To: Member States of the United Nations General Assembly

CC: The United Nations Secretary-General

17 October 2023

Open Letter: The UN General Assembly must take decisive action to hold the military junta accountable for atrocities in Myanmar

Your Excellencies,

We – 440 Myanmar, regional, and international civil society organizations – call on Member States of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to take immediate and decisive action to hold the Myanmar military accountable under international law through all possible avenues.

We welcome the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights which provided corroborated evidence of the military junta’s intensifying brutality – particularly airstrikes, the burning of villages, and mass killings. In addressing the worsening crisis in Myanmar, High Commissioner Volker Türk described the junta’s actions as “inhumanity in its vilest form,” emphasizing that there is “no reason to believe that the military will…break the cycle of impunity that has characterized its operations for decades.” It is clear that the military has continued and will continue to commit genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes against the people of Myanmar unless it is held accountable under international law. We thus express our strongest support for the High Commissioner’s call for the UN Security Council (UNSC) to refer “the full scope of the current situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC).”

Nearly one year after its adoption in December 2022, we remain extremely disappointed by the insubstantial Security Council resolution 2669 on Myanmar. With this resolution, the Council has utterly failed to uphold its responsibilities under Chapter VII of the UN Charter and to ensure justice and accountability by failing to refer the current crisis in Myanmar to the ICC.

Despite the resolution’s demand of “an immediate end to all forms of violence throughout the country,” since its adoption, the junta has launched at least 965 airstrikes.[1] This amounts to a 150% increase in airstrikes following the resolution.[2] These aerial bombardments, often combined with attacks by ground troops, are one reason why at least 4,149 people have been killed, as of 17 October 2023, and over 1.7 million have been internally displaced[3] since the coup attempt. One of the latest attacks is as recent as 9 October 2023, when the junta once again launched an artillery bombardment on an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp: this time in Munglai Hkyet Village in Kachin State. The attack killed at least 29 people, including 13 children, and injured at least 57 people. Among the displaced, elderly women, pregnant women, and children have the most vulnerabilities, which are severely exacerbated by the lack of sufficient food, water, shelter, and other necessities. Moreover, the military – which has long used rape as a weapon of war – continues, with blanket impunity, its widespread sexual and gender-based violence, particularly against women and girls, in detention and in areas of its scorched-earth campaigns.

Further, in flagrant disregard of the resolution’s call for “full, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to all people in need,” the junta continues to weaponize humanitarian aid by blocking, seizing, and destroying lifesaving supplies from displaced communities that have suffered from its heinous crimes. Even in natural disasters, such as the devastating Cyclone Mocha, the junta has proven its total disregard for human lives by blocking humanitarian access to affected communities across western Myanmar.

As the Myanmar human rights and humanitarian crisis further escalates, we express our greatest disappointment in the UN’s deferral of its responsibilities to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its futile Five-Point Consensus (5PC) over the past 29 months. The regional bloc and its current approach have utterly failed to take concrete measures to end the crisis, serving only to deter tangible action by the international community. In fact, ASEAN itself has explicitly requested UN support in addressing the crisis. To address Myanmar’s multi-faceted crisis, the UN must stop hiding behind the failed 5PC and take concrete actions to assume its responsibility to protect the people of Myanmar.

Excellencies, the loss of lives of the people of Myanmar at the hands of this ruthless military must not continue, and justice for the victims and survivors cannot wait. The Myanmar military’s decades-long impunity, and thus its systematic and widespread violence, will continue to prevail – and thousands of lives will continue to be lost – unless and until the military faces prosecution and is held to account for its genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Thus, it is with great urgency that we once again call on the UNGA and its individual Member States to strongly recommend the UNSC utilize all political and technical instruments at its disposal, namely a resolution on Myanmar under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Such a resolution must necessitate the referral of the crisis in Myanmar to the ICC or the establishment of an ad hoc tribunal; robust, coordinated, and targeted economic sanctions on the Myanmar military and linked entities; and a comprehensive arms embargo to end the flow of weapons, jet fuel, and dual-use technology to the junta. Equally, we urge the UNGA to further recommend its Member States, agencies, and mechanisms to stop lending legitimacy to the junta; impose new and further coordinated, targeted economic sanctions; cut the flow of arms; and provide financial, political, and technical support for accountability efforts under universal jurisdiction, including in Argentina, Germany, and Turkey.

