{"id":181977,"date":"2021-04-05T12:00:33","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T11:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=181977"},"modified":"2024-07-02T08:49:41","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T07:49:41","slug":"myanmar-military-a-terrorist-group-that-should-face-international-court-advisory-council-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/04\/myanmar-military-a-terrorist-group-that-should-face-international-court-advisory-council-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar Military a ‘Terrorist Group’ That Should Face International Court, Advisory Council Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experts\u2019 group calls for \u2018three cuts\u2019 strategy against junta over deadly crackdowns as Canberra accused of dragging feet.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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A protest against the Myanmar coup in Taipei, Taiwan.
Photograph: Jose Lopes Amaral\/NurPhoto\/REX\/Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

29 Mar 2021 – <\/em>The Myanmar military is a \u201cterrorist group\u201d that should be brought before the international criminal court, and funds flowing to it should be cut via a global sanctions regime, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar<\/a> says.<\/p>\n

The council has called for a \u201cthree cuts\u201d strategy to combat the Tatmadaw, as the military is known.<\/p>\n

First, refer the situation in Myanmar<\/a> to the international criminal court. Second, impose a comprehensive and internationally monitored arms embargo. And third, use targeted financial sanctions against senior military officials and all military-owned companies.<\/p>\n

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US to stop trading with Myanmar until return of democratic government<\/em><\/div>\n
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Australian international lawyer Chris Sidoti, a member of the advisory council and a former member of a UN independent fact-finding mission on Myanmar, said the international community must \u201cfollow the lead\u201d of the Myanmar people who are defying the military daily on the streets of the country\u2019s cities.<\/p>\n

The special advisory council is an independent group of international experts on Myanmar.<\/p>\n

\u201cMyanmar people are calling for international action under the responsibility to protect,\u201d Sidoti said. \u201cIn response, we want to see three cuts imposed on the Myanmar military: cut the weapons, cut the cash, cut the impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Myanmar\u2019s military has been shooting randomly at civilians, killing children and burning people alive<\/a> for protesting against its coup staged on 1 February.<\/p>\n

More than 440 people have been killed by the military since the coup, including a 13-year-old girl who was shot dead and a snack vendor in Mandalay who troops set on fire. A one-year-old girl survived after she was hit by a rubber bullet in the eye, and video footage shows soldiers chasing people down the street on motorbikes to shoot them at point-blank range.<\/p>\n

News reports said Myanmar security forces killed 114 people<\/a>, including some children, on Sunday \u2013 Armed Forces Day \u2013 the bloodiest day of the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are barbaric criminal acts, calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public with the purpose of terrorising the entire population,\u201d an advisory council member, Marzuki Darusman, said. \u201cThe actions of the Myanmar military are the actions of a terrorist group, under any United Nations definition of the term.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Fear turns to fury in Myanmar as children shot by military<\/em> – Read more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Australia has been criticised for its response to the escalating violence in Myanmar, with Canberra accused of being too slow to impose further sanctions and cut off foreign money flowing to military-controlled companies. Australia has also failed to impose sanctions against the coup leader, army chief Min Aung Hlaing.<\/p>\n

Australia suspended military cooperation with the Tatmadaw in March following the coup but was one of the last western countries to cut ties.<\/p>\n

The UK, US and EU countries had all severed links with Myanmar\u2019s armed forces following the genocidal \u201cclearance operations\u201d against ethnic and religious minority Rohingya in 2017 which drove more than 700,000 people over the border into Bangladesh.<\/p>\n

But Australia continued to provide non-combat training in areas such as \u201chumanitarian assistance and disaster relief, English language transition, military law and peacekeeping\u201d under a policy that \u201cseeks to promote positive change through engagement with the Myanmar military<\/a>\u201d. That cooperation was suspended only this month.<\/p>\n

Australia has said it will consider targeted sanctions beyond those already imposed, which includes an arms embargo and sanctions against some senior military figures. But these have not been imposed.<\/p>\n

The US has imposed sanctions against Min Aung Hlaing as well as key state-owned enterprises Myanmar Economic Corporation and Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited, sprawling secretive companies with interests in mining, brewing, banking and construction, and resources giant Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, which earned the military regime almost US$1.5bn (A$2bn) last year.<\/p>\n

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Diary of a Myanmar medic: ‘I learned to treat gunshot wounds on YouTube’ <\/em><\/div>\n
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Yadanar Maung, a spokeswoman for activist group Justice for Myanmar, told the Guardian: \u201cWhile the people of Myanmar are deliberately being executed in the streets by the military, Australia appears to be dragging its feet after nearly two months since the coup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice for Myanmar said Australia should immediately impose targeted sanctions against the Myanmar military and its businesses, as well as suspending police cooperation and holding the military to account for its crimes, including at the international criminal court.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia failed the Rohingya when Myanmar committed genocide by continuing its military assistance to the Myanmar military and they are once against failing the people of Myanmar by not taking strong action that this grave situation calls for,\u201d the spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia must learn from its past mistakes and take immediate steps now to send a clear message to the Myanmar military that such abhorrent actions are reprehensible and will not be tolerated by the international community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gen Angus Campbell, chief of the Australian defence force, signed a joint statement with the chiefs of defence of the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Korea condemning the junta\u2019s indiscriminate attacks and urging it to \u201ccease violence and work to restore respect<\/a> and credibility with the people of Myanmar that it has lost through its actions\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Global calls to tackle Myanmar military’s ‘reign of terror’ after worst mass killing\u00a0 <\/em>Read more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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\u201cAs chiefs of defence, we condemn the use of lethal force against unarmed people by the Myanmar armed forces and associated security services,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting \u2013 not harming \u2013 the people it serves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The foreign minister, Marise Payne, said on Sunday: \u201cAustralia condemns in the strongest terms the continued and horrific use of lethal force against civilians in Myanmar, including young people and children\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call urgently on the Myanmar security forces to exercise restraint, uphold the rule of law and allow the Myanmar people to exercise their rights to peaceful protest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ben Doherty is a reporter for<\/em> Guardian Australia, and a former foreign correspondent covering south-east Asia. He has won three Walkley awards for his foreign and immigration reporting. Email: ben.doherty@theguardian.com<\/a>. Click here<\/a> for Ben’s public key.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original – theguardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

29 Mar 2021 – The Myanmar military is a \u201cterrorist group\u201d that should be brought before the ICC and imposed a global sanctions regime, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar says. The council has called for a \u201cthree cuts\u201d strategy to combat the Tatmadaw, as the military is known. First, the ICC. Second, an arms embargo. And third, financial sanctions against military officials and military-owned companies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":181979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[240,1692,1924,2410,393,276,609,558,100,487,651,780,2411,1243,1378,171,985,2437,99,124],"class_list":["post-181977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific","tag-asia","tag-aung-san-suu-kyi","tag-authoritarianism","tag-burma","tag-coup","tag-democracy","tag-demonstrations","tag-dictatorship","tag-direct-violence","tag-human-rights","tag-justice","tag-military-intervention","tag-myanmar","tag-nonviolent-action","tag-protests","tag-revolution","tag-social-justice","tag-southeast-asia","tag-structural-violence","tag-united-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181977"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265960,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181977\/revisions\/265960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}