2023-09-01 09:54:26
The NGO coalition Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) has denounced the use of cluster munitions by the army in Burma, which has not signed or ratified the 2008 treaty banning these weapons.
The NGO coalition Cluster Munition Coalition” (CMC) on Thursday denounced the use of cluster munitions by the army in Burma, torn by a conflict between the junta and its opponents since the military coup of the February 1, 2021. Burma has not signed or ratified the 2008 treaty banning cluster munitions but their use there has so far not been documented, according to a statement.
New information, including photographs, shows that “Burma’s armed forces have used cluster munitions … in attacks in several parts of the country since 2021, including most recently, at the beginning of June 2023”, assures the coalition of NGOs.
Cluster Munition Coalition has examined photographs showing remnants of cluster munitions used during air force attacks in Chin, Kayah, Kayin and Shan states over the past 13 months.
“Burma’s production and use of cluster munitions is extremely concerning because these indiscriminate weapons mainly kill and injure civilians. Nothing can justify their use,” researcher Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan said in the statement. , from the Cluster Munitions Observatory.
Use of anti-personnel mines
These weapons can disperse up to several hundred small explosive charges, capable of remaining unexploded in the ground and creating a risk for civilians following the end of a conflict. A total of 112 countries have ratified the 2008 Convention Banning the Production and Use of Cluster Munitions and 12 have signed it.
According to CMC, the cluster munitions used by the Myanmar Air Force “look like” other products produced at a state-owned weapons production site, commonly known as KaPaSa, but the remnants” do not bear any mark indicating their place of manufacture or assembly”.
Myanmar’s military is facing fierce resistance from fighters opposed to the February 2021 coup that toppled the civilian government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The crackdown left thousands dead.
The attacks involving cluster munitions are part, CMS notes, of an escalation of conflict in recent months in northwestern and southeastern Burma. The conflict, the statement continued, is also characterized by extensive use of anti-personnel mines “by all parties”.
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