With Myanmar’s crisis reaching the point of unfathomable devastation, we look to the leadership of UN Member States to immediately actualize a UNSC resolution. If the resolution is vetoed by China or Russia, the people of Myanmar fully anticipate the UNGA’s adoption of the resolution, following in the footsteps of the decisive resolution on Ukraine promptly adopted by the same body in 2022.

Alongside a united call for a resolution, UN Member States must act immediately to ensure the response to the worsening humanitarian catastrophe across Myanmar is sufficient, effective, and harmless for affected populations. Member States must cease any partnership with the junta for the provision of aid, while increasing political and financial support through cross-border channels for locally led, frontline humanitarian responders – many of whom are women who serve and lead their communities in these roles in spite of great personal risks.

Now is the time for the UNGA and its Member States to fulfill their responsibility to the people of Myanmar. The UNGA and its Member States must ensure justice and accountability through all possible avenues, strengthen locally led humanitarian assistance, and unequivocally support the Myanmar people’s will for federal democracy.

For more information, please contact:

• Khin Ohmar, Progressive Voice; [email protected]
• Grace, Myaung Youth Network; [email protected]
• Maw Pray Myar, Karenni National Women’s Organization; [email protected]
• Nai Aue Mon, Human Rights Foundation of Monland; [email protected]
• Saw Nanda Hsue, Karen Human Rights Group; [email protected]

Signed by 440 civil society organizations, including 71 who have chosen not to disclose their name:

