From Syria to Yemen and the US, the UN human rights body has delivered a scathing annual report on violations and threats to rights around the globe. Syria and Myanmar have some of the worst conditions.
Syria
Escalating violence across Syria threatens millions of civilians. Of particular concern is the ongoing regime offensive in eastern Ghouta and Idlib province, as well as the Turkish military operation against the Kurdish enclave of Afrin.
Beyond the latest hotspots, Zeid said that somewhere else soon civilians will face “an apocalypse intended, planned and executed by individuals within the government with apparent full foreign backing,” a reference to Iran and Russia.
On eastern Ghouta, Zeid called the regime and Russian justification to indiscriminately bomb heavily populated civilian areas to fight a few hundred fighters “legally, and morally, unsustainable.”
“When you are prepared to kill your own people so easily, lying is easy too. Claims by the government of Syria that it is taking every measure to protect its civilian population are frankly ridiculous,” he said.
Myanmar
Echoing previous statements, Zeid warned of a “continuation of ethnic cleansing in Rakine state” where the Myanmar military has expelled hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims, burned villages and killed thousands.
Myanmar may be committing “acts of genocide,” he said.
There is also a “deliberate attempt by the authorities to destroy evidence of potential international crimes, including possible crimes against humanity.”
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