Last Updated: April 12, 2023, 01:43 IST
Turk accused Myanmar’s navy of as soon as once more disregarding clear authorized obligations… to guard civilians within the conduct of hostilities (Photo Credit: Volker Turk Twitter)
Turk pointed to studies of as much as 100 folks killed within the strikes early Tuesday morning within the Sagaing area, an opposition stronghold
The UN human rights chief stated he was “horrified” at reported air strikes on a community hall in central Myanmar on Tuesday that killed dozens of people, including children.
“It appears schoolchildren performing dances, as well as other civilians, attending an opening ceremony at the hall in Pazi Gyi village, Kanbalu Township, were among the victims,” Volker Turk stated.
Describing how “a helicopter gunship then reportedly fired on these fleeing the corridor”, he pointed to reports of up to 100 people killed in the strikes early Tuesday morning in the Sagaing region, an opposition stronghold.
Witnesses contacted by AFP also spoke of as many as 100 killed, while graphic video clips circulating on social media — that AFP has been unable to verify — show bodies scattered among the ruins of homes.
Turk accused Myanmar’s military of once again disregarding “clear legal obligations… to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities” and displaying “blatant disregard for the associated guidelines of worldwide regulation”.
“I also call on all parties to take all feasible precautions to protect the civilian population that is under their control from the effects of attacks, including by avoiding locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas,” he stated.
Myanmar has been in chaos and its economic system in tatters because the navy seized energy in a coup two years in the past.
Sagaing area — close to the second-largest metropolis Mandalay — has put up among the fiercest resistance to the navy’s rule, with intense preventing raging there for months.
Turk reiterated that “there are cheap grounds to consider that the navy and its affiliated militias are accountable for an especially broad vary of human rights violations and abuses since 1 (*100*) 2021″.
Some of those violations, he warned, “may constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes”.
“I firmly consider the worldwide justice processes now underway will sooner or later maintain the navy management accountable for such crimes,” he stated.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed)