1. 5/ of Zaya State Strike
2. 8888 Generation (New Zealand)
3. Action Against Myanmar Military Coup (AAMMC) Sydney
4. Action Committee for Democracy Development (Coalition of 14 grassroots networks)
5. Action Committee of Basic Education Students (ACBES)
6. Active Youths Kalaymyo
7. Ah Nah Podcast – Conversations with Myanmar
8. All Arakan Students’ & Youth’ Congress
9. All Arakan Youth Organization Network
10. All Aung Myay Thar San Schools Strike Force
11. All Burma Democratic Front in New Zealand
12. All Burma Federation of Student Unions (Monywa District)
13. All Burma Indigenous People Alliance
14. All Burma Student Democratic Front – Australia Branch
15. All Young Burmese League (AYBL)
16. Alliance of Students’ Union – Yangon (ASU-Yangon)
17. ALTSEAN-Burma
18. Anti Dictatorship in Burma – DC Metropolitan Area.
19. Anti-coup Forces Coordination Committee (ACFCC – Mandalay)
20. Anti-Junta Alliance Yangon-AJAY
21. Anti-Myanmar Dictatorship Movement
22. Anti-Myanmar Military Dictatorship Network (AMMDN)
23. Arakan CSO Network
24. ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)
25. Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR)
26. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
27. ASORCOM – Alternative Solutions for Rural Communities
28. Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
29. Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters
30. Athan – Freedom of Expression Activist Organization
31. Auckland Kachin Community NZ
32. Auckland Zomi Community
33. Aung San Su Kyi Park, Norway
34. Australia Burma Friendship Association, Northern Territory
35. Australia Karen Organization WA Inc.
36. Australia Myanmar Doctors, Nurses and Friends
37. Australia Myanmar Youth Alliance (AMYA)
38. Australian Burmese Muslim Organisation
39. Australian Chin Community (Eastern Melbourne Inc)
40. Australian Karen Organisation (AKO)
41. AWDO (Nagphe)
42. A-Yar-Taw People Strike
43. Ayeyarwaddy West Development Organisation (AWDO)
44. Bamar Community Tasmania
45. Basic Education General Strike Committee (BEGSC)
46. Basic Education Worker Unions – Steering Committee (BEWU-SC)
47. Blood Money Campaign
48. BMT counselling
49. Boat People SOS
50. Burma Academy
51. Burma Action Ireland
52. Burma Campaign UK
53. Burma Canadian Network, Peace for Burma (Vancouver-Canada)
54. Burma Civil War Museum
55. Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN)
56. Burma Lawyers’ Council (BLC)
57. Burma Support
58. Burmese Community – South Australia
59. Burmese Community Development Collaboration (BCDC)
60. Burmese Community Group (Manawatu, NZ)
61. Burmese Community Support Group (BCSG)
62. Burmese Friendship Association
63. Burmese Medical Association Australia (BMAA)
64. Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
65. Burmese Rohingya Welfare Organisation New Zealand
66. Burmese Women’s Union (BWU)
67. Campaign for a New Myanmar
68. Canberra Karen Association
69. CAN-Myanmar
70. CDM Medical Network (CDMMN)
71. Chanmyatharzi Township People’s Strike
72. Chaung Oo Township Youth Strike Committee
73. Chin Community – South Australia
74. Chin Community in Norway
75. Chin Community of Auckland
76. Chin Community of Western Australia Inc.
77. Chin Community Tasmania
78. Chin Human Rights Organization
79. Chin Youth Organization
80. Chindwin (West) Villages Women Strike
81. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
82. Civil Information Network (CIN)
83. Civil Rights Defenders
84. Civil Society Organizations Coordination Committee (Monywa)
85. Coalition Strike Committee – Dawei
86. Co-operative University Mandalay Students’ Strike
87. CRPH & NUG Supporters Ireland
88. CRPH Funding Ireland
89. CRPH Support Group, Norway and members organizations
90. CRPH, NUG Support Team Germany – Deutschland
91. CRPH/NUG support group Australia
92. CSOs Nexus Consortium – Tanintharyi
93. Daung Sitthe Strike
94. Dawei (Ashaetaw) Women Strike
95. Dawei Youths Revolutionary Movement Strike Committee
96. Democracy for Burma
97. Democracy, Peace and Women’s Organization
98. Democratic Party for a New Society, Norway
99. Democratic Youth Council
100. Depayin Township Revolution Steering Committee
101. Depayin Women Strike
102. Dhobama (2021 Generation)
103. Doh Atu – Ensemble pour le Myanmar
104. East Bago – Former Political Prisoners Network
105. Educational Initiatives Prague
106. Equality Myanmar
107. Ethnic Youth General Strike Committee (Mandalay)
108. Falam Community – South Australia
109. Families and Friends of LGBTIQA+ in Myanmar
110. Federal Corner
111. Federal Myanmar Benevolence Group (NZ)
112. Federation of General Workers Myanmar (FGWM)
113. Former Political Prisoners and New Generation Group – Monywa
114. FORUMCIV – Sweden
115. Free Burma Campaign (South Africa)
116. Free Rohingya Coalition
117. Future Light Center
118. Future Thanlwin
119. Gangaw Women Strike
120. Gender Equality Network
121. General Strike Collaboration Committee (GSCC)
122. General Strike Committee of Basic and Higher Education (GSCBHE)
123. General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN)
