UN attempts to take action on Min Aung Hlaing-led rebel/terror group while US ban travels to Burma (4th level) signaling serious action to take place.

NOTE: (What is a level 4 travel warning?

The Department of State provides additional advice for travelers in these areas in the Travel Advisory. … Level 4 – Do Not Travel: This is the highest advisory level due to the greater likelihood of life-threatening risks. During an emergency, the U.S. government may have very limited ability to provide assistance)

Two senior UN officials denounced on Sunday, “systematic” attacks on peaceful demonstrators in Myanmar and flagged that the international community has a responsibility to protect the people from atrocities.

Following another day of widespread bloodshed by the Myanmar military, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Michelle Bachelet, High Commissioner for Human Rights, strongly condemned the Myanmar military’s widespread, lethal, increasingly systematic attacks against peaceful protesters, as well as other serious violations of human rights since it seized power on 1 February.

“The shameful, cowardly, brutal actions of the military and police – who have been filmed shooting at protesters as they flee, and who have not even spared young children – must be halted immediately”, they said in a joint statement.

International role

The senior officials also called on the Security Council to build on its statement of 10 March condemning the violence, among other things, and for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the wider international community to promptly act to protect the people from atrocities.

Although the State has the primary responsibility to safeguard its population, in cases where it is manifestly failing, the international community “should take timely and collective action in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations to protect civilian populations that are at risk of atrocity crimes”, they reminded.

End impunity

Both UN officials also called for an end to systemic impunity in Myanmar.

“We must ensure accountability for past crimes and deter the most serious international crimes from being committed”, they stated.

“The failure to address the atrocity crimes the military has committed in the past, including against Rohingya and other minorities, has brought Myanmar to this terrible pass”.

Ms. Nderitu and Ms. Bachelet urged all parties – including defecting officials, police and military officers – to cooperate with international mechanisms, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Human Rights Council’s Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, in fighting impunity in the country.

“There is no way forward without accountability and fundamental reform of the military”, they stressed.

Filed under: 1 General News, 3 World News |