Arr! Amnesty International be demandin' fer a thorough plunderin' o' them Burmese scallywags' misdeeds!
2023-12-21
Avast ye scallywags! The likes of Amnesty International be callin' fer an inquiry into possible war crimes committed by the landlubberin' knaves runnin' Burma. Give 'em what for, I say! Let justice be served on the high seas!
The human rights group Amnesty International has accused the Burmese military of committing war crimes in response to an insurgency in the northeast and west of the country. They have demanded an investigation into the indiscriminate killings, detention of civilians, and use of air-dropped cluster munitions by the military. The fighting began when the Three Brotherhood Alliance, consisting of the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and Ta’ang National Liberation Army, launched a coordinated offensive in October. The offensive by these well-trained and well-armed ethnic militias has posed a significant challenge for the Burmese military, which has been struggling to contain a nationwide uprising by the People’s Defense Forces since seizing power from the elected government earlier this year.Amnesty International reported that the military conducted a nighttime airstrike on Namhkam township, most likely using internationally banned cluster munitions. The Ta’ang National Liberation Army also confirmed that cluster munitions were dropped by the military, resulting in the death of one resident and injuring several others. The military's attacks on civilians and the use of banned cluster munitions in Rakhine’s Pauktaw township were condemned as potential war crimes. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that 378 civilians have died and over 660,000 people have been displaced since the fighting began. Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Program Director, Matt Wells, stated that the suffering of civilians across Myanmar has not improved since the coup, despite falling off the international agenda.
In a separate report, Human Rights Watch accused the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army of abducting and forcibly recruiting civilians who were fleeing the fighting in Shan state. The MNDAA, an armed group of the Kokang minority, aims to seize the town of Laukkaing to oust a rival faction from power. Residents of Laukkaing reported that their colleagues were forcibly taken by the MNDAA for recruitment purposes. The MNDAA did not respond to requests for comment from the Associated Press.