The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) invited journalists and media players to an in-person briefing for the presentation of the report of the High Commissioner on the human rights situation in Myanmar to the 54th session of the Human Rights Council at a press conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand 2 October.

The briefing was delivered by James Rodehaver, Chief of the OHCHR Myanmar Team, in which he highlighted the serious human rights issues facing the Myanmar people.

The following are the key findings published in the September report and outlined in the presentation.

This report, prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, examines trends and patterns in violation of international law from 1 April 2022 and 31 July 2023. The Office does not have access to Myanmar; findings are based on over 161 interviews with victims and survivors, corroborated by satellite imagery, verified multimedia files, credible open-source information, and regular collaboration, data and information exchanges with local and international organizations and duty-bearers.

In the third year since the coup, the human rights crisis has continued to deteriorate mostly due to systematic use by the military of airstrikes, mass killings, and burnings against the civilian population. Emboldened by confidence in impunity, military actions have grown in intensity and brutality resulting in interconnected humanitarian, political, and economic crises. Denial of humanitarian access to people in need of life-saving aid persisted, even following the disastrous impact of Cyclone Mocha. A seemingly endless spiral of military violence has engulfed all aspects of life in Myanmar. Increasing protection concerns for the civilian population derived also from violence by anti-military armed groups. These acts, however, remain limited in scale, proportion, or scope compared to military violence.

AIRSTRIKES

Military use of airstrikes has significantly increased in the reporting period with some 687 attacks carried out compared to the 301 between 1 February 2021 and 31 March 2022. Credible sources verified that military airstrikes have killed at least 281 individuals, instilling terror in the civilian population, who now reasonably fear they could be bombed in their homes, at schools, hospitals, and religious buildings, and when gathered as a community. While previously the north-east and south-east, particularly in Kachin, Kayah, and Kayin, were the most targeted areas, the report notes a 330 percent increase in airstrikes in the central regions with figures raising from 79 to 344.

Sagaing alone accounts for 258 of the 344 airstrikes and 36 percent of the total nationwide. Of further concern is that airstrikes have repeatedly been combined with measures that systemically deny the ability of those injured to access medical care.

MASS KILLINGS

Ground operations continued to represent another major threat for the protection of the civilian population as the brutality of the military has continued to intensify. Military forces have repeatedly entered villages, rounded up residents, and executed them. Soldiers made use of an appalling selection

of methods likely amounting to inhuman treatment to inflict unimaginable pain on their victims, including by burning them alive, dismembering, raping, beheading, bludgeoning, and using them as protection against attacks and landmines. A mass killing is considered an incident in which at least 10 civilians were killed.

BURNINGS

Burnings, which remain widespread and systematic, represent a further affront to civilian protection. Forming a key tactic of the military’s “four cuts” strategy, the military burns not only homes, but also targets food stores, seed banks, and livestock, to punish a perceived hostile population and prevent access to food for its opponents. These acts cause immediate and long-term harm and force the civilian population to live in precarious conditions exposed to numerous man-made and natural hazards, including extreme weather conditions, snakebites, and landmines.

ROHINGYA

A total of 116 Rohingya have been reported by the military as dead as a consequence of the landfall of Cyclone Mocha in Rakhine on 14 May 2023. While initial figures claimed some 400 deaths, the military threatened legal actions against individuals and outlets reporting figures different than those provided by them, effectively preventing any further documentation. The military stated that 148 people lost their lives, clearly demonstrating the disproportionate impact suffered by the Rohingya community.

Key contributors to these tragic events are the persistent conditions of confinement in camps for over 150,000 Rohingya, most of which were located near the sea or in low-lying areas prone to flooding, flimsy dwellings, limited available evacuation options, and inadequate information and advanced warnings. Some reported on the impossibility for Rohingya to freely move to seek refuge. Some did not heed warnings due to the lack of trust in military.

Denial of humanitarian access by the military prevented the provision of life-saving medical assistance and treatments, shelter materials, food, and clean water. Restrictions on humanitarian access affected the Rohingya and all communities in Rakhine. Due to the already disastrous living conditions of the Rohingya community, persisting military actions denying aid pose a serious threat to their survival. Victims are unable to feed daily their children and widowed women are forced to beg for food, exacerbating risks of exploitation and abuse.

Conditions for dignified and sustainable returns do not exist. Despite this, the military insisted on returning approximately 1,000 Rohingya from Bangladesh. None of the key human rights issues, including citizenship, security, fundamental rights and freedoms, were addressed in the repatriation plan of the military.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Military:

· Immediately implement Security Council resolution S/RES/2669(2022) ceasing all violence

· Allow for full, unrestricted, predictable humanitarian access to all those in need by international and national organizations

· Support inclusive and transparent political processes to return Myanmar to a path of democratic development

· Take all necessary measure to ensure that members of the Rohingya community are not further victimized

· Provide OHCHR with meaningful access to Myanmar

To all parties in Myanmar

· Protect civilians in full respect of international human rights law and international humanitarian law

· Allow for full, unrestricted, predictable humanitarian access to all those in need by international and national organizations

· Cooperate with relevant international human rights and accountability mechanisms to support evidence-gathering processes on crimes committed in Myanmar against the civilian population

· Ensure that allegations of human rights abuses against the civilian population are promptly and transparently investigated and that perpetrators are held accountable

To the Security Council and Member States

· Refer the full scope of the current situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court and continue to support documentation and accountability efforts

· Ensure that no direct and indirect supply of weapons, ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, dual-use goods, and jet fuel is provided to the military

· Collaborate with the private sector to avoid providing revenues to the military that may be used to commit human rights violations and other crimes under international law

· Ensure that Rohingya in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and elsewhere have access to sufficient food, medicines, and shelter and take concrete actions to process voluntary resettlement, while granting asylum to Rohingya victims of human rights violations.