GENEVA

Myanmar’s military ramped up violence against civilians last year to “unprecedented levels” since they launched their coup four years ago, the UN human rights office said on Friday.

Citing the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said at a news conference that at least 1,824 people were killed in 2024, including 531 women and 248 children, sharply up from the previous peak of 1,639 verified deaths in 2023.

“In all over the past four years, at least 6,231 civilians, including 1,144 women and 709 children, have been killed by the military,” Laurence said.

He said that the atrocities and violence committed by the military have “expanded in scope and intensity,” and the retaliatory nature of the attacks has been designed to “control, intimidate, and punish the population.”

Analysis by the Human Rights Office of the situation in 2024 details acts of “extreme brutality, including beheadings, burnings, mutilations, executions, torture, and the use of human shields – all of which were carried out against civilians with absolute impunity,” Laurence added.

“In Rakhine State, the Rohingya found themselves trapped between the warring Arakan Army and the military, with nowhere to turn for protection,” he said, referring to the Muslim minority group in the mainly Buddhist country.

“Their villages were burnt, their youth pressed into military service, and humanitarian assistance cut off while they were forced repeatedly into displacement, fleeing to find any means of safety,” Laurence added.

Earlier, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement that it is “deeply distressing” to find that the situation on the ground for civilians is only getting worse by the day.

“Even as the military’s power wanes, their atrocities and violence have expanded in scope and intensity,” he said.