The Myanmar military massacred civilians, used human shields, and committed other atrocities in Karenni State in acts that may amount to war crimes, according to the human rights group Fortify Rights.

The organisation is calling for member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to support the establishment of a U.N. Security Council-mandated global arms embargo prohibiting the sale of weapons and dual-use technology to the Myanmar military junta.

As ASEAN foreign ministers (without any representative from Myanmar) prepare to meet for their annual retreat on Wednesday 16 February Ismail Wolff, Regional Director at Fortify Rights said: “Clear and definitive action is needed to compel the Myanmar junta to rethink its attacks on civilians. The U.N. Security Council must urgently impose a global arms embargo on the Myanmar military, and it would be strategic and sensible for ASEAN to support it.”

The report, entitled, “Ongoing War Crimes in Karenni (Kayah) State, Myanmar: May 2021 to January 2022,” gave details of how the Myanmar military has killed civilians, used people as human shields and committed other atrocities in eastern Karenni State, also known as Kayah State, which may amount to war crimes.

It draws on first-hand testimony from 31 eyewitnesses, survivors, internally displaced persons (IDPs), religious leaders, humanitarian and civil-society workers, members of armed resistance groups, and others. It documents attacks on civilians, residential homes, churches, IDP camps, and other non-military targets in Karenni State between May 2021 and January 2022.

As well as documenting the Myanmar military’s use of civilians as human shields and forced porters the report also includes details of the “Christmas Eve massacre” near the village of Moso in Hpruso Township, Karenni State, where the Myanmar military killed at least 40 civilians, including a child and two humanitarians working with Save the Children, on December 24, 2021.

The victims were set on fire by the troops. A doctor told Fortify Rights that many of the bodies were so badly burned that autopsies could not be carried out.

“Some had their mouths stuffed with cloth, so we were pretty sure these people were gagged,” he said. “Almost every skull was fractured and badly cracked . . . [In some bodies], we could gather enough evidence to say they were burned to death alive.”

Since the coup military junta attacks have forced the displacement of an estimated 170,000 civilians in Karenni State, or more than half of the state’s estimated population of 300,000, according to the Karenni Civil Society Network. UNHCR also previously noted that “[a] substantial proportion of Kayah [Karenni] State’s 300,000 population is now displaced.”