124. Generation Wave
125. Global Myanmar Spring Revolution
126. Grass-root People
127. Human Rights Educators Network
128. Human Rights Foundation of Monland
129. Incorporated Organization Shilcheon Bulgyo
130. Industrial Training Centre (ITC) Family Sydney
131. Industries Strike
132. Info Birmanie
133. Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)
134. Inle Federal Democracy Moment (IFDM)
135. Inle Woman Union (IWU)
136. Inlihtan Peninsula Tenasserim
137. Institute for Asian Democracy
138. Integria, z.u. Prague
139. Inter Pares
140. International Association, Myanmar-Switzerland (IAMS)
141. International Campaign for the Rohingya
142. JASS (Just Associates)
143. JMC Inn Lay
144. Joint Action Committee for Democracy in Burma (JACDB)
145. Justice 4 Myanmar – Hope & Development
146. Justice For Myanmar
147. Kachin Association Australia
148. Kachin Association Norway
149. Kachin Association of Australia WA Inc.
150. Kachin Student Union
151. Kachin Women Association Thailand
152. Kachin Women Network
153. Kalay Township Strike Committee
154. Kalay Women Strike
155. Karen Community – South Australia
156. Karen Human Rights Group
157. Karen Peace Support Network
158. Karen Swedish Community (KSC)
159. Karenni Association – Norway
160. Karenni Civil Society Network
161. Karenni Community of Western Australia Inc.
162. Karenni Federation of Australia
163. Karenni Human Rights Group
164. Karenni National Women’s Organization
165. Karenni Society New Zealand
166. Kayah State Students Union
167. Kayan New Generation Youth
168. Kayin Community Tasmania
169. K’cho Ethnic Association
170. Keng Tung Youth
171. Korean Civil Society in Support of Democracy in Myanmar (106 organizations nationwide)
172. Kyae Lak Myay
173. Kyain Seikgyi Spring Revolution Leading Committee
174. Kyauktada Strike Committee
175. La Communauté Birmane de France
176. Latpadaung Region Strike Committee
177. Legal Aid for Human Rights
178. LGBT Alliance
179. LGBT Alliance Myanmar (Kalay Region)
180. LGBT Alliance Myanmar (Kyaukse Region)
181. LGBT Community Yangon
182. LGBT Union – Mandalay
183. MAGGA Initiative
184. Magway People’s Revolution Committee
185. Maharaungmyay Township People’s Strike
186. Mandalar University Students’ Strike
187. Mandalay Alliance Coalition Strike
188. Mandalay Medical Family (MFM)
189. Mandalay Regional Youth Association Revolution Core Group
190. Mandalay Strike Force (MSF)
191. Mandalay Women Strike
192. Mandalay Youth Strike
193. Mandalay-based People’s Strike
194. Mandalay-Based University Students’ Unions (MDY_SUs)
195. Matu Burma Foundation
196. Matu Chin Community – South Australia
197. MayMyo Strike Force
198. Metta Campaign
199. Milk Tea Alliance – Friends of Myanmar
200. Min Hla Farmers Group
201. Minbu Farmers Group
202. Mindat Chin Community NSW
203. Mindat Community – South Australia
204. Mizo Community – South Australia
205. Mon Association – Norway
206. Mon Families Group
207. Mon National Council (MNC)
208. Monywa – Amyint Road Strike Leading Committee
209. Monywa LGBT Strike
210. Monywa People’s Strike Steering Committee
211. Monywa Women Strike
212. Monywa-Amyint Road Women Strike
213. Multi-Religions Strike
214. Muslim Youth Network
215. Mya Taung Strike
216. Myanmar Accountability Project
217. Myanmar Anti-Military Coup Movement in New Zealand
218. Myanmar Baptist Churches in Norway
219. Myanmar Buddhist Community of South Australia
220. Myanmar Campaign Network
221. Myanmar Catholic Community In Norway
222. Myanmar Community Coffs Harbour (MCC)
223. Myanmar Community Group Christchurch New Zealand
224. Myanmar Community Group Dunedin New Zealand
225. Myanmar Community in Norway
226. Myanmar Cultural Research Society – MCRS
227. Myanmar Democracy and Peace Committee (Australia)
228. Myanmar Democratic Movement (MDM)
229. Myanmar Diaspora Group Finland
230. Myanmar Engineering Association of Australia (MEAA)
231. Myanmar Engineers – New Zealand
232. Myanmar Gonye (New Zealand)
233. Myanmar Hindu Community – Norway
234. Myanmar Institute of Information Technology Students’ Strike
235. Myanmar Labor Alliance (MLA)
236. Myanmar Muslim Organization – Norway
237. Myanmar People Alliance (Shan State)
238. Myanmar People Residing in Canberra
239. Myanmar Refugee Policy Group
240. Myanmar Students’ Association Australia (MSAA)
241. Myanmar Students’ Union in New Zealand
242. Myanmar Teachers’ Federation
243. Myaung Youth Network
244. Myingyan Civilian Movement Committee
245. Nelson Myanmar Community Group New Zealand
246. Netherlands Myanmar Solidarity Platform
247. Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma)
248. Network of University Student Unions – Monywa
249. New Zealand Doctors for NUG
250. New Zealand Karen Association
251. New Zealand Zo Community Inc.
252. NLD Organization Committee (International) Norway
253. NLD Solidarity Association (Australia)
254. No Business With Genocide
255. No.12 Basic Education Branch High School (Maharaungmyay) Students’ Union
256. Norway Falam Community
257. Norway Matu Community
258. Norway Rawang Community
259. NRFF – New Rehmonnya Federated Force
