Myanmar demonstrators lay flowers in remembrance of their fellows to commemorate the so-called '8888 Uprising' anniversary and calling on the US to put pressure on the Myanmar military junta, outside the US embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, 08 August 2023. A group of Myanmar people living in Thailand held a demonstration to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the uprising against the military crackdown on 08 August 1988 - dubbed the '8888 Uprising'- and to submit a letter calling the US government to pressure the Myanmar military junta to release political prisoners including detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Myanmar military junta is ruling after overthrowing the elected civilian government in the 2021 coup. EPA-EFE/RUNGROJ YONGRIT The report by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), which covered the period between July 2022 and June 2023, said there was "strong evidence that the Myanmar military and its affiliate militias have committed three types of combat-related war crimes with increasing frequency and brazenness".
These crimes include the indiscriminate or disproportionate targeting of civilians using bombs and the burning of civilian homes and buildings, resulting at times in the destruction of entire villages, it said.
The report also cited "killings of civilians or combatants detained during operations".
"Our evidence points to a dramatic increase in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country, with widespread and systematic attacks against civilians, and we are building case files that can be used by courts to hold individual perpetrators responsible," said Nicholas Koumjian, head of the IIMM.
Since a junta seized power two years ago, Myanmar has been plunged into chaos, with a resistance movement fighting the military on multiple fronts after a bloody crackdown on opponents that saw Western countries re-impose sanctions.
A spokesperson for the junta could not be reached for comment on the findings made by U.N. investigators.
The junta has previously denied atrocities have taken place, saying it is carrying out a legitimate campaign against terrorists.
Although it has justified bombings as attacks against military targets, UN investigators said the Myanmar military "should have known or did know" that a large number of civilians were in or around the alleged targets when the attacks took place.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Thu Thu AungEditing by Gareth Jones)