Britain yesterday advised its citizens to flee Myanmar, as a UN expert said that the military junta is likely committing “crimes against humanity” in its attempt to stay in power.
The military are cracking down with increasing severity on daily protests against the Feb. 1 coup, with at least 70 people killed, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Thomas Andrews said.
The turmoil prompted Britain, Myanmar’s former colonial ruler, to urge its citizens to get out if they could, warning that “political tension and unrest are widespread since the military takeover and levels of violence are rising.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
“The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office advises British nationals to leave the country by commercial means, unless there is an urgent need to stay,” the British Foreign Office said.
The move came after Andrews gave a stark assessment of the crisis.
Myanmar is “controlled by a murderous, illegal regime” that is likely committing “crimes against humanity,” Andrews told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
The crimes likely include “acts of murder, enforced disappearance, persecution, torture” carried out with “the knowledge of senior leadership,” including Burmese Army Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, he said.
While saying that such offenses could only be determined in a court of law, he said there was clear evidence that the junta’s crimes were “widespread” and part of a “coordinated campaign.”
At least nine protesters were killed on Thursday, including six in Myaing Township — five of them shot in the head, a witness said.
Rights group Amnesty International on Thursday released a major report on the crisis, accusing the junta of using battlefield weapons on unarmed protesters and carrying out premeditated killings.
The military — which defends its takeover by citing alleged voting irregularities in elections won by Burmese State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s party in November last year — held a news conference on Thursday accusing her of corruption.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said that the detained chief minister of Yangon admitted giving Aung San Suu Kyi US$600,000 in cash, along with more than 11kg of gold.
Meanwhile, state-run media said that the Arakan Army — which is fighting for autonomy for the Rakhine — is no longer considered a terrorist organization.
Observers said that the move indicates the military is trying to avoid spreading itself too thinly, aiming to concentrate its forces on quelling the protests.
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