SAC-M Response to Deadly Junta Airstrike in Kachin State
Quotes attributed to SAC-M founding members in response to the deadly junta airstrike in Hpakant Township, Kachin State on 23 October:
Chris Sidoti: “The Myanmar military is emboldened to commit such heinous and cowardly acts against the Myanmar people and Myanmar’s ethnic minorities in particular, because it knows the international community will not take action to stop it. In failing to act the international community is shielding the Myanmar military generals from accountability. This makes it complicit in the junta atrocity at Hpakant. The International Criminal Court urgently needs to act on the National Unity Government of Myanmar’s article 12(3) declaration so that Myanmar military leaders face justice for their horrific crimes.”
Marzuki Darusman: “To launch an airstrike on civilians attending a music concert is the ultimate act of junta cowardice and inhumanity. Sadly, it is entirely consistent with the campaign of scorched-earth that the Myanmar military has been waging against the peoples of Myanmar, including the Kachin, with impunity not just for the last 20 months but for decades. It’s completely unacceptable that ASEAN has wasted 20-months trying to reason with Min Aung Hlaing and persisting with its failed Five Point Consensus while his junta burned Myanmar to the ground and brutalised its people. ASEAN leaders must urgently chart a new course in coordination with the National Unity Government of Myanmar and Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations to end the mass suffering being caused by the junta. The upcoming ASEAN Summit must be a turning point to speedily, effectively and irreversibly lead to the end of the junta’s erratic behaviour and the whole conflict.”
Yanghee Lee: “The horrific junta airstrike in Kachin State demonstrates how far Min Aung Hlaing and his barbaric junta are beyond reason. Junta fighter jets deliberately attacked a night time music concert attended by hundreds of civilians knowing it would likely cause catastrophic loss of life, an act that constitutes a war crime. When will the international community, including the UN and ASEAN, stand with the people of Myanmar and support the democratic revolution?”
