By Beyza Binnur Donmez
GENEVA (AA) - The UN experts on Monday called for a "course correction" in the international response to the escalating crisis in Myanmar as the civilian death toll exceeded 6,000.
"There are now 6,000 reminders that the international community is failing the people of Myanmar, the experts said in a statement. "It is time for a change, starting with moving this disaster out of the shadows of international attention."
Nothing that international action, so far, has reduced the junta’s access to weapons that it uses to attack civilians, the experts said: "As welcome as these actions have been, they remain grossly inadequate and lack the coordination and strategic targeting necessary to deliver the support the people of Myanmar need and deserve. We can and must do better."
They said "unlawful killings" by junta forces are "common and are characterized by their brutality and inhumanity" as nearly 2,000 individuals have been killed in the custody of junta forces, 365 have been shot in the head, and 215 burned alive, according to credible reports cited by the experts.
They also voiced alarm about the "ongoing use of arbitrary detention and acts tantamount to enforced disappearance to silence those opposing the military junta."
"Over 21,000 of those arrested since the February 2021 military coup remain in detention, many held incommunicado, and in many instances with their families and lawyers having no information on their fates or whereabouts," the statement said.
- UN states should deny legitimacy that junta seeks
Besides denying the junta access to weapons, the experts called on UN member states to deny it the legitimacy it seeks.
"This includes publicly rejecting the junta’s plans to hold what they are trying to define as 'elections' next year," the press release said. "You cannot hold an election when you deposed a democratically elected Government in an unconstitutional coup, and continue to arbitrarily arrest, detain, disappear, torture and execute opposition leaders, nor when it is illegal for journalists to report the truth."
"We urge UN Member States to call this exercise what it is, a fraud," they added.
They also called on states and donors to step up assistance to civil society organizations documenting human rights abuses, protecting civilian populations, and delivering life-saving humanitarian aid.