On January 11th, Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced that the military junta has committed more war crimes and human rights violations against the people of Myanmar in 2023.
The annual global report highlights human rights abuses by the military junta and provides data on Myanmar.
In the past year, the report states the military junta has committed a series of arrests, torture, and killings of innocent people, along with excessive attacks targeting civilians.
A human rights activist stated, “Now, the people no longer accept this military junta. That’s why the junta treats them as enemies, launching attacks with aircraft, firing guns, using mortar shells, and more. We have only one option. The military junta will do whatever it can until the end. Meanwhile, the suffering of those whose lives have been shattered is truly heart-wrenching.”
In 2023, the military junta carried out mass killings, which included aircraft attacks on schools, hospitals, and refugee camps, resulting in the deaths of thousands of people, including children.
The military junta increased aircraft strikes in Chin, Kachin, Karen and Karenni states by 300 percent in 2023, according to HRW.
In addition, the military junta blocked the delivery of humanitarian aid following cyclone Mocha, a powerful and deadly tropical cyclone in the North Indian Ocean which affected Myanmar and parts of Bangladesh in May 2023.
According to HRW, women and girls, LGBT people have been subjected to sexual violence and exploitation by the military junta. Currently, nearly two million people are fleeing war in Myanmar, and more than ninety thousand have fled to neighboring countries.
The Myanmar military junta has not been punished for crimes they have committed, according to HRW. Local ethnic organizations, including the National Unity Government (NUG), are documenting war crimes committed by the military junta in order to prosecute them in international courts.
