, have left the country’s people desperate for outside help, as he unveiled latest report on the crisis.

“Despite all the challenges that they face, so far there has been so far no break in the will of Myanmar’s people to oppose this coup and to continue searching for their human rights and democratic future.”

According to the UN rights office report, 3,000 civilians have been killed since the coup. A full 30 per cent are believed to have died in custody.

Mr. Rodehaver heads OHCHR’s Myanmar team and said the violence rose sharply last year in northwest and southeast Myanmar which has left the military “actively fighting” on 14 different fronts. “

It is one of the reasons why they are stretched so thin and why they’re having to rely on airstrikes and heavy weaponry,” said” It does not paint a picture of them being in control.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk called for “urgent, concrete action” to end the crisis, for an immediate halt to the violence, the release of all those arbitrarily detained, accountability and unhindered humanitarian access.

Turk added: “Two years after the military launched a coup, the generals have embarked on a scorched earth policy in an attempt to stamp out opposition. Tragically, regional and global efforts for peace and restraint have largely fallen on deaf ears. Urgent, concrete action is needed to end this festering catastrophe.”

OHCHR’s report detailed how four helicopters opened fire on a school killing at least six children and injuring nine others, on 16 September 2022, in Let Yet Kone village, Tabayin Township, Sagaing.

OHCHR spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani said “After some 60 soldiers deployed from helicopters to the ground, they reportedly raided the village, executing a school technician and five villagers before arresting wounded children and teachers,”

She noted an airstrike against a hospital in Man Yu Gyi village, Banmauk Township, Sagaing, killing one woman and injuring five others.

OHCHR report noted that the hospital had been inaugurated a day earlier and that the victims were all volunteers.

Ms. Shamdasani explained that the military employs a “four cuts” approach, involving indiscriminate airstrikes and artillery shelling, razing villages to the ground to displace civilian populations and the denial of humanitarian access. The strategic aim is to cut off non-State organized armed groups and other anti-military armed elements from access to food, financing, intelligence and recruits.

“Consistent with their modus operandi documented over decades, including in Kachin in 2011 and Rakhine in 2017, UN reports indicated that nearly 39,000 houses nationwide have been burnt or destroyed in military operations since February 2022, representing a more than 1,000-fold increase compared to 2021,” she said.

A UN rights office report noted that there are 20,000 political prisoners in Myanmar. Some 16,000 remain in detention but their whereabouts remain unclear.

“Many of those people, we know that they were arrested but we have no idea where they are, and that includes their families,” said OHCHR’s Mr. Rodehaver.

“Unfortunately, no-one is given access to the detention centres, including many humanitarian groups.”

He added: “The people that we do get hold of – who either have been able to contact their relatives in detention, or when detainees are released – their stories are very grim, either about the conditions they are kept in and in terms of the use of torture.”

OHCHR does not have access to Myanmar, the report’s findings are based on over 96 interviews and meetings with victims, survivors and corroborated by satellite imagery, verified multimedia files, and credible open-source information as well as regular collaboration, data and information exchanges within the UN system.

“Figures of casualties likely represent an underestimation of the reality on the ground,” it noted.