OHCHR warns rights abuses in Myanmar increasing

19 December 2021
OHCHR warns rights abuses in Myanmar increasing

The United Nations’ rights office OHCHR is warning that Myanmar’s human rights situation is deepening on an unprecedented scale.

In a recent statement, the OHCHR said that it was “appalled by the alarming escalation of grave human rights abuses” in the country, according to a report in UN News.

“In the last week alone, security forces have killed and burned to death 11 people, among them five minors, and rammed vehicles into protesters exercising their fundamental right to peaceful assembly,” said Spokesperson Rupert Colville at a news briefing in Geneva.

He noted that serious violations are “reported daily of the rights to life, liberty and security of person, the prohibition against torture, the right to a fair trial, and freedom of expression.”

The report comes in the wake of a shocking incident in Done Taw village in Salingyi township, Sagaing Region in which Myanmar soldiers allegedly burned alive 11 captured villagers.

The incident appears to have sent shock waves around the world, with countries such as the USA and the United Nations expressing their serious concern over the incident.

According to the report, the UN Human Rights Office has received multiple reports of villages being burned, including protected structures, such as places of religious worship and residential buildings.