The human rights organization Amnesty International accuses the Myanmar (Burma) army of systematic atrocities against the Karenni and Karen minorities in the east of the country. That would have happened especially after the military coup of February last year. Previously, the Myanmar army had already committed numerous atrocities against the Rohingya minority in the West.
Amnesty International has published a new report on the Asian country of Myanmar under the title “it rained bullets from the sky”. This is a statement from a witness who was questioned by Amnesty International. Amnesty International is relying on statements from victims, witnesses and a Myanmar soldier who has deserted his unit.
In the report, Amnesty International accuses Myanmar’s military of indiscriminately shelling and bombing homes, schools, hospitals, churches and temples with artillery and aircraft. Military personnel would also be guilty of burning down villages, deporting, torturing and executing people, and systematic looting. In at least one case, a group of 35 women and children were said to have been abducted and subsequently killed. Elsewhere, civilians have disappeared.
This is happening in the eastern states of Kayin and Kayah, near the border with Thailand, where mainly members of the minorities Karenni and Karen Live, groups that have previously been victims of the military. The violence is said to have broken out after last February’s coup when the military again seized power in Myanmar and denounced previous files with ethnically inspired armed groups. Especially between december last year and March this year, violence would have been used on a large scale, the report said, perhaps not coincidentally at a time when the world’s attention is turning to other problems.
