WASHINGTON — Myanmar’s navy has imported not less than $1 billion in arms and different materials because it staged a coup in February 2021, a UN professional stated on Wednesday in a brand new report that calls out Russia and China for aiding the junta’s lethal marketing campaign to crush its opposition.
Since the navy seized energy and jailed democratic leaders, some opponents of navy rule have taken up arms, in locations becoming a member of ethnic minority insurgents, and the navy has responded with air strikes and heavy weapons, together with in civilian areas.
Russian-made Mi-35 helicopter, MiG-29 fighter jets and Yak-130 mild plane, and Chinese Ok-8 jets, have been most often used to conduct air strikes which have hit colleges, medical services, houses and different civilian websites, stated the report by Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights state of affairs in Myanmar.
In a single assault on a village gathering organized by the navy’s opponents in Sagaing area on April 11, two bombs dropped from a Yak-130 killed not less than 160 individuals, reportedly together with almost 40 youngsters, the report stated.
Myanmar’s navy says it’s concentrating on insurgents and after the Sagaing assault stated any civilians killed have been in all probability supporters of opponents it calls “terrorists.”
“The good news is we now know who is supplying these arms and the jurisdictions in which they operate,” Andrews stated in an announcement, calling for UN members to “step up and stop the flow of arms” with an entire ban on the arms transfers to Myanmar’s navy, enforcement of current bans and coordinated sanctions.
The UN professional used commerce knowledge to element transfers of arms and different items, together with uncooked supplies for Myanmar’s home arms manufacturing, to the navy for the reason that coup price $406 million from Russia and $267 million from China, together with from state-owned entities in each international locations.
State-owned entities in India additionally made a smaller quantity of transfers, and firms in Singapore, India and Thailand have been additionally concerned in transfers to the navy.
Some $227 million of fabric got here from Rosoboronexport, Moscow’s state-owned arms exporter, which has transferred SU-30 fighter jets, provides for MiG-29 jets and rocket launch methods to Myanmar, the report stated.
Other Russian firms offered a variety of instruments, tools and spare elements for Russian-supplied weapons methods, it stated.
“Weaponry provided by Russian suppliers has been used to commit probable war crimes and crimes against humanity in Myanmar,” the report stated.
The UN missions of the 5 international locations talked about within the report as sources of arms and materials didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
At a news convention in New York, Andrews stated Chinese officers had earlier criticized his reporting, saying he was vilifying legit commerce in arms and working outdoors his mandate by conducting evaluation. Russian officers had expressed an identical response, Andrews stated. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
