Civil groups demand urgent UN security council meeting on Myanmar
Bangkok, Nov 5 (EFE).- More than 500 civil organizations from Myanmar and other countries signed a petition to demand that the United Nation hold an emergency Security Council meeting on “the escalation of attacks” by the Myanmar Army in Chin state.
“We call on the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution urgently calling for a meeting on the escalation of attacks in Chin state, and addressing the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian, human rights and political crisis in Myanmar.” the statement signed by 521 organizations read.
Since the coup, Chin state has become one of the areas that presents the most armed resistance against the power of the military, with two active civilian militias.
In a statement released by Human Rights Watch, one of the signatories, the groups demanded a UN resolution that “consolidates an international action to stop the violent military assault against Myanmar’s population.” It also urged the imposition of an embargo of global arms on the military junta, in power since the Feb. 1 coup.
Signatories said the Myanmar Army bombed on Oct. 29 the town of Thantlang, in Chin state, with incendiary devices that caused the destruction by the fire of 200 houses and two churches.
“The junta has continued its violent assault throughout Myanmar and has recently deployed troops and increased its attacks against civilians in Chin state and the Sagaing and Magwe regions,” the organizations said.
Save the Children, whose office in Thantlang was caught fire, said last week’s attacks “are proof of a growing crisis in Myanmar” while military violence, which they consider a war crime, continues to affect large numbers of children in the country.
According to the Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners of Myanmar, the military burned some 400 houses in three towns in Chin state in October, a tactic reminiscent of the one used by the Myanmar Army against members of the Rohingya community.
On Sep. 7, the so-called National Unity Government, made up of politicians and activists close to the deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, declared a “defensive war” against the Myanmar Army.
In the nine months since the coup, the repression of the security forces has caused 1,241 deaths, according to the association.
The army justifies the coup due on alleged electoral fraud during the 2020 general elections, the result of which was annulled and in which deposed leader Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide victory, as it did in 2015, with the endorsement of international observers. EFE
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