Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations has sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres alleging a series of massacres by the military last month in the northwestern part of the country.
Myanmar’s mission to the United Nations posted the letter, dated Tuesday, on its Facebook page.
In the letter, Kyaw Moe Tun wrote that soldiers tortured and killed 16 men in a village in Kani township in early July, and that 10,000 people subsequently fled the area.
Near the end of the month, Kyaw Moe Tun wrote, 13 bodies were found near Zee Pin Twin village after clashes between security forces and local fighters.
Kyaw Moe Tun said 11 other people were killed and set on fire in Kyetchaung Taw Taik village.
The ambassador represents Myanmar’s elected civilian government, which the military ousted in February. The military said it fired Kyaw Moe Tun, but the United Nations has not acknowledged the military takeover and he remains the country’s representative at the world body.
Kyaw Moe Tun called on the U.N. Security Council and international community to impose an arms embargo on the military, writing in the letter to Guterres that it is “time to take decisive actions on this crisis with the urgency it deserves.”
“There is no sign of easing atrocities, killing, arrest committed by the military,” Kyaw Moe Tun said. “We demand for urgent humanitarian intervention from the international community before it is too late.”
Kyaw Moe Tun also said separately Wednesday that there was a reported threat against him, and that U.S. authorities had increased his security.
Some information for this report came from AFP and Reuters.
