UN rights chief tells Myanmar military to 'stop murdering' protesters

The United Nations human rights chief has called on Myanmar's ruling generals to halt their "vicious crackdown on peaceful protesters" and asked them to release people arbitrarily detained during the ongoing unrest against the recent military coup in the Southeast Asian country.

Michelle Bachelet, in a statement on Thursday, decried the use of live ammunition against peaceful protesters during massive rallies over the past few weeks.

"Myanmar's military must stop murdering and jailing protesters," Bachelet said, adding, "It is utterly abhorrent that security forces are firing live ammunition against peaceful protesters across the country." 

Bachelet was "also appalled at the documented attacks against emergency medical staff and ambulances attempting to provide care to those who have been injured".

The UN rights office earlier said it had corroborated information that at least 54 people had been killed by police and military officers since February 1.

"The actual death toll, however, could be much higher as these are the figures the office has been able to verify," it added. 

The killings have escalated sharply in recent days. The rights office had verified 30 of the 38 deaths reported by other UN entities on Wednesday alone. 

Since the coup, more than 1,700 people have also been "arbitrarily arrested and detained in relation to their participation in protests or engagement in political activity", the statement read. 

Those arrested include parliamentarians, political and rights activists, election officials, teachers, healthcare workers, journalists and monks, it said. 

"Many of the arbitrary arrests and detentions that have been carried out since February 1 may constitute enforced disappearances," Bachelet warned.

Bachelet also called on Myanmar activists who have joined the civil disobedience movement to support efforts to hold military leaders accountable for serious human rights violations, through UN investigations and proceedings at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"I urge all those with information and influence... to support international efforts to hold military leaders accountable for the serious human rights violations that have been committed both now and in the past," Bachelet said. 

"This is the moment to turn the tables towards justice and end the military's stranglehold over democracy in Myanmar."

EU suspends development funds for Myanmar 

In a separate development on Thursday, the European Union suspended its support for development projects in Myanmar. 

A Geneva-based trade official said the 27-nation EU had informed a committee of the World Trade Organization that it had put on hold all development cooperation that would support the military authorities. 

The European Commission, the EU executive, confirmed that it had suspended the budgetary support, which in the past years has involved more than 200 million euros. 

The decision follows international condemnation of the Feb. 1 military coup in Myanmar that overthrew the government of Aung San Suu Kyi. 

For about the past four weeks, Myanmar has been the scene of daily protests against the military, which grabbed power in the coup on February 1. The army ousted the government and arrested Suu Kyi and several political leaders, claiming that it had found fraud in a November 2020 election that her party won in a landslide.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people in the Southeast Asian country have held numerous protests against the coup leaders almost on a daily basis, demanding that they release of Suu Kyi and other detainees.

The junta has also come under pressure from the international community to hand over power to civilians and release the former officials.

The generals have, however, ignored the global condemnation so far, responding to the uprising by escalating their crackdown.

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