Myanmar coup: Junta accused by rights group of war crimes over the use of landmines

The Myanmar military continues to crack down on its rule over the people since the generals seized power to oust the elected government. The junta is facing another allegation of committing war crimes by a rights group, citing its use of landmines in the country.

Human rights organization Amnesty International said that Myanmar’s junta government has been committing war crimes through its widespread use of landmines in and around the villages in the country’s Kayah state in the southeast. This comes as the junta is facing resistance from the ethnic Karenni groups in renewed clashes.

The rights group conducted a probe in Kayah, also known as the Karenni state. The group found that the Myanmar military was using several types of locally-made landmines, including the M-14 and the MM-2 landmine.

The M-14 landmine could blow a person’s foot off the ankle, while the MM-2 mine would blow the person’s leg off the knee and inflict injuries on other parts of the body.

“The Myanmar military’s use of landmines is abhorrent and cruel,” said Amnesty International’s deputy crisis response director Matt Wells in a statement.

“At a time when the world has overwhelmingly banned these inherently indiscriminate weapons, the military has placed them in people’s yards, homes, and even stairwells, as well as around a church,” said Wells.

Researchers for the rights group interviewed 43 people, including landmine survivors, witnesses, and healthcare workers in the Demoso, Hpruso, and Loikaw townships of Karenni. The researchers also visited several demined villages from June 25 to July 8.

Early this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on China, as well as the ASEAN group of countries, to hold Myanmar accountable and pressure the junta to return the country to a democracy.

Blinken said the ASEAN group of countries must hold Myanmar accountable to the five-point consensus peace agreement that was made shortly after the generals staged a coup.

Blinken said the ASEAN leaders must continue to demand that the junta’s violence cease and release the thousands of prisoners the regime has detained. Thousands of people, including prominent figures, have been detained for opposing the coup, while hundreds have been killed in the military’s brutal crackdown on the protests.