Myanmar junta has murdered more than 1,100 people, says UN expert

According to the UN special rapporteur for the country, Myanmar’s military junta is systematically abducting the relatives of people it is seeking to arrest. This also includes children as young as 20 weeks old.

Tom Andrews, on Wednesday, told the UN Human Rights Council that conditions in the country have deteriorated and that “current efforts by the international community to stop the downward spiral of events in Myanmar are simply not working”.

“I have received credible reports that junta forces have arbitrarily detained at least 177 individuals­ when the initial target of a raid had successfully eluded arrest. These victims include very young children as young as 20 weeks old,” he said.

He further added that the military was routinely abducting family members when it is unable to locate individuals it is seeking to arrest.

The military junta has murdered more than 1,100 people, he revealed. This includes dozen of children.

As of July, the junta had killed at least 75 children ranging in age from 14 months to 17 years.

Andrew called for a “change of course” by the international community. This will be done to avert further human rights abuses and deaths as he warned that there are now more than 230,000 civilians who have been displaced because of the junta.