Myanmar’s military ‘is likely committing crimes against humanity,’ UNHRC told

Myanmar’s military is likely committing “crimes against humanity” in its attempt to stay in power, a UN expert said, as the junta claimed that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi accepted illegal payments of cash and gold, AFP reported.

At least 70 people have reportedly been “murdered” since the Feb. 1 coup, said Thomas Andrews, the UN’s top expert on rights in Myanmar.

The country is “controlled by a murderous, illegal regime” that was likely committing “crimes against humanity,” Andrews told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

These crimes likely include “acts of murder, enforced disappearance, persecution, torture” carried out with “the knowledge of senior leadership”, including junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, Andrews said in the AFP report..

While stressing that such offenses can only be determined in a court of law, he said there was clear evidence that the junta’s crimes were “widespread” and part of a “coordinated campaign.”

Diplomatic pressure has been building on the generals, who have tried to quell daily protests by force.

The military — which defends its takeover by citing alleged voting irregularities in November elections won by Suu Kyi’s party — held a rare news conference accusing the civilian leader of corruption.

In the capital Naypyidaw, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said the detained chief minister of Yangon admitted giving Suu Kyi $600,000 in cash, along with more than 11 kilograms ($680,000 worth) of gold.

“We have learned Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself took this $600,000 and seven visses (11.2 kilograms) of gold. The anti-corruption commission is investigating,” Zaw Min Tun said.

Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, detained since the coup, faces other criminal charges including owning unlicensed walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions by staging a campaign event in 2020.

State-run newspaper the Mirror announced Thursday that the Arakan Army (AA) —which fights for autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine people in northern Rakhine state — was no longer considered a terrorist organization, AFP reported.

The AA has been fighting the army for years, with hundreds killed and some 200,000 civilians forced to flee their homes.