260. NSW Karenni (Kayah) Communities
261. Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica
262. OCTOPUS (ရေဘဝဲ)
263. Overseas Mon Association. New Zealand
264. Padauk Finland – Myanmar Association
265. Pale Township People’s Strike Steering Committee
266. Parents, Families and Friends of LGBTIQA+ in Myanmar (PFLAG – Myanmar)
267. Patriotic War Vetrans of Burma (PWVB)
268. Perth Myanmar Youth Network
269. Political Prisoners Network – Myanmar
270. Progressive Karenni People Force (PKPF)
271. Progressive Voice
272. Pwintphyu Development Organisation
273. Pyi Gyi Tagon Strike Force
274. Pyit Taing Htaung Social Club
275. Pyithu Gonye (New Zealand)
276. Queensland Kachin Community (QKC)
277. Queensland Myanmar Youth Collective (QMYC)
278. Queensland Rohingya Community
279. Rangoon Scout Network – RSN
280. Red Campaign Nirvana Exhortation Group
281. Remonya Association of WA (Mon Community)
282. Representative Committee of University Teacher Associations (RC of UTAs)
283. Rohingya Community in Norway
284. Rural Community Development Society
285. Rvwang Community Association New Zealand
286. Samgha Sammaga-Mandalay
287. Save and Care Organization for Ethnic Women at Border Areas
288. Save Myanmar – USA
289. Save Myanmar Fundraising Group (New Zealand)
290. Save Myanmar San Francisco
291. Seinpann Strike
292. Shan Community (New Zealand)
293. Shan MATA
294. Shwe Pan Kone People`s Strike Steering Committee
295. Shwe Youth Democratic Alliance (SYDA)
296. Sitt Nyein Pann Foundation
297. Social Garden
298. Southcare Medical Centre
299. Southern Youth Development Organization (SYDO)
300. Spring Friends
301. Spring Sprouts
302. Spring Traveller
303. Student Voice
304. Sujata Sisters Group (NZ)
305. Support for Myanmar
306. Support Group for Democracy in Myanmar (Netherlands)
307. Swedish Burma Committee
308. Swedish Foundation for Human Rights
309. Swiss Burma Association (ASB)
310. Sydney Friends for Myanmar Unity
311. Synergy – Social Harmony Organization
312. Ta Mar Institute of Development
313. Ta’ang Women’s Organization
314. Tamar Institute of Development
315. Tanintharyi MATA
316. Tanintharyi Nationalities Congress
317. Taze Strike Committee
318. Taze Women Strike
319. Tenasserim Student Unions’ Network
320. Thakhin Kodaw Mhine Peace Network (Monywa)
321. Thayat Chaung Women Strike
322. The 88 Generation Peace and Open Society (Monywa)
323. The Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS)
324. The Helpers for Perfect Democracy (HPD)
325. The Institution of Professional Engineers Myanmar (IPEM)
326. The Ladies
327. The Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute Foundation, Inc. (MPI)
328. Twitter Team for Revolution (TTFR)
329. U.S. Campaign for Burma
330. Union of Karenni State Youth (UKSY)
331. United Myanmar Community of South Australia
332. University Students’ Unions Alumni Force
333. Victorian Burmese Care Community (VBCC)
334. Victorian Myanmar Youth (VMY)
335. Volunteers in Myanmar
336. We Pledge CDM (Australia)
337. Western Australia Myanmar Community (WAMC)
338. Western Australia Myanmar Democratic Network (WAMDN)
339. Wetlet Revolution Leading Committee
340. Wetlet Township Women Strike
341. White Coat Society Yangon (WCSY)
342. Women Activists Myanmar (WAM)
343. Women Advocacy Coalition – Myanmar
344. Women Alliance Burma (WAB)
345. Women’s League of Burma
346. Women’s Peace Network
347. Yadanabon University Students’ Union (YDNBUSU)
348. Yadanar Foundation
349. Yangon Women Strike
350. Yasakyo Township People`s Strike Steering Committee
351. Yinmarpin and Salingyi All Villages Strike Committee
352. Youth for Democratization of Myanmar (UDM)
353. Youth Heart Beams
354. Zo Community – South Australia
355. Zomi Association Australia Inc.
356. Zomi Christian Fellowship of Norway
357. Zomi Community – South Australia
358. Zomi Community Queensland
359. ကန့်ဘလူမြို့နယ် အထွေထွေသပိတ်
360. ကရင်နီပြည်စစ်ဘေးရှောင်ကူညီစောင့်ရှောက်ရေးကွန်ယက်
361. ခုနစ်စဥ်ကြယ်အဖွဲ့
362. ဒို့မြေကွန်ရက် – LIOH
363. နားဆင်သူများအဖွဲ့
364. ပဉ္စမမဏ္ဏိုင်
365. ပွင့်ဖြူလယ်ယာမြေကွန်ရက်
366. မျက်မှောက်ခေတ်
367. မျိုးဆက်-Generations
368. ယောဒေသစစ်ဘေးရှောင်ကူညီရေးအဖွဲ့
369. ရပ်ဝန်းသစ် (Yat Wun Thit)

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[1] The number of airstrikes since the Security Council resolution has been calculated using Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica’s monitoring of airstrikes between the resolution on 21 December 2022 and 22 September 2023.

[2] Using Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica’s data on airstrikes, the percentage increase of airstrikes since the Security Council resolution has been calculated by comparing the average number of airstrikes per day between 1 February 2021 and 20 December 2022 with the average number of airstrikes per day between 21 December 2022 and 22 September 2023.

[3] This number from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a likely under-estimation. The actual numbers reported by local responders with direct access to communities indicate a far higher estimate than that reported by OCHA.